I wonder what the policy for keeping pets in Starfleet is? I know Data had Spot, Zack Kebron in New Frontier has goldfish, and the like. I suppose it depends on the ship, the captain, and the policies thereof, at least canon seems to establish that. I ask because a Voyager fanfiction character I'm writing had a dog at his last post, an American Staffordshire Terrier, when he was based near the Bajoran frontier on a starbase. He obviously didn't take his dog on the mission, but he does have one.
The E-D would probably have very relaxed rules, as she also tolerates kids running around her corridors. Vessels operating in the TNG era but built decades earlier might have limitations due to the lack of facilities or safeguards, though. But I'd assume both your starbase and Voyager would have facilities capable of handling a dog or a dozen. Would TOS era regulations be stricter, just because TOS imitates the uptight 1960s rather than the easygoing 1980s? Hard to tell. The ship rather easily absorbed a flock of kids in "And the Children Shall Lead", at any rate. In "Man Trap", we were introduced to some plants that, while supposedly sessile, seemed to lead rather active lives... They'd probably count as pets of sorts. We didn't see pets in crew quarters or workspaces until "Trouble with Tribbles" - but remarkably, when those little balls of fur did come aboard, there was absolutely no mention of a regulation that would have limited their presence or freedom of movement. So I'd say most pets in TOS would be okay, too. And the ENT era is of course well covered by the Beagle Clause. Timo Saloniemi
Thanks Timo. Looks like Rufe the AmStaff may appear in later fics of mine (I'm assuming in the 24th Century Breed Specific Legislation was ruled as idiotic and no longer exists).
Question is though, where do you take said pet to do it's needs and what about where it stays? We know that Spot on occasion walked the corridors of the E-D, (although how he did that is another question), but if they are walking about freely then there must be someone other than the owner who watches where they are and makes sure they don't leave any little surprises for anyone else to find.
If people poop is recycled (ENT) then pet poop is too - and owners of course would be responsible for their pets as they are now (um, yeah ).
My personal rule of thumb would be that if families are allowed aboard, so are non-contained pets. Fish or any aquarium/terrarium pets are to my thinking different than dogs, cats, or anything that needs to roam around. This may be oversimplifying, but if you can't have your kid aboard, I don't think you should have your puppy aboard either. One might also argue that the plants (Beauregard ) in TOS were part of the ship's botanical research and not strictly personal pets. What are real-world military regulations like?
No pets allowed on board ship, of course, but then again, no families, either. On base all that's allowed...maybe a starship is sort of half ship, have base?
I distinctly remember that Kirk had this large snake....and if I remember right his name was Lefty...anyone else recall that?
Aquial had a dog, too. She was stationed on a base, and the dog did kill a bunch of people. But, no situation is perfect.
Janeway had dogs but didn't take them along on her mission. Of course, she had a fiance, too, but he wasn't on board either. In fact, I don't recall any civilians being on board until Voyager reached the delta quadrant, .
I'd argue that even in a pre-Dominion War Starfleet where ships from big to small (Enterprise-D to Sisko's Saratoga) appear to allow civilians and presumably therefore pets, some missions do not, like Voyager's initial mission. From Janeway's discussion with her fiance, I don't think she believed her mission would be a very long one. (It might also be worth keeping in mind that the mission to the Badlands was of a rather tactical and perhaps somewhat dangerous nature.) Had it been a longer mission, and/or of a less dangerous nature, perhaps both her fiance and dog could have come aboard.
That's pretty much the same conclusion I came to Praetor. That's why my character left his dog at home with his family.
Well, then you have my approval at least. I just realized I neglected to respond to this: "Have Base, Will Travel"? *pats self on back* I know what you mean, though. I really strongly suspect the degree to which Starfleet adheres to the more traditional 'military' model varies according to the political ebbs and flows of the particular era, too. TOS and the ovies seemed very military, so no families/pets on Starfleet ships in the mid to late 23rd. TNG was more family friendly so families and pets in that era. Then DS9 gave us the Dominion War - I imagine families were banned from most ships for a while, even if they were still allowed on the 'base' DS9. And of course as mentioned earlier, VGR was a special case.
I'm inclined to agree with the "if families are ok, pets are too". It certainly appears that the nature of the ship's mission factors into that and that in recent years there's been a turn away from allowing families on ship. It might be, however, that they've remained more tolerant of pets to a degree. After all, if your ship is destroyed along with your pet dog, that's your business. Wife and kids too, that's a much bigger issue. I'd also say that rank and position factors into this as well, along with ship size. I would imagine that on a smaller ship, only senior officers would have the privilege of bringing family or pets onboard, as there's a significant space issue involved. On a larger ship such as the Ent-D we certainly see more junior officers with families, but even there I have to assume that most of the enlisted don't have that privilege.
Yeah that's right Kirks pet snake, lefty....i see you remember him....poor thing only had one eye too.
Yeah that's right Kirks pet snake, lefty....i see you remember him....poor thing only had one eye too.