Vegans: Are Pets Slaves?
These are serious questions.
I'm curious whether vegans who view raising animals for dairy and eggs (and not killing them) as enslavement of the animals, also view owning pets in the same way.
So if raising, for instance, a flock of chickens for their eggs is animal slavery, does that also apply to raising animals for other human needs or desires?
Apart from domestic pets, there are work animals: Draft horses, guard donkeys, sled dogs, truffle-sniffing pigs, rescue animals, etc. Are these animals also slaves, in your opinion?
Do you (or have you ever) had a pet? Were they free to leave? How do you know your pet really wants to stay with you at your house? How do you know that they are not merely conditioned to their imprisonment, and don't know any better? Do they really have a choice?
If you do think that raising animals for eggs and dairy is enslavement, but raising them as pets is not, what is the distinction?
If you are a current or former vegan, I'd love to get your thoughts on this.
Again, these are serious questions that I've been legitimately curious about for some time. I am not trying to debate. I will stay out of the comments section except to ask genuine, pertinent questions if I'm unclear on something.
Thanks!
I don't know any vegans, so I asked a pure carnivore. My fat, spoiled, overly affectionate cat, the Doody-man.
He says the question is ridiculous.
Well... I assume that's what he said. I don't speak cat.
I think so. :( I have always held the extremely unpopular opinion that spaying and neutering animals (read mutilating them) is extremely cruel and immoral. But what can be done? I used to say, let the dogs run around like any other animal would. We have no right to keep them from breeding.
My neighbors are from another country, and they do not keep their dogs in the same way we Americans do. I have observed this over and over again. I also notice that people others would label "rednecks" do not keep their dogs in the same way most Americans do. The dogs are free to come and go as they please, and they always do come home for food and rest, etc.
I always have to have a dog in my life. They bring me so much joy and unconditional love that I just have to have them in my house. I love my dogs SO much that I cannot let them run around since it's not safe for them. Our culture would capture them or hit them with a car. Truth be told, I think most dogs would take the risk of being hit by a car and be free over being at the behest of their humans. My dog LOVES to be free. He loves to go into the woods and run off his leash. It's really important to me that I give him that opportunity often. I feel guilty when he asks me to go outside and I don't drop everything to do it. Because he's sacrificed his life and freedom to live with me.
My dog loves me like no other. The way he looks at me with admiration and full trust and love.... He thinks I'm the greatest thing on the planet. :) But I also think it's a sort of Stockholm syndrome.
It's not something I'm going to put a lot of moral guilt into because this is the way our culture is with animals, and I don't see that making any big changes in the future. I also wanted to add that where I was going with my neighbor's dog who's from another country.... I learned the difference between a domesticated dog and a DOG. It is not the same. I always got nervous walking around while he was wandering. He would stalk me. It floors me to think that in other countries packs of dogs roam the streets! That intrigues me! That's how it would be in America if we didn't mutilate the reproductive organs of dogs. I see no solution. We love our cats and dogs, and I'm just gonna go with the flow about it and treat my guy as good as I can and feed him fresh food, let him live without a collar indoors, and get him out into the woods often.
By the way, I'm not vegan but I answered anyway. :)
You got my head going in a bunch of directions. My answer got out of control and wasn't really an answer, so I resteemed this and left the mess on my own blog with a link back. Hope you don't mind and thanks for the inspiration!
It is quite obvious that man has turned a lot of animals into slavery, especially domestic animals. They have no liberty to choose where and whom to live with, wost still they cannot voluntarily leave the house until they died eventually. I follow and upvote you.
You pose an interesting question and one I have never actually considered before.
I guess, unless you have house cats which i don't agree with, a cat is free to do as it wishes pretty much if afforded a flap.
Caged animals and birds are different.
So are dogs.
In the cold light of day I guess we assume the right to own them all and this is not great.
That said I have a dog that is treated with love and respect and considered as a family member. Would she choose to be elsewhere? I don't think so ~ she knows when her bread is buttered!
