Treatment of Animals
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Treatment of Animals
Marcia Kerkau
Soc 120
Susan Meckert
4/30/2012
Treatment of Animals
When you think of how to treat an animal, do you think about just dogs and cats or do you think about all animals? When someone talks about animal cruelty most people think about dogs and cats but they don’t think about all the other animals. In this paper I am going to talk about understanding animal cruelty, understanding the bond between humans and animals, and understanding the rights animals have and how humans disagree with animal rights.
Animals have rights even if they are not written in the constitution or in a law. They deserve to live a good life just like every human does. “Homer’s Odyssey describes a memorable emotional bond between a man and his dog, who know each other and care for each other even though they have been parted for many years. Similarly, in The Call of the Wild, Jack London portrays a fierce love between Buck and John Thornton that leads the dog many times to risk his life to save the man. Although many books on animal ethics discuss hunting, eating animals and experimenting on them, few devote attention to pets. This is surprising because the relationship between a pet and its owner clearly has a moral dimension. Many people become extremely fond of their pets, lavishing attention on them, feeding and looking after them extremely well. They treat their pets far better than other animals. When people treat their pets badly, neglecting or abandoning them, even deliberately harming them, it is natural to think that these people have done something worse than when they neglect animals that are not their pets; most of us think not just that pet-owners may give special consideration to their pets, but that they ought to do so. Pets are companion animals; they are quite different from wild animals that are not domesticated, that cannot live among human beings but can survive on their own: most pets could not live without our assistance. Perhaps...
Marcia Kerkau
Soc 120
Susan Meckert
4/30/2012
Treatment of Animals
When you think of how to treat an animal, do you think about just dogs and cats or do you think about all animals? When someone talks about animal cruelty most people think about dogs and cats but they don’t think about all the other animals. In this paper I am going to talk about understanding animal cruelty, understanding the bond between humans and animals, and understanding the rights animals have and how humans disagree with animal rights.
Animals have rights even if they are not written in the constitution or in a law. They deserve to live a good life just like every human does. “Homer’s Odyssey describes a memorable emotional bond between a man and his dog, who know each other and care for each other even though they have been parted for many years. Similarly, in The Call of the Wild, Jack London portrays a fierce love between Buck and John Thornton that leads the dog many times to risk his life to save the man. Although many books on animal ethics discuss hunting, eating animals and experimenting on them, few devote attention to pets. This is surprising because the relationship between a pet and its owner clearly has a moral dimension. Many people become extremely fond of their pets, lavishing attention on them, feeding and looking after them extremely well. They treat their pets far better than other animals. When people treat their pets badly, neglecting or abandoning them, even deliberately harming them, it is natural to think that these people have done something worse than when they neglect animals that are not their pets; most of us think not just that pet-owners may give special consideration to their pets, but that they ought to do so. Pets are companion animals; they are quite different from wild animals that are not domesticated, that cannot live among human beings but can survive on their own: most pets could not live without our assistance. Perhaps...