Spiffy Moms | chat - think - be you

[Jo]

The first paragraph of this article struck me as totally absurd:


Suicidal pets put on Prozac

By staff writers

PETS at risk of self-harm are increasingly being prescribed anti-depressants because they cannot discuss problems in their lives with others, a leading veterinarian says.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23271700-2,00.html

Why is how we treat animals mirroring more and more how we treat people? Perhaps the birds in the article weren't happy about being an a foreign climate and put in a cage to boot.

Then this afternoon I got our quarterly mailing from the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at MOA. We are members there. I don't know if it made national news but Jessie, the giant tiger shark, bit the smallest shark in the tanks called Shark 54. Now this shark doesn't even have a proper name, just a number but he now has a caringbridge.org page? That is what families use to share the stories of their sick or disabled family members. What on earth?

[Kristen]

I read an article in a PCA magazine recently about how we treat animals, and the author said that we should treat animals not as if they are human, but as if WE are human(which we are, of course!). His point, of course, is that we should treat them kindly(which is usually not how animals treat each other), but that we shouldn't elevate them to level of humans.

I personally think that this kind of thing stems from an evolutionary worldview. I believe that man was created to be different and special and above the animals, so I don't think that people are just another mammal. So, I think it is insulting to put the story of a shark's wound on the same site where stories of sick people are put. We should care about the shark, sure, but we shouldn't care as much as we care about people.

[gr8mommy]

Yes. I do love animals, but things are getting ridiculous.

[Lisa]

I do think it's getting crazy and absurd. But then i'm not a huge animal lover. I don't dislike them though

[Lori]

I tend to think we have a somewhat contradictory view about animals. I don't see many people too concerned about how many animals are treated. They don't worry too much about how environmental changes (in many cases human-caused) are destroyed habitats and leading to the extinction of many animals every year, and don't seem too concerned about how the animals that are used to produce their food are treated. And those seem to me to be things that people should be more concerned about.

At the same time, though, people seem to treat other animals as if they have the same wants and needs as people, which seems silly.

But I don't think, in general, people go too far in treating animals like people, because if they did I think we'd see a lot of changes in how we treat the environment and what conditions we expect food-producing animals to be raised in. I just think people go too far in treating certain animals (pets and "celebrity" animals like that shark or certain pandas) as if they were human, while not being humane enough in their treatment of other animals.

[Kristi]

Yeah those two things seem a little crazy. I think I agree with the author of the article Kristen mentioned. Even without reading it. I think some people try too hard to make their pets like little people when they really aren't/

[Tobye]

I do think our opinion of animals is strange and contradictory. Certainly God has instructed us to treat all living things kindly, yet he did give us dominion over the animals, and it seems that lately, people get all indignant about the rights of animals, and less indignant about the rights of people.

Harkening back to the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal, what he did was horrific and inexcusable, but the uproar over it is something we never see over the millions of women and children that are abused in this country and abroad EVERY DAY! I'd like to see some of that rage channeled to those that choose to abuse their fellow humans.

[Danielle]

Add me to those who think that humans are selective about what animals we treat well. There are horrible farming practices and awful examples of cruelty that no one really does much about. On the other hand, we'll turn around and pay $5000 for chemo for a 15 year old cat. I understand that these pets are loved but come on... they only live so long.

[Mary]

Originally Posted by Lori

I tend to think we have a somewhat contradictory view about animals. I don't see many people too concerned about how many animals are treated. They don't worry too much about how environmental changes (in many cases human-caused) are destroyed habitats and leading to the extinction of many animals every year, and don't seem too concerned about how the animals that are used to produce their food are treated. And those seem to me to be things that people should be more concerned about.

At the same time, though, people seem to treat other animals as if they have the same wants and needs as people, which seems silly.

But I don't think, in general, people go too far in treating animals like people, because if they did I think we'd see a lot of changes in how we treat the environment and what conditions we expect food-producing animals to be raised in. I just think people go too far in treating certain animals (pets and "celebrity" animals like that shark or certain pandas) as if they were human, while not being humane enough in their treatment of other animals.

I'll just 'ditto' Lori. She pretty much covered it for me.

[Val]

Well, I don't know about you guys, but MY dog has a complete wardrobe with matching shoes, and a diamond necklace
Animals are great and all, and I'm all for giving them proper care and treating them well but think it goes too far for some people.

[Chaimom]

I think going on anti depressants are a bit much...but then again I have never had to deal with a suicidal dog () Maybe that's why some dogs chase cars.
If I was going to put my dog on anything it would meds for ADD and maybe some brain boosters. He is stupid and always on the move!