The Human and the Digital   /   Spring 2018   /    Notes And Comments

For the Love of Goats

Matthew Denton-Edmundson

Elaine Caron, COMPTON, QC/Canada photograph

Cats, dogs...or goats?

The world is divided, as we all know, between lovers of dogs and lovers of cats. Most of us prefer one or the other’s company; we lap up the canine’s devotion or take keen pleasure in the feline’s detached elegance. Dog lovers like parceling out rewards of affection and treats as they see fit. They love knowing better and knowing more, and what they often desire most in a dog is a sidekick. Cat lovers, by contrast, love being around an animal they never truly own, one they can’t quite control or manipulate or even really understand. Cat lovers are comfortable with the mysteries of nature in a way most dog lovers aren’t.

So, where do you fall on a spectrum from crazy cat person to domineering German shepherd trainer? For the sake of self-knowledge, it’s a question we all might profitably ask ourselves.

And to all who answer, like me, by saying they like both, I suggest there might be another, possibly more revealing, answer: “Goats. Our kind likes goats even more.”

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