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Pets: is it ethical to keep them? [Mega Hurl]
The Conversation ^ | April 25, 2019 | Corey Lee Wrenn

Posted on 05/07/2019 7:17:08 AM PDT by C19fan

According to the UK veterinary charity The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), half of Britons own a pet. Many of these owners view the 11.1m cats, 8.9m dogs, and 1m rabbits sharing their homes as family members. But although we love them, care for them, celebrate their birthdays and mourn them when they pass, is it ethical to keep pets in the first place? Some animal rights activists and ethicists, myself included, would argue that it is not.

The institution of pet-keeping is fundamentally unjust as it involves the manipulation of animals’ bodies, behaviours and emotional lives. For centuries, companion animal’s bodies (particularly dogs, horses and rabbits) have been shaped to suit human fashions and fancies. And this often causes these animals considerable physical harm.

Particular breeds, for instance, are highly susceptible to painful and frequently fatal genetic defects. Highly prized physical features – such as small and large stature or pushed-in noses – can cause discomfort and difficulty in breathing, birthing and other normal functions.

Even those animals who are not purpose-bred often face bodily manipulations which impede their comfort and safety. This can include confining clothing, painful leashes that pull at the throat, docked tails and ears, and declawing, which involves the severing of the first digit of each toe in cats. Pets are also often constrained in their daily movements, sometimes crated or caged, and regularly kept indoors – always at the whim of their human owners.

(Excerpt) Read more at theconversation.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: agriculture; cats; dogs; livestock; pekingmoon
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Written by someone with too much time on their hands. The author. Also ignorant:

For centuries,...

For cats and dogs one is talking about thousands of years of a symbiotic relationship. All the evidence points to humans and dogs partnering together 20,000 - 30,000 years ago. Cats the relationship goes back to the Neolithic Revolution 10,000 years ago.

1 posted on 05/07/2019 7:17:08 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

Ethics are fun. It’s all about their source.

And if you are an atheist, your ethics come from you, who I don’t respect as God, so they are utterly meaningless.

It’s so cute when Atheists talk about ethics, as if they even know what the word means.


2 posted on 05/07/2019 7:18:42 AM PDT by cuban leaf
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To: C19fan

I’m sticking with my new thesis that the Left is just 100% destructive and has no other motivation.

“Oh, you have pets? And you love them? They make your life more pleasant? Fine. We will outlaw such practices, destroy your precious pets and drive you into misery. We will also force you to thank us for the harm we have done to your life. And remember: we do all of this because we are the Good Guys.”


3 posted on 05/07/2019 7:21:52 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: cuban leaf

With the leftists going all in on MORALITY of late, they likely think it is IMMORAL for us to have pets.

My cat would argue that it is IMMORAL for them to take up space, air, and food that he could be using to his advantage somehow.


4 posted on 05/07/2019 7:22:19 AM PDT by NEMDF
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To: cuban leaf

English have more cats than dogs? It’s even more screwed than I thought.


5 posted on 05/07/2019 7:23:04 AM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: C19fan

So what pronoun should I use for my dogs?


6 posted on 05/07/2019 7:23:24 AM PDT by GSWarrior
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To: C19fan

Dogs would have been rendered extinct thousands of years ago without the symbiotic relationship. Put that in your ethical bong and smoke it.


7 posted on 05/07/2019 7:23:29 AM PDT by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deo et Vives)
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To: C19fan

OMG, most people would envy the lives my cats have. Top quality food, numerous toys, window perches, multilevel topography to explore, birds and squirrels to watch, house plants to destroy, excellent vet care, getting petted on demand...the life of Riley, I tell ya.


8 posted on 05/07/2019 7:23:40 AM PDT by EinNYC
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To: C19fan

I agree with the author! But he stopped too soon. I also think it’s unethical to keep houseplants. Those magnificent members of the plant kingdom should be outside, interacting with nature and stuff.

/s (of course)


9 posted on 05/07/2019 7:23:45 AM PDT by Leaning Right (I have already previewed or do not wish to preview this composition.)
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To: C19fan

A. They come for free stuff
B. They come when you call them
A. They hate you and your country, sending money home, flying other countries’ flags.
B. They love you unconditionally
A. They sometimes join gangs and occasionally rape, murder, kill
B. They smell each other’s butts but have abandoned pack mentality
A. They cost US taxpayers trillions - 16b in Cali alone on illegal births at emergency rooms
B. They cost about a bag of food a week, plus occasional vet bills
A. They are undocumented
B. You get a ticket if yours isn’t registered and collared.


10 posted on 05/07/2019 7:24:02 AM PDT by golux
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To: NEMDF

I watched a Desousa video where a questioner considered climate change skeptics position to be immoral. He took the guy to school about playing a “morality” card in that debate. It’s amazing how the left, if you disagree with them on many of these issues, consider your position to be immoral. Arrogant ignorance.


11 posted on 05/07/2019 7:25:28 AM PDT by cuban leaf
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To: C19fan

What I fid a little amusing is that in liberal places... absolutely EVERYONE claims that they got their dog, cat, bunny, hamster, goat, ferret, Guinee pig, chicken, goose, turtle, or whatever from some type of animal rescue place. A lot of them probably did because a lot of liberals can’t handle taking care of a plant let alone an animal and abandon them, but ALL OF THEM? I don’t think so.


12 posted on 05/07/2019 7:26:26 AM PDT by fireman15
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To: gibsonguy

Keep in mind with the population mix, cats are probably a food source.


13 posted on 05/07/2019 7:26:37 AM PDT by Jaded (Pope Francis? Not really a fan... miss the last guy who recognized how Islam spread... the sword.ag)
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To: C19fan

It’s part of the culture of death religion. Anything human or associated with humans is bad (and should not exist). PETA types think all domestic animals should be extinct.


14 posted on 05/07/2019 7:26:39 AM PDT by Varda
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To: C19fan

My black lab seems happy. I make sure my buddy has lots of toys and treats and he gets taken to doggy day care 3 times per week in addition to good healthcare and a healthy diet - not to mention a comfy life indoors with heating and air conditioning. He wouldn’t get any of that if left to fend for himself. I’d say he’s getting a good deal.


15 posted on 05/07/2019 7:26:50 AM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: C19fan

I think my pit bull is keeping me.

But he’s so gentle and lovable that I’m OK with that.


16 posted on 05/07/2019 7:28:41 AM PDT by airborne (I don't always scream at the TV but when I do it's hockey season!)
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To: C19fan

Wow...this person is out there!


17 posted on 05/07/2019 7:28:52 AM PDT by pleasedontzotme
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To: C19fan

To the author: Great!! I think I’ll go buy a dog.


18 posted on 05/07/2019 7:32:00 AM PDT by Library Lady
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To: C19fan

Here’s a great article on keeping pets by a Dominican:

https://www.dominicanajournal.org/st-thomas-and-the-keeping-of-pets/


19 posted on 05/07/2019 7:35:42 AM PDT by buridan
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To: ClearCase_guy

And they’re our betters, don’t forget that.


20 posted on 05/07/2019 7:40:25 AM PDT by mykroar (Congratulations President Trump)
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