I recently got a phone call from someone that was curious as to why most vegans are against pet ownership so I thought I would use the answer as another blog post.
So why are vegans against pet ownership?
This comes for a number of reasons. Firstly there is the exploitation of the female as ‘breeding stock’ and something to make money from. The female, whether it be a cat, dog or bird has her reproductive cycle exploited by the owner. Every litter is worth money. The females are kept constantly confined in cramped, filthy conditions. There is a lack of appropriate veterinary care (every vet visit costs money and lowers the profitably of the litter), due to their constant confinement they are not adequately socialised (which often leads them to be unfit as a pet after a few months and taken to the pound), there is the chance of inbreeding and none of the breeding animals receive the proper enrichment by being able to interact and play with other animals in an environment away from cages and concrete floors.
With the rise in popularity of the so called designer breeds of dogs and cats, we are seeing a rise in the puppy-mill style of breeding because the only way that breeders can make a profit is to breed on a large scale and run it as a business. The puppies often travel hundreds of kms from the mills to the pet store lacking proper food/water/ventilation. There is the treatment of the puppies and kittens whilst they are in the pet stores waiting to be sold. They are kept in small glass cages in full view of everyone that passes by. Their bedding consists of shredded newspaper and it is the same small area where they have to do their ‘business’. The water/food they have is usually in a small bowl and frequently gets knocked over with no one knowing how long it takes to be refilled. Being kept in glass and on display to the world, these puppies and kittens are tormented by people staring at them and banging on the glass an attempt to wake them up should they be asleep or attract their attention. To maximise the profits of the pet store, the puppies and kittens are usually fed the cheapest food that is available, which usually isn’t the best for a growing animal.
New born babies are no longer displayed at maternity wards in hospitals so why do we still do it to puppies and kittens?
Then comes the question of the confinement of these animals.
Pet birds are usually kept in a cage all of the time or if it is let out its wings are usually clipped so it can’t fly. Birds have wings, which are meant to be used for flying. Not being confined to the same cage every day. The keeping of birds is equal to keeping a human in prison for their entire life. Their recreation area is where they have to eat, sleep and go to the toilet.
Fish are kept in a fish tank with water that gets infrequently changed, and they get to be ogled at when someone wants to come have a look at the fish.
The pet dog is kept in a backyard or inside if its a small one, fed the same food at the same time everyday and maybe, just maybe taken for a run or to the dog park, this in human terms is a prison sentence. Remember dogs are pack animals and as part of the hierarchy, they do require an alpha male/female to maintain the right social order, and are humans able to adequately provide this level of social interaction?
What do you do with your pet cat if you are like most people?
You probably let it out in the morning and bring it in at night thinking that you’re doing the right thing. Regardless of how spoilt your cat may be, if you let your cat out to roam free then there is no doubt that it will kill some other animal that crosses its path. The only responsible thing to do if you own a cat is to let it out in a cat run only.
What about the food you feed your pet?
Do you feed your dog/cat vegan pet food or the standard pet food diet? Most pet food comes from the senseless slaughter of ex-racehorses or mares and foals (780,000 in Australia annually) that have been sent to the doggers as a means to stop uncontrolled breeding.
Your pet fish is probably being fed fish meal in the flakes that you give it and the list goes on.
So – why do you buy your pet in the first place?
If you are like most people who buy animals on impulse it would be because a particular puppy or kitten looks cute or because you want to own a particular breed. And what do most people do when it has outgrown its cuteness and when the novelty of owning a pet wears off? They ship them off to the local pet shelter if they can think of a reasonable lie to justify their actions or they simply dump them. Or they advertise them for sale or ‘free to good home’ in the local paper or online sales pages. Talk to an animal shelter an they will tell you that the time they get the biggest influx of animals is the month or so after Christmas.
What about rescuing a ‘death row’ animal from a shelter?
Some people believe they have done the morally right thing by adopting/rescuing an animal from a shelter and therefore saved one from being put down. Yet what they fail to consider is that by further promoting the idea of pet ownership and its associated industry, animals are still going to be killed. It is important that the life of every animal is sacred but what about the animals that are killed before and after the ‘rescuing’ of a particular animal? Shelters and pounds are brutal in their assessment of an animals ‘adoptability’ – which is another term for commercial worth. If they don’t think it can be sold then it is put down. The same applies to an animal that gets ‘cage fever’ from being confined in a cage for too long or if the potential pet veterinary expenses are more than it is worth in a sale.
Finally, regardless of what sort of life you give your pet or terms you use to describe your ownership, in the eyes of the law and most of society this animal is deemed as being your property. Most councils have by-laws restricting the number of animals you can have on your property and which one you are required to pay a yearly registration fee for – in much the same way that you are made to register your car or motorbike. The only thing that isn’t in place is a license for pet ownership.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi CAmeron,
I saw this, and wondered why I always see Professor Gary Francione inspiring people to open their hearts and adopt and rescue animals from shelters. I’ve seen it a number of times. So this point of view in this article on rescuing dogs/cats/etc is in direct conflict with the man that coined the word vegan-abolitionist and the abolitionist approach to animal rights. Please explain. The rest of it was very good, though! Thanks. Looking forward to coming to your meeting in August.
Butterflies
Since writing this article I have received a lot of comments from people that are asking more or less the same thing.
I do agree that we as a society have a moral obligation to care for the non human animals that have been brought into it for our pleasure/entertainment. Though unfortunately, regardless of where the rescued non-human animal was acquired from, it probably still had to be purchased and in the eyes of the law and society it is still the property of someone.
This is the practice that has to stop.
