Grimm - Citizen canine : our evolving relationship with cats and dogs

Credit: Amy Duffield

David Grimm is a deputy news editor at Science, the worlds largest journal of scientific research and science news. He is the recipient of the 2010 Animal Reporting Award from the National Press Club and has been featured in The Best American Science and Nature Writing. His work has appeared in Science, US News & World Report, The Bark, and the Financial Times. He teaches journalism at Johns Hopkins University and has a PhD in genetics from Yale. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, twin girls, and twin cats.

PublicAffairs is a publishing house founded in 1997. It is a tribute to the standards, values, and flair of three persons who have served as mentors to countless reporters, writers, editors, and book people of all kinds, including me.

I. F. STONE, proprietor of I. F. Stones Weekly, combined a commitment to the First Amendment with entrepreneurial zeal and reporting skill and became one of the great independent journalists in American history. At the age of eighty, Izzy published The Trial of Socrates, which was a national bestseller. He wrote the book after he taught himself ancient Greek.

BENJAMIN C. BRADLEE was for nearly thirty years the charismatic editorial leader of The Washington Post. It was Ben who gave the Post the range and courage to pursue such historic issues as Watergate. He supported his reporters with a tenacity that made them fearless and it is no accident that so many became authors of influential, best-selling books.

ROBERT L. BERNSTEIN, the chief executive of Random House for more than a quarter century, guided one of the nations premier publishing houses. Bob was personally responsible for many books of political dissent and argument that challenged tyranny around the globe. He is also the founder and longtime chair of Human Rights Watch, one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world.

For fifty years, the banner of Public Affairs Press was carried by its owner Morris B. Schnapper, who published Gandhi, Nasser, Toynbee, Truman, and about 1,500 other authors. In 1983, Schnapper was described by The Washington Post as a redoubtable gadfly. His legacy will endure in the books to come.

Peter Osnos, Founder and Editor-at-Large

T hey say if youre going to write a book, write about something you enjoy. Ive been fortunate to do that. Ive also been fortunate to have the help of a lot of talented people.

First, I want to thank PublicAffairs for taking a chance on a different kind of pet book. I particularly want to thank Brandon Proia, for shepherding the book through its early stages and for his support and encouragement, and Ben Adams, who guided me the rest of the way and helped make a good book even better with his patience and perceptive edits. My agent, Jim Hornfischer, is the reason I got to work with Brandon and Ben at all; he believed in my idea from the beginning and helped shape my proposal until it was everything I hoped it could be.

If you enjoyed a historical anecdote in this book, chances are my stellar research assistant, Charlotte Stenberg, helped dig it up. The countless hours she spent in the library and in front of the computer helped guide me through thousands of years of human history and seemingly just as many languages. Without her, this book would have taken twice as long to write and would have been half as fun to read. I also want to thank two other researchers, Celia Turner and Margaret Fraser, who assisted with a variety of smaller projects.

I owe a huge debt to my mentor and former boss at Science, Colin Norman, who took time out of his retirement to read my book in full and offer incredibly helpful edits. Im also grateful to a couple of other Science colleagues. Martyn Green helped set up my website (www.davidhgrimm.com) and keeps it running and looking beautiful, and Eli Kintisch provided advice and encouragement throughout the writing of this book.

I visited a lot of people for this book, and Im indebted to everyone mentioned in its chapters, who gave so generously of their time. I also spoke to a lot of people not mentioned, who assisted with a wealth of background information. Im especially thankful to David Favre, who, in addition to being a featured player, answered every one of my countless e-mails and phone calls over the years.

I consulted several people about the history of cats and dogs. Donald Engels guided me through the rise and fall of cats in antiquity and reviewed my writing on the topic. Greger Larson assisted with technical advice on dog domestication and reviewed the relevant chapter. I also want to thank Robert Losey, Angela Perri, Juliet Clutton-Brock, Jennifer Leonard, Anna Kukekova, Phillip Howell, Salima Ikram, dm Miklsi, Robert Wayne, Lyudmilla Trut, Katherine Grier, Linda Kalof, Owen Lourie, Holly Jaycox, and Brian Casey.

Facts and figures regarding the current status of pets in society came from many folks. Stephen Zawistowski and Bernard Unti fielded numerous questions on the rise of the animal welfare movement and a variety of related issues. Also lending a hand were Randall Lockwood, Andrew Rowan, Rebecca Goldrick, David Kirkpatrick, Dennis Turner, James Serpell, Heather Case, John Bradshaw, and Merritt Clifton.

Law is not my specialty, and a number of people guided me through some very tricky concepts. Bruce Wagman helped me out immensely with tort law concepts and reviewed my chapter on the history of pets in the courtroom. I also had a lot of assistance from Adam Karp, Geordie Duckler, and Rebecca Huss. Other legal experts I consulted include Nancy Perry, Randy Turner, Paul Neuman, Renee Poirrier, Steve Ann Chambers, Steven Wise, Theresa Macellaro, Kristina Hancock, Barbara Gislason, Heidi Groff, Marcy LaHart, and Heidi Meinzer.

Help with the rise of the animal law movement and its current campaigns came from a number of sources, including Stephan Otto, Matthew Liebman, Pamela Frasch, Carter Dillard, Scott Heiser, Nicole Palotta, Lisa Franzetta, and Lise Harwin. Im especially grateful to Chris Green, who provided an enormous amount of information on veterinary malpractice, animal-related legislation, and a variety of other topics.

A few individuals aided my research into the new roles and responsibilities of pets in society. Collen McGee helped arrange my visit to Lackland Air Force Base. Karen Delise provided valuable historical information on pit bulls. Bill Kueser put me in touch with Bill and Margaret Edwards. Adam Kobek arranged my visit with Kno the pit bull, and David Ehsanipoor provided some background information on the case. In addition, Caroline Griffin assisted with information on animal-related issues in Baltimore.

I am indebted to Richard Cupp for giving me the lay of the land regarding the backlash against pet personhood. Also providing assistance were Adrian Hochstadt and Joan Miller.