NJ animals’ long-time protectors . . . & naming names

I don’t do these things and I’m sure most other people
don’t either.  Yet, obviously, they’re happening.  So just who is working with fervor to make
life better for animals in New Jersey – and often, to start with, saving those
lives?

Who does such things as .
. .

 *  Maintaining
a website full of current and useful info about NJ animals, from black bears
to deer to community cats

  * 
Meeting and corresponding with state legislators and both the assembly
and senate majority offices, all having to do with animals.  (For instance, a team of 4 met with more
than 50 legislators since last June on current issues like a bear-feeding ban
and a poaching bill.)

  *  Making
numerous site visits around the state to promote non-lethal geese-management
and persuade communities away from contracts to kill geese.   

  *  Producing
newsletters on animal issues – for instance, NJ bears, who are always threatened
by trophy-seeking hunters

  *  Working
for introduction of legislation to benefits our animals and helping line up
co-sponsors for bills

  *   Establishing a committee of 3 to
track voting records and produce scorecards to help with your choice

  *  Aiming
to modernize the Fish and Game Council, now largely comprised of pro-hunting
members, by switching its focus to non-lethal approaches

Who is behind all this,
and many more initiatives on behalf of animals in New Jersey?  You probably already know: the one
statewide organization that for nearly 40 years has worked for animals here:
the Animal Protection League of NJ (alpnj.org).

Thank you, committed and
tireless APL!

Owners?  Parents?  Guardians?  Family?  People?  Which name do you think is best to describe yourself
or any other person with one or more pets at home?

While we know that
typically, our pets could not survive in the wild – I think back on my pets
who couldn’t fend for themselves outdoors for a week, or maybe even a night.  But who said they should be able to do that?
 

Humans have so
domesticated some animals that they now must depend on us for housing, food,
love and so on.  Even so, does that mean
we “own” them, using such an historically cruel word to describe the relationship? 

Yet the world at large uses
that word to describe the connection between a person and the pet s/he brings
to a veterinarian, right?  And an “owner”
must often sign off on various kinds of pet-related paperwork, as well as
being the person neighbors might describe as “that big dog’s owner.”  

So, if not “owner,” what’s
a preferable word for the human who shares a home with a pet?  What doesn’t smack so strongly of
possession, but rather of something much more benign or companionable?

Does “parent” work, or is
that too hierarchical?  How about “guardian”
– does that better describe the person with a pet?  “Family” is softer, warmer, but would most of
us say that way, even if we think and act that way?  And does “person” or “people” have the right
ring, as in “Clearly lost, the puppy was fruitlessly looking for her “person”
(or “people”)?  

I’d like to hear from
readers about their preference for a word in this context – maybe one of
those above or a better word that you’ve come up with.

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