I love dogs. I love their enthusiasm, their kindness, their curiosity. But mostly, I love that dogs are not human. Even knowing this, I admit it can sometimes be hard to respect their boundaries. Once I was sitting on the grass in a park when a big, fluffy Chow Chow came up and sat beside me. These dogs look so cuddly and their mouths have a kind of permanent smirk like they are trying hard to suppress a belly laugh. Without thinking, I reached over to pat his head and the dog instantly snapped, narrowly missing my fingers. He wasn’t angry. He was just telling me to keep my hands to myself—if I wanted to keep them.
On June 3, around 8:30 p.m., a woman called the Iowa City Animal Services to the 1200 block of Duck Creek Drive to report that she had been bitten by a cat. The suspect, a gray and white tabby with a flea collar was apprehended at the scene. The name on the collar was “Sir Cady/Kady Mittens”—hereafter referred to by his last name.
It seems Mittens was taking an evening stroll along Duck Creek Drive when the unnamed woman reached down to pick him up, whereupon she received a nasty bite. Animal Services released a warning that anybody bitten by an animal should obtain the owner’s contact information. “Bites must be reported for the health and safety of others. Failure to report a bite could result in a fine.” And while they’re at it, why don’t they fine the woman who decided she could pick up a cat she doesn’t know. Of course she was bitten. Serves her right.
Anybody who has ever lived with a cat knows there are certain things cats don’t like. (Well, there are actually a lot of things cats don’t like.) Most cats do not like to be picked up, especially by strangers. It makes them feel trapped. Cats don’t like to be cuddled like a baby. They don’t like it when you touch their tails. Or their feet. Cats hate it when you stare at them. They don’t like tummy rubs, or baths or strangers walking into the room. Basically, cats don’t like people.
And why would we think bears would be any different? Anyone who tries to get a selfie with a 500-pound grizzly bear is, shall we say, optimistic. The person may be thinking of the bear as a prop for a YouTube video. But the bear is thinking of the person as, at best, an annoyance and at worst…lunch. Wild bison in Yellowstone are not docile milk cows and Florida alligators are not decorative lily pads.
Humans are inquisitive and we instinctively want to interact with strange and beautiful creatures. But they deserve their personal space. The individual who picked up Mittens might have only been thinking he looked adorable, but was not taking his wishes into account. (This is the kind of unwanted interaction many women may find familiar.) Who knows? If we can learn to respect animals, it might even work on other people.