We are a funny species.  We take callousness toward our own with a certain equanimity, capable of rationalizing it by projecting our own self-ambivalence and concluding that the victim of the callousness deserved it.  The same can’t be said for animals, especially pets.

All over the news yesterday, and highlighted by Turley and Mike at C&F was the video of some Texas protectors of the public welfare who showed abject callousness toward a teacup poodle named Missy.  As the dog’s owner, Michael Gonzalez, and his girlfriend, Krystal Hernandez, drove crazy to the veterinarian emergency room to save Missy’s life, they were stopped by San Marcos police officers.

Gonzalez alit from his car like a crazy man, trying to explain that he was driving about 100 miles per hour to get to the emergency room in time to save Missy’s life.  The cops were unmoved.  One told Gonzalez to calm down, it was only a dog and he could get another one.

There are good reasons for the police having stopped Gonzalez, and for someone to take significant issue with his conduct of driving like a maniac to save Missy.  He put the lives of others on the road at risk.  As much as he was concerned for his pet, had he killed some other person, say a sweet young child (because children, like dogs, get special dispensation), it would have changed the perspective of the situation.  But Gonzalez didn’t harm anyone.

Unlike many, I am not particularly fond of pets.  It’s a character flaw, but that’s the fact.  However, I do not want to see harm or pain come to any living thing.  To do so is sick.  It reflects a sadistic mindset, where one can easily pass off needless harm. 

People are prosecuted and punished for harming pets.  This reflects the fact that they are there to comfort our species.  Aside from those that are vicious, they offer only comfort, with no possible moral flaw.  Pets are innocents.  We can’t attribute evil to them, as we can to our own.

So, the pointless death of Missy, the teacup poodle, because of the callousness of police officers, becomes national news. 

But Turley’s post juxtaposes another video of a woman who was stopped and told police that she was pregnant and bleeding. 

Other officers have been accused of such lack of concern in highway stops, such as this video of a pregnant woman who lost her baby when she was stopped while bleeding, click here. A female officer shows utter disregard for her obvious medical emergency — which resulted in the loss of the baby. The tape shows officers virtually mocking the woman in distress. When she asks why they will not let her get medical help, a male officer says “because I think there’s still a little bit more than what you are telling us. You sure are playing hard to get lying to us.” A female officer tell her “Don’t cop an attitude with me. It’s called a menstrual cycle.”

This callousness resulted in the loss of a baby, but it never grabbed the national attention of Missy, the teacup poodle.   I suspect that police officers will explain, over a beer or two, that they hear stories of dire emergencies all the time, and most are lies. They become inured to such claims, and blow them off without much thought.

But the officers couldn’t have thought the Missy explanation was a lie, as Missy was lying there on Krystal Hernandez’ lap.  Missy was right there, barely alive.  Perhaps the callousness comes from seeing too many people with real emergencies that life and death are no longer critical to them.  At least the life and death of someone other than a cop is no longer a tragedy.  If a cop breaks a fingernail, that seems to bring them out in waves of protest.

Some might argue that the life of a pet is not the equivalent of the life of a human being.  Pets, under the law, are chattels, things.  We own them.  But they are still innocent things with feelings.  If the issue was the choice between saving a pet and saving a human, I would have to side with the human.  But that wasn’t the choice once the cops stopped Gonzalez’ car.  The cops then had the opportunity to allow Gonzalez to save Missy, or better yet, help to save Missy.  The cops chose to play their control game as life flowed out of Missy’s body.  They were proud of themselves for having won the game.

We are an odd species.