© John WilcoxVOICE FOR DOGS: Jordan Star and Sen. Scott Brown, who is co-sponsoring the high school freshman’s bill to outlaw devocalization surgery for dogs, meet to discuss Logan’s Law, which is named after a debarked sheepdog adopted by Gayle and Tom
Needham High freshman Jordan Star doesn't claim he can talk to the animals, but as the surprise driving force behind a bill to outlaw the surgical silencing of dogs and cats, the teen is doing a fine job speaking on their behalf.
"To take a voice away from an animal is morally wrong," Star, 15, said of convenience devocalization, the removal of a pet's vocal cords so Fido and Fluffy are seen, not heard.
Star tackled the topic after encountering a dog who'd been debarked, then abandoned.
"It was just horrible," he said of the dog's struggle to get his attention. "It was just like a hoarse, wheezy cough. In a shelter, all they are is a mutilated animal, which makes them harder to adopt."