Consider the reverse situation: would you want humans to be kept as pets?
No, because I can’t think of a non-human animal that’s as good at taking care of dogs as human animals are.
Are you saying dogs would be happier in the wild, because they’re free? If so, I’m not sure they know they’re “free.” And really, if they could be given a choice to think about, I suspect most would prefer the security, regular food and other comforts that have come with being domesticated. If not, then as a species, they likely wouldn’t have come sniffing around and become domesticated in the first place, no?
So, I reject the premise of what sounds to me like an overly philosophical inquiry. Maybe you could further explain your position?
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- That its better to be free than safe.
- I make decisions for myself (being free). Decisions I make on behalf of others (including animals) are suspect, and likely to be made in my own interest.
And yes, it is highly philosophical.
For adults, that is often a defensible position.
For children, not so much.
Discussion: to what extent is the human-nonhuman pet relationship analogous to a parental one?
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Fine with me, since it sounds like you keep such beliefs to yourself, i.e., don’t impose them on others.
Or maybe you do blame others for practicing their own freedom, by having pets?
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Another question for the philosophers: if we created a species, should we be comfortable causing its extinction?
Comparing the status of domesticated animals is like comparing oranges to poison ivy. Technically, both are plants, but they require different growing environments and levels of care.
Domestication happened. The species changed, they are not the same as the source material. To get rid of pets, you would need to deliberately cause the extinction of the domesticated species.
I agree we shouldn’t try to domesticate new species. We should show more care in controlling the ones we have to protect them and other species. But you can’t get rid of all pets without creating an end to those species. That genie isn’t going back into that lamp. Whether we should have domesticated or not is a moot point. It’s done. And that’s the reality we need to deal with.
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Basically. All the pets my family and I have ever adopted were rescues, either strays or shelters (kill shelters where applicable). They have all been promptly neutered so they couldn’t reproduce domesticated offspring that would then take up the resources of time, home and sustenance which should go instead to rescuing additional animals from an early death through exposure or extermination.
Anyone advocating against humans keeping pets is advocating for the extinction of domesticated species, and specifically advocating for the early death of existing domesticated animals. If that’s their position, they’re entitled to it. But pretending it’s benevolence through anthropomorphic fallacies about freedom is sophistry.
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Rottnest, the island off of Perth where they’re most commonly found, is a common destination for drunken high-school graduation celebrations. When I lived in Perth in the 90s, it seemed like every year during the festivities someone would get arrested for playing “quokka soccer” or impaling them with sticks. People are fucking disgusting.
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There is a popular theory that humanity domesticated itself in similar ways to how we domesticated our animals:
Humans Domesticated Dogs And Cows. We May Have Also Domesticated Ourselves | Discover Magazine.
If we ever create superintelligent AI we may also find ourselves as pets in a more direct way. Read Iain Banks ‘Culture’ books for how that may not be so bad.
As I wrote, you’d have do spend a number of generations breeding them to be more comfortable around humans first, before moving them from experts to the general public.
I know, but is that a good law? There have been people arguing like me for a long time in Australia, that it would be better for the environment to domesticate local animals.
Obligatory:
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Or had their parents killed and/or forcibly held as puppies.
Apparently they are also riddled with diseases like Chlamydia… That or Gareth Reynolds is lying.
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Would strongly encourage you to change your headline to something more sensitive considering the state of fires that have devastated the country… it has been widely reported globally, including your own reporting:
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My cats ascribe to that theory. They are certain, I am their servant.
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Thank you, I too found the headline/title extremely tone deaf, at best.
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In fairness, this is where “indigenous” comes in. Bunnies are cute and vegetarian, but in Oz, def not indigenous.
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fair enough
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Ahhh. Yeah. That’s fair. I had very poor internet service for the week, and was not considering the grander implications of that. I’m genuinely sorry for that oversight.
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