There is a good deal of discussion of how wrong dog fighting is. Or how it is horrible to mistreat an animal. Seeing how popular opinion is already clear about how we should treat the animals we are around, lets ask some ethics questions about having animals around. The following might make you feel uneasy, but stick with me, I think I have a point. And I will discuss all of this in terms of dogs, but the principle is transferable.
We all have at one point had a dog as a pet, or known somebody who has. When we see our dog sick or injured we care for them to some lesser degree, as we would for our own family. That means going to the vet and buying medicine. Then fighting with the dog to administer said medicine. It is work and money to keep a dog healthy. How do we justify a dog getting medical treatment?
I don’t mean to sound like your father at the dinner table, but there are people in this world that don’t get medical treatment or medicine. I have a real problem with a dog having a higher place in my priorities than any human being. I see it as unethical to own a dog (especially for Americans), because it places that animal above humans somewhere else in the world.
What does it cost you to feed your dog every month? Imagine you are holding a delicious nutritious muffin. In front of you is a homeless man, and a dog. You are not hungry, the dog and the man are. What do you do with the muffin? I hope you hand it to the man, I hope I would too; though it is a strange situation. Civilization has given us the gift of currency, and we can give our discretionary income to Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) dedicated to feeding the hungry faster than we could deliver a muffin to a homeless man. Check out: Foodshare, The Hunger Site, Compassion International.
Look around you. People are lonely, desperate to connect with others, to have true friendships. Not to be terribly mushy, but we are all looking for love. What do you love? Is it your dog? I find myself give attention to dogs who seek it, but I do my best to ignore a person who gets on my nerves by trying to get my attention. I am a failure in this way, but I am seeking to remedy this.
All I am trying to convince you of is what you already know. People are infinitely more important than dogs, and our lives need to reflect this. Pet ownership is at odds with our societies ethics.
