Entry tags:
Our fur-families
In today's blogcutter café, I'm going to tackle the question: Is pet ownership a right? Already I can almost hear your snorts of derision. But bear with me.
First, a brief aside. I'm using the term "pet-owner" as a kind of shorthand here. I'm well aware that we don't truly "own" another living creature.
Numerous studies suggest that pet ownership is THE most important factor in determining life satisfaction. Yes, more important than having good relationships with friends or family (of the human variety); more important than whether you have any life-threatening disease; certainly more important than how wealthy you are.
At the same time, many folk buy into the "deserving" vs. "undeserving" dichotomy when it comes to things like health care. Some feel that if you smoke heavily, or are an alcholic or drug addict, or otherwise engage in high-risk or self-destructive behaviour, you should pay higher health care premiums than if you do not do these things. Of course, private insurance agents do typically charge more in premiums for people in some of these categories. And don't get me started on some of this country's policies with respect to immigrants.
So given that pet ownership has such a positive effect on a person's mental health - in itself a benefit to society as a whole, before you even begin to factor in the reduction in the number of unwanted animals - would it not in a way make sense to offer lower insurance rates to people who have pets? Maybe even government-funded medicare should be extended to our four-legged friends? Perhaps it should be a violation of the human rights code for a landlord to refuse to rent to a pet-owner, for public and inter-city transit vehicles to disallow pets on board or for business-owners to refuse entry to people who arrive with their pets. Don't laugh - it's already become a human rights issue to disallow guide-dogs for the blind in such situations so if we're talking allergies here, it's just as possible to be allergic to a guide-dog as it is to some other kind of dog!
Part of the resistance to labelling pet ownership a "right" may be the way people tend to feel that "right" is the opposite of, say, "responsibility", or "privilege". And it ain't necessarily so. Pet ownership is DEFINITELY a responsibility. I'm not suggesting for one moment that someone who is unable or unwilling to properly look after an animal, or who (for example) has a somewhat erratic or itinerant lifestyle,
or whose environment is unsuitable (e.g. living in a small apartment with a large dog which needs lots of exercise), should embark upon inappropriate pet ownership. On the other hand, I'm not so sure financial considerations alone should necessarily preclude pet ownership. (For example, the Public Citizen in today's Ottawa Citizen dealt with a woman who had agreed to have her cat picked up by the Ottawa Humane Society for some urgent medical attention - if the OHS does decide to proceed with the treatment as opposed to euthanasia, the woman will not be allowed to have the cat back, even though it seems she has done nothing wrong and the cat is something of a lifeline for the housebound owner; it's all making me seriously reconsider my membership in and future donations to the OHS.)
As for "privilege", I'm also well aware that it's definitely a privilege to earn the affection and trust of a companion animal - something that can at times be an up-hill struggle, even for the most kindly and attentive of pet-owners.
As modern medicine becomes more sophisticated, it make sense to devote more time and energy to PREVENTATIVE measures rather than simply after-the-fact fancy pharmaceuticals and technologies. I say, let's start looking at pet ownership as proactive health care!
First, a brief aside. I'm using the term "pet-owner" as a kind of shorthand here. I'm well aware that we don't truly "own" another living creature.
Numerous studies suggest that pet ownership is THE most important factor in determining life satisfaction. Yes, more important than having good relationships with friends or family (of the human variety); more important than whether you have any life-threatening disease; certainly more important than how wealthy you are.
At the same time, many folk buy into the "deserving" vs. "undeserving" dichotomy when it comes to things like health care. Some feel that if you smoke heavily, or are an alcholic or drug addict, or otherwise engage in high-risk or self-destructive behaviour, you should pay higher health care premiums than if you do not do these things. Of course, private insurance agents do typically charge more in premiums for people in some of these categories. And don't get me started on some of this country's policies with respect to immigrants.
So given that pet ownership has such a positive effect on a person's mental health - in itself a benefit to society as a whole, before you even begin to factor in the reduction in the number of unwanted animals - would it not in a way make sense to offer lower insurance rates to people who have pets? Maybe even government-funded medicare should be extended to our four-legged friends? Perhaps it should be a violation of the human rights code for a landlord to refuse to rent to a pet-owner, for public and inter-city transit vehicles to disallow pets on board or for business-owners to refuse entry to people who arrive with their pets. Don't laugh - it's already become a human rights issue to disallow guide-dogs for the blind in such situations so if we're talking allergies here, it's just as possible to be allergic to a guide-dog as it is to some other kind of dog!
Part of the resistance to labelling pet ownership a "right" may be the way people tend to feel that "right" is the opposite of, say, "responsibility", or "privilege". And it ain't necessarily so. Pet ownership is DEFINITELY a responsibility. I'm not suggesting for one moment that someone who is unable or unwilling to properly look after an animal, or who (for example) has a somewhat erratic or itinerant lifestyle,
or whose environment is unsuitable (e.g. living in a small apartment with a large dog which needs lots of exercise), should embark upon inappropriate pet ownership. On the other hand, I'm not so sure financial considerations alone should necessarily preclude pet ownership. (For example, the Public Citizen in today's Ottawa Citizen dealt with a woman who had agreed to have her cat picked up by the Ottawa Humane Society for some urgent medical attention - if the OHS does decide to proceed with the treatment as opposed to euthanasia, the woman will not be allowed to have the cat back, even though it seems she has done nothing wrong and the cat is something of a lifeline for the housebound owner; it's all making me seriously reconsider my membership in and future donations to the OHS.)
As for "privilege", I'm also well aware that it's definitely a privilege to earn the affection and trust of a companion animal - something that can at times be an up-hill struggle, even for the most kindly and attentive of pet-owners.
As modern medicine becomes more sophisticated, it make sense to devote more time and energy to PREVENTATIVE measures rather than simply after-the-fact fancy pharmaceuticals and technologies. I say, let's start looking at pet ownership as proactive health care!