>> Tuesday, May 29, 2012 –
abuse,
Animal abuse,
animal humane,
animal rights,
Neglect,
Personify
Personifying Our Pets
Pets are amazing companions and they make some
of the truest friends. They, however, don’t fill places in our lives that
humans should, we, as humans shouldn’t just sell their lives, and ours short in
that sense. Don’t get me wrong, I love my animals but they’re not playing a
role in my life that a human should be playing. This can be disastrous to our
health. They’re not acceptable alternatives to human interaction in any way
shape or form. This type of relationship with animals can do more harm than
good. You don’t want to end up as the
lady who owns 100 cats because she’s old and lonely.
One thing that happens when we try
to allow an animal to replace our relationships with people is hoarding. Hoarding
can be emotionally and physically damaging for both people and animals. It’s a
form of personal abuse on the person and a form of physical abuse and emotional
abuse on the animals. By trying to fulfill a missing spot in our lives that
humans should be filling, we are in turn damaging an innocent creature’s life.
This isn’t fair to the animal. Animals are not people and should never be put
in a place where they would be forced to take a spot that a person should. It
doesn’t matter how many animals a person tries to save whatever human
relationship a person is trying to compensate for or satisfy can never be
enough.
Don’t get me wrong, keeping a pet is
supposed to be fun and rewarding. It’s when the line between human
relationships and animal friendships is crossed that the companionship becomes
destructive. Simply put, animals are not people and should never be treated
like people. They can’t be expected to play that type of role. Personifying a
pet is not going to make up for human interaction. They have different
behaviors and motives than humans do. It’s not fair to our pets to expect them
to be like us. They need to be themselves and nothing more. Think about it.
Dressing our adorable pooch up in clothes might seem cute and adorable to us
but that pooch is probably miserable. Humans have been wearing clothes for
hundreds of thousands of years but animals have not. If we took a tribesman who
is accustomed to wearing less than what we wear and placed clothes on him, he’d
hate it.
It would make him feel restricted
and out of place. It is not fair to him to make him uncomfortable for societies
benefit. What is normal behavior for us is not normal behavior for our pets. I
know what your thinking. Why train them or teach them to listen to us? Well
truth is modifying their behavior is one thing and making them more human is
something completely different. Allowing or even making our animals to eat with
us at the table, forcing them to watch TV with us, dressing them up, and all
the other things we do to make our pets seem a little more human is
unacceptable.
These things can’t make the animal
happy it’s not natural for them. If we were required to prance around on all
fours, when we are made to walk upright, would be uncomfortable and at times
even painful maybe. So why would we demand our pets to do things unnatural for
them? Teaching them things that don’t affect their natural behavior in such a
way that it makes them uncomfortable and allows us to live with them is ok. A
good example of this is potty training. It isn’t a natural behavior but neither
is going on the carpet. They’re used to “going” outside. It’s when we expect them to be like us that
causes severe damage. Now I’m not saying that we shouldn’t pamper our pets. I’m
saying there is a fine line between pampering and personifying.
On a more human note, this can also
be damaging for us in an emotional way. On top of the hoarding issues, letting
our pets play the role of some missing human counterpart is unhealthy for us.
It keeps us from finding someone to fill that position in our lives whether it
is a child or a significant other. We should never let our pets take place of
relationships with people. Our animals can be like our children but keep in
mind they aren’t our children. We can’t socialize with them in the same way as
we would another human being. A pet can be a companion but never a human
companion. Dealing with whatever problem causing the need for our pets to
satisfy the need for human interaction should be resolved instead of
overlooked. By continuing to personify
our pets, we are making the issue harder and harder to fix. I love my pets and I’m pretty sure they love
me back but I’d never place them in a role where they’d be expected to fill the
“shoes” of another human being in my life.
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