How can we as abolitionists campaign for the removal of property status for cows, pigs, goats, etc. when we have x, y or z rescued beings ourselves that are regarded as property?
It is one of those catch 22 situations, where there probably is no morally correct answer.
I have never purchased a rescued animal. I don’t believe in paying money for a nonhuman animal. Though people have given us animals that would have otherwise be given to the pound or sold to slaughterhouse, and in those cases, I would take them and share life with them. I don’t own them. We are friends and have interspecies relationships, which has been some of the highlights of my life.
I don’t understand the confusion here. Do you disagree with providing sanctuary to rescued farm animals or wild animals in sanctuaries? Gary makes his position clear I thought – we have a moral obligation to care for the animals whom we have caused to come into existence. For example, say we all go vegan overnight (hee hee! Just for a thought experiment!!!!) None of us would advocate for killing all the still living domesticates would we! We would acknowledge that they deserve the right to live, peacefully and cared for by us, the ones responsible for their existence.
I do not agree that adopting from shelters perpetuates the property paradigm in the slightest. I recommend reading this article:http://weotheranimals.blogspot.com/2009/11/caring-for-other-animals-does-personal.html
Hello Cameron & Butterflies Katz,
Apologies, I don’t know (or haven’t had the pleasure of meeting) either of you yet.. and this is the first time I have visited this site.. or any Vegan blog.. but you both seem very well informed & experienced at the Vegan way of life. I’m reasonably (..very) new at the Vegan lifestyle (from Omni to Veggo about 3 yrs ago, taking the step to Vegan 1 yr ago).. and have read articles from you both just recently in the Vegan Voice mag. I have to say that I’m not convinced that most Vegans are, in fact, against pet ownership. Can we re-phrase this? In my opinion, ownership is just a word to deem human responsibility. I would like to refer to the situation as pet responsibility or perhaps domesticated animal companionship.
“Belle”, an amazingly, stunning, enourmous, feline fluff-ball.. & I crossed paths 10 yrs ago when I was donating some carpet squares to our local RSPCA shelter back home in Melbourne to aid the freezing Winter comfort of cats and dogs. The carpet was too good to throw away, but not quite good enough to give away or sell, so I convinced my partner (at the time) that we should roll it out onto our local street in Brunswick and cut it up into a zillion squares one Friday night.. after many wines.. to donate it to a pet shelter, as we were polishing an awesome apartment concrete floor. When I dropped the carpet off, I met Belle, a 1 yr old cat at the time, she ended up in my lap and the rest is history. She now lives with me, very peacefully, at Mt Nebo in Brisbane’s beautiful hinterland, which is abundant with natural conservation & wildlife.
The point is that she is very happy and so am I. I would never consider her as a posession – as in me “owning” her. Until reading the blog here, I have NEVER thought of her that way. She is a cat. I’m a human. She is of the domesticated variety and so am I, therefore we happen to co-exist & share our home (& fire place, couch & bed..) very well together. The companionship, friendship, smiles and love that we share is simply a bonus. Belle is in the process of converting to the wonderful “Vegan Pet” food (we are still compromising at dinner time..) but we will get there soon. When I am at work Full Time during the day, she spends her days inside as I am always very consciencious about our natural wildlife, knowing as a cat, she is instinctively a hunter. Likewise, she is, by choice, always inside at night (warm..in my bed). We venture outside together when I am in the garden, collecting kidling for the fire or hanging out the washing.
Most days Belle enjoys her day-bed in the sun on our big deck which is at least 15ft off the ground of a steep sloping block, so really, no risk of attacking birds etc.
Essentially, I feel it is appropriate to consider myself fully supportive of the Vegan lifestyle, while remaining compassionate to sharing my home with a beautiful animal who has been domesticated due to HUMAN intervention and was possiby deemed to a gloomy end due to the same intervention. At the very least, I am a human taking responsibility for these previous actions. To me, being Vegan is about opening your heart, mind & life to both animals & poeple. I personally think that people are often harder to open my heart & understanding to. I don’t believe that Belle is currently being exploited. It’s either this life with me, another life somewhere else with somebody else (..possibly not as good..), pet shelter.. be a stray.. or die from the elements or at the hands of humans.
In reference to paying for Belle, I think from memory, it was about $100 back then? But I guess that was taken taken up with the costs of vet fees, vaccinations, desexing, micro-chipping and the admin/registration costs of the charity, so perhaps appropriate to cover those items? At the time, I just wanted to get her out of there, knowing her possible fate, along with all the other animals.. but of course that wouldn’t have been responsible or possible.
I look forward to hearing from you or meeting you both at a Vegan event somewhere along the line in Brisbane. If you are both on Facebook, I shall send you a friend request. Gilly x.
Absolutely. The commercialisation of animal lives and ‘ownership’ of animals are really wrong.
I’m all for people “caregiving” to animals who need help – and those rare circumstances where a human and an animal just fall into each other’s company naturally.
It’s very easy, as a vegan, to get caught up in our own dogma. Telling people that we won’t rescue a dog, cow, sheep or injured koala confuses people deeply about our intent and world view.
The problem with dwelling on this type of ethical dilemma is that we are forced into having to defend a position that appears inconsistent. This seriously affects our ability to focus on the real issues – breeding, imprisonment & slaughter.
The world is made of thousands of different viewpoints, In order to make ours heard we need to be clear and simple in our communication. Animals are not property, and should never be bred for human use.
Beyond that, if you don’t want to rescue an animal then don’t. But don’t waste air and blog-time criticising others who see animals as individuals who are worth rescuing,