Pets
I am not an anti-pet person. I've never had one in my entire life. So I can never understand people who indulge their pets. My boss has a DVD player in his almost-a-100k-car so that his dog would be entertained when he goes on a long drive. Although I find this going overboard, I know whose autograph I have on my paycheck and hence keep my views to myself. I go shopping and I am stunned to see an entire aisle dedicated to gifts-for-pets for Christmas. I turn my head away when my collegue kisses a dog on its mouth. Thats gross, as per me. I've never had problems with people who do that but I've always wondered how one could treat a pet like another living "person" in the house.
As an aside, almost all the pet-owners are ignorant about others' inconvenience or their lack of love for pets. At one end you have the pet-owners - "How can anyone be scared of my pet?" At the other end you have some - "why should anyone tolerate your lack of hygenic sense? Take your damn pet away from me. Eww! the hair is all over the place." I am somewhere in between.
But I was really interested in knowing what a pet-lover actually thinks of the world in general and non-pet-lovers in particular. I had to get this off my chest, so I asked this question to a pet-loving friend of mine, whose repartee was "You don't understand, do you? I don't expect you to. Its like people with babies talking to people without them. You can never relate to them unless you have one for yourself." I was appalled. Not because his anology was heavy on emotion and light on actual content and meaning but because someone could actually equate a dog or a cat or whatever you have to the species thats at the highest rung of the evolution ladder. All my AynRand-ish logic of "Man is superior" is negated by a man who equates this great species to that of an animal. If thats how my logical sense would get if I own a pet, I don't want to own a dog .....ever. And here I wait for an answer from some pet-owner. Maybe someday.....
posted by D LordLabak @ 4:50 PM
15 Comments:
believe me or not, as i was reading ur post, i wanted to comment pets are like babies and there u had it in the last para... :-)... having pets has its own advantages and disadvantages... ofcourse, hygine is a issue..
the affection a pet has towards the people in the house is just amazing... after a tiring day, coming to the house and being welcomed by a pet is a unwordable experience (atleast to me)...
Naikutti, you were one of the persons I had in mind when I wrote this.:-) One of my friends said, if he had a fight with anybody in the house or kicked them while leaving for work, they wont come running to him in the evening when he gets back but his dog would do just that. Thats something to ponder.
One thing is that at five years too, a human baby is not that dangerous and you can go near it as a visitor, not so with a pet that has razor-sharp teeth (assuming that it is generally "un"friendly with visitors) :-)
True thennavan. And its easy to spank a 5-year old (albeit without the parents noticing ;-) ) even if it tries to bite us. Try doing that to a dog.;-)
though there are lot of reasons for having pets...i wouldn't have one bec of the following reasons....
* i think it is bad to keep animals in a small area to keep myself happy...
* hygiene
* too much responsibility....i need to take good care of it ..food, medicines at proper times....that is too tough for me...i dont think i had food @ proper times for last 4 yrs ...engendhu pets ku saapadu podradhu....
* some religious belief too....:)
[these are my views ...i never say these to a pet lover...if i did ...argument follows ....and i dont like to get in to those situations]
Me, I am curious about the religious angle. Can you explain?
I wud love to have pets but wudnt want to go with the 'works' as 'Me' said..
Dont think Id do a good job of it..
But I do love pets, esp with the ones that my friends had..when in India...
They can lighten u up anytime..:-)
free leavings...:)
""""why should anyone tolerate your lack of hygenic sense? Take your damn pet away from me. Eww! the hair is all over the place." """"
I have same feeling, even after I ve had 2 dogs in my place.... I used to play with them when i was a kid, but after a point of time this Hygiene factor got into me...
From then on, i rarely touch em.... Even though u own it, thers gotta b a certain distance between u and ur 'animal'.....
I seriously dunno, how ppl can 'smooch' their pets?????? somebody save them!!!!!!
vinoo, finally I see a pet-owner (albeit former) who can relate to pet-haters.:-)
I guess it all depends on how you look at things. E.g., I just can't understand what's so great or hygienic about a mother changing a baby's diapers or cleaning the poop after the baby has done its thing. However, say this to a "tamizh ponnu" (I don't exactly categorise you in that ;-) )and she'd be outraged. How dare I?
Well, the same is true of people who adore their pets and have hair all over their place - in the face of their love for their animals, evolution or inconvenience takes a back seat.
Me? I'd love to have a few pets myself - a cat and a dog preferably - and some others thrown in for fun too. But since I have become nomadic of late, I can't bear to see the animal pining away when I am away, hungry and forlorn. Yes, animals do pine, and I know it firsthand: I once stayed at a friend's place for a couple of days when he was travelling and I saw his dog literally jumping up and down when it (it was a dog - a Dalmatian) and his name was dot com) saw me enter the house in the evenings. Ditto with a cat that my mother used to have.
I guess the reason people adore their pets is that the reciprocal love from these so-called dumb (used derogatorily by certain people, not literally) animals is incredible. They don't look at your faults, they don't mind (for long) if you scream at them, and they always look adoringly at you. Now, try finding a human being that does this to you, and you'll understand what a gigantic ego-boosting payoff it is.
And well, it's not just the stupid ego payoff, it's the fact that they accept you for what you are - which is something that can't be said of many people
The kumar's were planning to invite you their home for a cuppa; but now you are persona non grata at the selva's home. You'll slyly spank my pet when we aren't looking will you? Hmph... My wife and sons will grrr...
Anyway first we'll try to convert you; See these links....
Ginga
Terri
Princess Puvi
@Naikkutty I'm with you.
@Thennavan - Hmph.
@me - I agree with you, pets are a responsibility; you just cant have them on a whim.
@vinoo - Grrr. Hmph. (and a past pet owner at that - shame, shame)
@practical idealist - Yaay, Finally a friend who understands and also expresses him/herself well. Where are your legs guru? Muaaah. I could kiss you. :)
Happy that the comments ended on a positive note.
I was appalled. Not because his anology was heavy on emotion and light on actual content and meaning but because someone could actually equate a dog or a cat or whatever you have to the species thats at the highest rung of the evolution ladder. All my AynRand-ish logic of "Man is superior" is negated by a man who equates this great species to that of an animal.
"Exception your honour... I mean objection Lord Labak".
The different species that exist are all as much evolved as any other species now living. What the opposition says is a factual error and should be struck down. Refer to Evolution and devolution.
Also this commentor feels that Ayn Randism is anti-society, because it supports the individual over the society. Man/woman being a social animal cannot exist in isolation.
Further links:
Devolution
Anthropocentrism
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