companion animal update.

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

hotmail hasn't been able to receive messages from the for the last 5

days (it just re-connected thismorning). I don't know if this has been

posted yet, so I'm putting it up now - It's a wonderfully well written

elaboration from Joanne on what I was talking about earlier. Do keep in

mind that I was originally passing on info from a study that I found

interesting, not accusing pet owners of being cruel. Nobody wants to think

of thier pet as being mis-treated, but we all have a long way to go in terms

of understanding the various degrees of emotional needs and emotional

complexity that different types of living creatures are capable of. I did

say (from what I remember) that I felt the more companion animals were

raised like people the better (this may not be " natural " but at least it

would insure that they would be reasonabley well treated quasi-captives in

most instances), so anybody that does strive for that goal is on the right

path in my opinion - I just feel that there are a lot of commonly-untouched

issues that should be addressed by anybody planning to, or currently

raising, a non-human companion. I plan to start living with a dog myself

next year . . . . . . .

 

here is joanne's wonderfully eloquent expansion on what I brought up.

please don't respond to this message without reading it all first (thank

you):

 

Holiday writes:)

>I just have to jump in here. I have 2 Mini Schnauzers, 2 cats

>and a rabbit.

>My animals have it made in the shade so to speak. My

>schnauzers are just

>like one of the family.

 

>I love them to death.

 

?????--personally, I do not find that image reassuring, and

wouldn't like it if someone said that re me.

 

> I talk very highly of them

 

I don't think this is what Patrick was referring to, but rather

of talking as if we own the animals, reflecting on how, actually

we do including the rights to decide their medical care, even to

choose to KILL them. We also control the basic environments and

conditions under which they must adapt. People in bad

situations will display and show affection for abusers, because

they have no one else to meet this need with. Controling an

animals environment and life is definately a form of slavery.

Of course there are gradations of a wide range and what kind of

life that would mean to the animal.

 

Companion animals are not given access to make their own human

partner choices, access to food choices and catching it wild

(not that I want them to--that's another issue, however THEY

might want to), access to areas they would like to play in and

freedom from injurious restraints around their necks, etc.

 

They must adapt to a human world, you, " their human " , do not

adjust to a dog environment, or cat environment... and if you

have cats, dogs AND a rabbit, you are certainly not creating a

rabbit environment. You do not attempt to learn cat or dog

language, yet many people credit animals with understanding

humans. Thus, we both deny natural language ability or use of

it (theirs) and demand it of them (obey my vocal instructions,

NOW).

 

Many people have ONE dog, when dogs really need other dogs.

Rabbits too are social animals, and need others. I believe most

cats would rather be in a dog free environment, unless the dogs

are non-disruptive, and do NOT bark. A cat has sensitive ears

and is not suited to sudden noise.

 

if

>this is like

>slavery, I must have the wrong definition of slavery.

 

You try to be kind to your animals, and this is good...but it

takes looking at what would be the animals natural world, to get

a sense of what they are being denied. You may need to think

about the non-obvious...

 

Consider " obedience " --who defines the rules? Who gets to choose

what is appropriate behavior? Do you have immediate and free

access to meet your basic needs, like food when you want and

complete access to the bathroom whenever? Do they? Do you have

the ability and " right " to decide sexual issues for them, like

whether or not they are " desexed " ? If your female dog were in

heat, would you prevent her access to partners, and all those

she would choose?

 

And think about physiology...who wears the restraint around the

neck, occaissionally or frequently pulling at the vertebral

column with totally unnatural directions of stress, and which of

you has access to the chiropracter? Even if the collar is never

attached to a leash, cats have died from getting caught by the

collar on something, and being strangled. Does the animal

choose to wear such a thing?

 

Which of you has the sensitive nose, (and olfactory-sensitive

brain) but who has access to and decision making powers over the

release of chemicals into the air with virtually every bottle

opened, soap used, or synthetic material brought into the home?

 

Maybe this will help you gain some perspective on how animals

become slaves in the human environment, and how even the best

intended folk also end up inadvertantly perpetuating

unkindnesses.

 

IT IS ALSO TRUE that most of these animals will die without us

due to them being without an econitch of their own, and due to

the human-created overpopulations. I believe we need to (yes,

this too is controlling but its the least mean controll I can

think of at the moment) do tubal ligations and vasectomies on

all dogs and cats. The rabbits can be let free where there are

rabbit populations...or " half-way house " communities for

released, not wild-bred rabbits who might not do well on their

own, but where they CAN leave if they choose.

 

Lots of women who cannot escape a painful and emotionally

crushing domestic situation also experience a slavery

experience, even when it might look very cushy and satasfactory

from the outside. Their husbands or partners often too, claim

that they have it " made in the shade " . The same conditions

occur to children, to poor people, etc. There are variations,

but slavery is not at all a " thing of the past " . YET!

 

Let's keep learning from eachother, and making things better and

better for each other, including for those who we are presently

in the position of controlling or " enslaving " . Until we find a

way that no slaves are held on the planet. Thanks for

listening, and the chance to express myself on these things.

 

Joanne

 

If I say something you find worth sharing, you don't need my

permission to share it with others.

 

 

 

 

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