Please enjoy this article from the latest issue of our magazine, PETA Global. To begin your subscription, become a PETA member today!
By Daphna Nachminovitch, Senior Vice President of PETA’s Cruelty Investigations Department
If your dog spends hours a day in a crate, I’ll bet you were told it was for his or her own good. But like other archaic “training” methods, we now know better. A study in the journal Physiology & Behavior found that 93% of kenneled police dogs exhibited signs of mental illness, including pacing, spinning, and circling. Your dog is an active, intelligent, highly social individual, not to mention a member of the family and probably your best friend, so it’s time to kick that crate to the curb. Here are five reasons why.
1. Crating Is Damaging to a Dog’s Psyche
Putting a dog in a box is a human convenience that does not address the causes of behavioral issues and can actually make them worse – or even cause new ones – according to noted animal behaviorists, including Nicholas Dodman, Ian Dunbar, Warren Eckstein, and Victoria Stilwell. Crated dogs often develop separation anxiety, aggression, depression, hyperactivity, and other disorders.
2. It’s Cruel
Dogs fear that they have displeased you when they’re locked away, because being denied freedom of movement is a punishment and they know it. They need mental stimulation and to run, walk, and move around – all of which are impossible while trapped in a cage.
3. It’s Unnatural
A crate is not a “den” any more than a monkey is a “research tool.” It’s a cage. Crated dogs can’t do anything but wait and wonder when they’ll finally be set free.
4. It’s Confusing
Spending hours in a cage is confusing to dogs. Being forced to soil the crate can make puppies believe that they’re supposed to relieve themselves indoors, instead of outside.
5. They May Die in There – Yes, Really!
Frightened dogs can seriously injure themselves trying to escape a crate. If someone breaks into your home – or in the event of a fire, earthquake, or accident – crated dogs are trapped. Stories abound of dogs who were unable to escape coming to a horrible end. Recently, a dog confined to a crate in a basement drowned during a flash flood in Virginia.
Squad Goals – No More Crates!
When US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted a video of her crated puppy crying in distress, PETA wrote to her right away to let her know that family members don’t belong in boxes. Locking up a puppy is as cruel and wrong as caging a human child.
Disengage From the Cage
Help your canine companion have a happy, healthy life by providing humane positive-reinforcement training, plenty of exercise, interactive toys, companionship, and a safe, dog-proofed home. If you can’t let your dog out during the day, enlist a trusted friend or neighbor or try a reputable, cage-free doggie daycare. To learn more, visit PETA.org/Crate.
