The Universe in Their Eyes.
Last week we welcomed to our home a new member of our pack. His name is Leon, after Leon Trotsky. He’s a mutt from the shelter, at least 3 years old, and an absolute lover. For my partner and I, bringing Leon home is an emotionally intense and important experience. First there is simply the change — finding new routines, working to make sure Leon and Connolly (our other dog) get along, and adjusting to another person you don’t really know yet being present in the house. Because a dog is a conscious being. I’ve long found it notable that the best English has to express this is “sentient being,” but that sounds so clinical and distant, and something as likely to be applied to some sophisticated robot in 20 years time as a creature that has been a constant companion of humans for millennia. So, I prefer to refer to dogs and other similar animals as people (as distinct from human), because to me, that’s what they are. As Carl Safina, one the author of one of my fav...