Pets

I have always loved animals. I grew up riding horses and worked for a large animal veterinarian for a year after I graduated high school. I am the type of person who will carefully remove any type of bug that enters the house and place it back outside without trying to harm it. We have miniature horses, goats, chickens, a cow, a miniature cow, and donkeys at the farm where we keep our horses. At home, we have three dogs and a pet pig. After reading White’s piece, I started to think about what it means to have a pet. I say that I have a pet pig because Gibby is a pet to me, but I wouldn’t necessarily call my horses pets. I think that I personally draw the line at what constitutes a pet when the animal lives in the house and is a part of the family (yes, Gibby sleeps inside at night). I guess this line can seem arbitrary, but to me a pet is an animal that we possess for the sole purpose of keeping us company. I think White would agree as he describes his pet snakes as confiding creatures. The animals at the farm all have a separate purpose – we ride the horses, get eggs from the chickens, and the donkeys fend off coyotes. Although all of the animals at the farm ultimately depend on us for survival, I wouldn’t call them pets because I think a different type of bond is formed with pets that live inside our homes. 

Our pet pig, Gibby, taking a nap

White’s reading reminded me of my weird obsession with snakes when I was younger. Everytime we drove up to Ohio to visit my grandparents, we would stop at Reptile World and I would BEG my mom to let me get a pet snake (unfortunately, she said no every year). This reading reinforced my belief that humans are connected to other animals. If we weren’t, I do not think that we would form the types of bonds with our pets that we do. I also believe that animals can help connect us to the natural world. My family recently acquired a new puppy. Because he possesses endless amounts of energy, we have to walk him a ton. Over Thanksgiving break, I would take him on long walks everyday (although they didn’t seem to help with the energy issue). However, having a pet like a dog forces us to go outside. Although White appears to be against the notion of having pets, he just couldn’t seem to help himself. While I think that capturing and trying to domesticate “wild” animals is unfair to the animal, keeping these already domesticated animals, like dogs and cats, can only make us better humans. 

Our new puppy

Because the readings from this week centered around animals, I was reminded of this quote from Gandhi that I really admire:  “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” I find truth in this statement, and I think many of the authors we have read this semester would as well. I think that treating animals morally goes hand in hand with treating nature morally. While we can argue about preservation vs. conservation and whether or not visiting national parks does more harm than good, I firmly believe that having a respect for the natural world is a good place to start. Furthermore, this respect should involve treating animals kindly. Whenever I see an undomesticated animal, like a deer or a bird, I am reminded that wilderness persists even in the midst of our modern world.

Hawk near the Trinity River

Bees pollinating on TCU's campus