Opinions Resisting the Mainstream

Who deserves our Empathy?

by Fred Steinhauser, OMICRON electronics GmbH, Austria

People in well-developed societies have free time and energy for all kinds of luxury, like culture, sports, or other things that we consider part of a modern lifestyle. One of such things is our dedication to pets.

A fixed point on the agenda of every PAC World conference dinner is the photo contest. Alex gets in the flow when explaining the thoughts behind it and presenting the pictures. At the PACWAC dinner 2023, the audience was especially caught by the picture of a dog’s face, the winner photo of the contest. People were silent, as is rarely the case at such events, and were visibly touched by the look the animal gave us from the screen. This moment and the talks following made me aware what a wide space pets take in our live. 

The family dog is pictured as a standard ingredient of the typical household. The IEEE Foundation has its Chief Canine showcased on social media. Being allowed to bring the dog to the workplace is a benefit meanwhile recognized by both human resources departments and employees alike. And in the supermarket, the shelve space dedicated to pet food and supplies is always growing.

I became a pet owner because of a feral cat, clearly neglected and hungry, showing up in our garden on the search for a better place. We fed the poor creature and gave her shelter on our terrace. She was very shy, always alert and fearful. Although she gladly accepted the food we gave her, it took months before she would even let us touch her. Then, when she finally did fully trust us and awarded us with her affection, she unexpectedly passed away. I would have never thought that the death of an animal can have such an impact on a grown-up person.

My neighbor is from Africa, coming from a place where life is much harder than in ours. Himself a cat owner, he somehow readjusted my views when we talked about our cats. “His people at home” don’t have much room for such luxury. He said he would have a hard time explaining to them our devotion to our pets, better not even mentioning the money we spend for the vet when our pets need treatment.

This made me ask myself if it is okay to put so much energy in our pets while there are still so many humans in need. We all know the advertisements for supporting a disadvantaged child with a daily meal or access to schooling. How many of us go for this option instead of or in addition to having a pet?

But caring about pets and caring about people are not mutual exclusive. We consider it strange if someone dedicates all his affection to his pet while rejecting humans. Caring for pets is one way of showing empathy. And emphatic people are aware of the needs of other humans.

There must be even more to this. When the Kakhovka dam in the Ukraine broke in June 2023, many videos appeared, showing the disaster that hit the people downstream. And while they were struggling to staying afloat by themselves and keeping their belongings together, we saw many scenes of exactly these people taking risks for rescuing dogs and cats and other animals from the floods.

When people in dire need do still care about pets, we pet owners will not forget to care about people.

Biography:

Fred Steinhauser studied Electrical Engineering at the Vienna University of Technology, where he obtained his diploma in 1986 and received a Dr. of Technical Sciences in 1991. He joined OMICRON and worked on several aspects of testing power system protection. Since 2000 he worked as a product manager with a focus on power utility communication. Since 2014 he is active within the Power Utility Communication business of OMICRON, focusing on Digital Substations and serving as an IEC 61850 expert. Fred is a member of WG10 in the TC57 of the IEC and contributes to IEC 61850. He is one of the main authors of the UCA Implementation Guideline for Sampled Values (9-2LE). Within TC95, he contributes to IEC 61850 related topics. As a member of CIGRÉ he is active within the scope of SC D2 and SC B5. He also contributed to the synchrophasor standard IEEE C37.118.