Upvoted/Followed I invite you to pass by mine; I think you may find something of interest :)
Thanks.
Take care.
xox
At first glance it would appear that the question is preposterous, rather ridiculous, there is no chance that a house pet being trained other then being a pet could be a symbol of enslavement to its human counterpart.
Then again, it's an intelligent question, more philosophical and in this time and age a more contemporary question than it ever was before.
Unfortunately, yes this is my opinion and I am aware of it, there isn't a true or false or a wrong or right to this answer. Yes, animals are being held as slaves to do labor, ever since humanity thrived as a collective being, and up until today every animal has it's own destiny to fit mankind and be exploited of.
What's really hard to tell is, if house pets also function as slaves do? They have been trained and have been living with humans for so long, not to mention the breeding of other animal races, which leads a lot of mixed breeds to only survive alongside a human. If there weren't a human, their lifespans would drastically decrease and it would only be a matter of time until they either go extinct, or the positive part, evolve through evolution and become the wild beasts they once have been millennia ago. Here I am mostly talking of dogs as house pets, but cats are also victims of human breeding engineering, while cows and hens might also be too domesticated to live in the wilderness without being too abundant of humans.
The negative point of view is, yes house pets are enslaved animals that are used for human purposes, be it to comfort them (humans) physically or be there for them emotionally.
The positive point of view(s) is, that there is no scientific proof that they are aware of their current state. There is proof that animals are intelligent, and that cats do not connect emotionally to humans like humans do the other way around, but rather use humans to be worshipped and fed and be petted(Ancient Egypt and Modern Age). Cats are aware that they will get what they want, while dogs show their affection to humans and also show humans that they are physically (food) and emotionally (need to be petted) abundant. To add more solids to my arguments, there are scientific proof that animals mostly react through instinct, that they do not perceive past as humans do. That leads us to the conclusion, that house pets would only be aware of their "enslavement", if they had the processing power to think about the past and think a lot of it over and over again.
My opinion is, it is sad to admit that yes, they are slaves to mankind. But, they aren't aware of it, and second, they are treated like first class customers, heck, even better than some humans get treated on earth.
For example humans tend to debate about why a police dog gets cheaper food a day than people do on welfare. So, what we need to do as humanity is really, get things together and start treating all animals alike by stop exploiting them (for example: cows and chickens). I also do recommend you guys reading Animal Farm by George Orwell, in which animals have gained a specific type of intelligence and work together to overthrow human tyranny.
That's all from me... A bit too much to read, lol if anyone wants to.
Thank you @lesliestarrohara for this lovely mind-opening question.
I also need to know, are you a vegan or not? It doesn't matter to me, it's just a wise question you've lit the fire with, and interesting for me to know if you are or not.
I am not a vegan. :)
thank you for the reply :)
This is a great example of following logic through to its sensible conclusion and highlights the absurdity of the vegan narrative.
What if they're not benefitting from the animal's by-products; instead they're using the animal for company? Does that make the animal a sort of prostitute, offering affection in return for housing, protection, healthcare and food? This is how it was for women only a few generations ago. I agree with @brightstar here:
Animal stock (and pets): it's about symbiosis. Both the animals and the human benefit from the arrangement.
PS I'm an ex-vegan/vegetarian (17 long years). I share my house with humans and dogs :D
Unrelated to the original question, but I have a follow-up for you. This is another question I wonder a lot about, considering how many ex-vegans and vegetarians there seem to be.
What compelled you to switch to a vegan/vegetarian diet, and why, after 17 years, did you quit that diet?
Hiya
I got sick through malnutrition, not enough real protein. Started really really craving meat. After about 6 months' craving. I gave in. Had a taste of beef. Felt euphoric, like I'd taken drugs. And that was it, I was on a roll. Ate meat every day after that :D
cheers
I shoot stray dogs that come onto my property.
The sheriff agrees with me.
I am commenting here just to follow the post. I hope someone will come out with answers for all the questions you asked.
Great job ..:)
good post