Of Dogs, Ducks, and the Wish to Win-Win

Today was Ashford’s first day back in San Francisco. I was back from a week out of town, during which time he had stayed with family members in the East Bay and then with a pet sitter.  So there was much to be accomplished on our walk today. There was the whole matter of re-marking his territory on the way up to McLaren Park, re-visiting every relevant fence post and bush and even blade of grass along the way.  Once in the park, he saw fit to circle the duck pond not once but twice, perhaps because of its handiness for restocking his water supply as he updated himself on the park and its comings and goings.

I saw ducklings!  Six of them,  swimming in the pond with their mallard-duck mother.  I had seen one solitary duckling about a month ago, but it had disappeared after that first sighting, and I didn’t feel optimistic about seeing more of them. It’s hard to figure out where on the rock-lined shore of the pond a mother duck can find a shelter for her eggs.  But this one obviously had, to the credit of her intelligence and perhaps that of the wider duck community: there were those six tiny swimmers, all brown-feathered like their mother, ready to learn the secrets of co-existence with the visiting dogs, who also love swimming in the pond.

Back home, Ashford rewarded himself with a nap while I read the morning paper.  The Chronicle had run some pro and con letters in regard to a controversy about whether pet stores should sell dogs bred in “puppy mills,” where conditions can be deplorable. The argument in favor of that is that the pet stores themselves have standards that serve as a kind of regulating mechanism to soften the worst of the abuses.  Not strong standards at all, someone else wrote; there are unscrupulous pet “wholesalers” who act as go-betweens before the animal even gets to the pet store.  People should get their pets through the SPCA, period.

Then, there was  one letter writer who thought  there could be a win-win situation. She wrote that pet stores have already successfully held pet fairs where people can choose SPCA animals  and then buy supplies for their new pet right there–at Petco or wherever.

I know this general approach works.  I found Ashford at the SPCA, but soon found myself in a large pet store, where I made substantial purchases—dog bed, brush, lots of food, treats, dog shampoo, and so on.  I was an enthusiastic new dog person, and the pet store profited from that.  Of course, the store may not have extracted the last possible buck by selling me a puppy-mill dog.  But it was good to read that even chains like Petco can be open to another way that serves their interests as well as those of all of us who, If given a chance to consider the matter, wish to see animals treated humanely.

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