ALERT: NJ: Hightstown hears barks on pet 'guardian' proposal

[Rene Allegrini]

Owner vs Guardian appears to rearing it's ugly head again.

Hightstown hears barks on pet 'guardian' proposal

BY JOYCE J. PERSICO
He may be named Champ or Buddy, but you know him as your baby boy, your good boy, maybe even your best friend.

She responds to the name Muf fin or Pumpkin, but you know her as your baby girl, a gentle companion who purrs and leaves no corner of your house unexplored.

And what are you to the pets you love? Mommy? Daddy? Owner?

How about "guardian?"

In animal rights circles, the term "owner/guardian" may become the legal moniker of the future as the use of such terminology spreads from the West Coast to the East, thanks to a push by a nonprofit organization called In Defense of Animals.

It is already a term applied to more than five million residents of the United States and Canada who are officially recognized as "owner/ guardians" of their pets, according to the Mill Valley, Calif.-based group leading the "Guardian Campaign."

And it doesn't just apply to cats and dogs, depending on how a municipality words its animal ordi nance.

But there are two sides to the issue: On one side there are animal lovers who want to protect their pets; on the other are veterinarians and animal shelters fearful of greater liability.

In Hightstown, where a large feral cat population prompted Mayor Robert Patten and his wife, Kathy, to start a local Animal Wel fare Committee two years ago, a proposal to add the word "guardian" to the word "owner" to describe the relationship between a pet and his owner is under consideration.

If it becomes law, it will make the tiny borough the second municipality in the state to do so. The first was Wanaque Borough in Passaic County.