Leona Helmsley's bequest to her dog ignites lively debate


Posted on Jul 7, 2008
By Julia Szabo

Yesterday's "Ideas & Trends" column in the Week in Review section of The New York Times expounded on the late Leona Helmsley's bequest to her beloved dog, a female Maltese named Trouble. Helmsley's provision of $12 million for Trouble in her will, and gift of nearly $8 billion in a charitable trust solely for the care and welfare of dogs, has ignited lively debate among her immediate family and the general public.

The article quotes psychoanalyst and FetchDog friend Joel Gavriele-Gold, author of When Pets Come Between Partners, pointing out that "There are whole segments of the population that prefer being in the company of dogs than people, and I'm not sure that's such a negative thing."

As reported in the April issue of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, a study conducted at Ohio's Wright State University by psychologist Lawrence A. Kurdek found that students who were most strongly attached to their dogs did not show high levels of anxiety or avoidance - "characteristics that some therapists would expect to see in people with unusually fierce bonds to animals," the Times noted.

Commenting on the data, Dr. Gavriele-Gold told the Times, "Humans tend to be very disappointing - notice our divorce rate. Dogs are not hurtful and humans are. People are inconsistent and dogs are fairly consistent." He added that he's seen patients who, betrayed and wounded in childhood, have turned to dogs for the uncritical support and love they never received. "If you grew up in an atmosphere where you were abused, you're not going to have a high regard for people," he explained.

In April, Dr. Gavriele-Gold offered his expert insight on the psychology of men and dog coats in the Pets column of the New York Post.
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