A dog starved at his master’s gate. Predicts the ruin of the state. – Blake

I was reminded of this quotation when I saw pictures of the Occupy Boston tents near the gleaming white building of the Federal Reserve Bank.  Citizens there by their presence were and are questioning the federal government and its handling of the economy, among other issues.

Note to Columnist by Editor:  How does Occupy Boston relate to animal law? Answer:  simple.  If we as citizens are unable to take care of our animals, then their state “predicts the ruin of the state.”  Of course, I wrote this article just before tents in other cities and towns, including Wall Street, were “removed” by the government, but not Boston, and especially not now because of a temporary restraining order.

Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the publication of “Silent Spring” by Rachael Carson.  Being a pre-teenager at the time, suddenly it seemed to me that there were no songbirds in the early 60s in the spring.  Why?  Pesticides, including DDT were causing songbirds and other birds’ egg shells to weaken and crack, causing a dramatic drop in the bird population.

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 132B, 1 et seq., is the Massachusetts Pesticide Control Act, and was enacted to conform the laws of the Commonwealth to federal laws and regulations, and to establish a regulatory process throughout the Commonwealth.  My concern then and now is whether and to what extent animals are being protected.  Interestingly, in the definition section, “beneficial insects” are defined in part as insects which are “effective pollinators of plants.”  We have all read about the drastic drop of the honeybee population and what the cause is.  If we don’t take steps to protect the environment, we’re going to go from “Silent Spring” 50 years ago to “Flowerless and Plantless Spring.”

On August 16, 2011 at Bad Boys Cutz Barbershop in New Bedford, top officials from the City of New Bedford closed the barbershop after the animal control officers found a dead rooster and two hens in the basement along with caged birds and an altar with hacksaws.  Yes, you read that correctly, hacksaws.  Later that month, the State regulators permitted the owner to reopen the barbershop.  Personally, when I get a haircut, I prefer a scissors cut as opposed to a hacksaw.

Animal cruelty, animal abuse, animal mistreatment, all of these words send a shiver up and down our spines when we hear stories about what humans have done to animals.

As you may know, there is a popular TV show which revolves around scenarios and asks people the question, “What would you do?”  Let’s begin with these scenarios:

Imagine that you were walking with your dog and child and you come upon a neighbor who is visibly angry and screaming at his dog which is cowering or whimpering.  What would you do?

In Massachusetts our pets and ourselves are now at the epicenter of a collision of human civilization and animal nature.  Whether you live in an urban or suburban setting, animal nature has seen fit to have wildlife (foxes, coyotes and now bears) in ever increasing numbers trespassing upon our residences.  Or are we, the humans trespassing on their residences?

Whatever your opinion, fences are a means to keep our pets and livestock hopefully safe inside our boundary lines.

M.G.L. c. 49 sets forth our legal responsibilities to our neighbors as to fences, which are specifically defined as follows:

“Fences four feet high in good repair … and brooks, rivers, creeks, ditches and hedges, or other things which the fence viewers consider equivalent     thereto, shall be deemed legal and sufficient fences.”  M.G.L. c. 49, § 2.

What is a fence viewer and do you want this job?

Act I, Scene I: Frank’s graveside, in the distant future

Muffy, the cat, and  coco, the dog: What’s to become of us now that Frank has passed?

Narrator: Don’t worry, Frank established a pet trust for his widow to take care of you.

And they all lived happily ever after, including Frank’s merry widow.

Under Massachusetts law, you cannot make a bequest of money directly to your pet companion.  Why?  Because a pet is not considered to be a person or an organization which can receive funds.

What Can You Do?

Millions of years ago, prehistoric people cowered at the sights and sounds of lions, tigers and bears, and worse.  After the inventions of fire and tools, the lions, tigers and bears, and worse, had to worry more about prehistoric people than vice versa as witnessed by the extinction of the dodo and the passenger pigeon, etc.

Today, modern people still cower at the sights and sounds of lions, tigers, bears and escaped snakes, for example, Penelope, the Dumeril’s boa loose on the MBTA or the Bronx Zoo cobra, loose in New York – or should I care as a Red Sox fan?