{"id":5145,"date":"2009-02-04T11:15:36","date_gmt":"2009-02-04T11:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=3932"},"modified":"2009-02-04T11:15:36","modified_gmt":"2009-02-04T11:15:36","slug":"boston-teen-files-bill-to-ban-debarking-of-cats-and-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/boston-teen-files-bill-to-ban-debarking-of-cats-and-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Boston Teen Files Bill to Ban 'Debarking' of Cats and Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Fifteen-year-old Bostonian Jordan Star has emerged as the surprise driving force behind a bill to ban the cruel practice of ‘surgically silencing’ cats and dogs by removing their vocal cords<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Star, a freshman at Needham High, decided to take action after coming across a dog that had been debarked and abandoned. \u201cIt was just horrible,\u201d he said of the dog\u2019s struggle to get his attention. \u201cIt was just like a hoarse, wheezy cough. In a shelter, all they are is a mutilated animal, which makes them harder to adopt.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Now his proposed law has won the backing of Democratic House Majority Whip Lida E. Harkins and Republican Sen. Scott P. Brown. If successful, the bill would make devocalization illegal in Massachusetts unless a licensed state veterinarian or Boston police commissioner deemed that the operation was a medical necessity.<\/p>\n

If enacted, it will be known as Logan\u2019s Law after a debarked Belgian sheepdog adopted by Gayle Fitzpatrick and her husband Tom. According to Fitzpatrick, \u201cThe reaction of people whenever he (Logan) was outside was, \u2018Does your dog have laryngitis?\u2019 I tried to explain he had no voice box and people were pretty horrified by that. We always said to him, \u2018We hear you,\u2019 because he tried so hard to bark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certified trainer Vera Wilkinson of The Cooperative Dog explained that the most humane way to deal with ‘problem’ barking dogs is to understand underlying behavioral issues saying, \u201cYou have to get to the root of the problem. If the dog is barking, the dog is barking for a reason. There\u2019s a lack of understanding between people and dogs that leads to conflict, and unfortunately the dog often pays the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

For young Jordan Star the solution is even more clear-cut. \u201cTo take a voice away from an animal is morally wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Image Credit – tarentula_in<\/a> via flickr on a Creative Commons license<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[social_buttons] Fifteen-year-old Bostonian Jordan Star has emerged as the surprise driving force behind a bill to ban the cruel practice of ‘surgically silencing’ cats and dogs by removing their vocal cords. Star, a freshman at Needham High, decided to take action after coming across a dog that had been debarked and abandoned. \u201cIt was just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,27],"tags":[2269,40953,3707,4501,5109,6283,6327,10095,10096,10491,10498,16873,18220,19603,20419,22010,29636,29639,31669,31671,33898,37343],"spectra_custom_meta":{"social_buttons":["digg, reddit, yahoo"],"tweet_this_url":["getnew"],"dsq_thread_id":["145092581"],"_oembed_ef3db03aba7d398092db6256b8035cd5":["