Pet Ethical Dilemmas

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In this paper, I want to focus on how society talks about pets and the ethical concerns around owning different animal beings. Through my experience of owning a turtle, I have realized he is not what anyone would consider a “pet” because society doesn’t regard him as a normal “pet”. I will argue the social construct of “pets” is harmful because it results in humans treating animal beings unequally.
Childhood stories, fables and television portray turtles as being slow and cautious, which gave me an idea of what to expect from owning him. When put in new environments, he is very cautious and easily startled. He will hiss and hide in his shell when almost anything comes near him. When I was kid, every time I reached my arm into his home to give
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After fifteen years of being his owner, he still hisses and hides in shell every time I go to feed him or see how he is doing. It is interesting to note that his animal nature has not changed (through the fifteen years) to an animal that is more domesticated. Although, I feel that we have a connection because we have spent so many years together, it is almost obvious he doesn’t feel the same way. For example, in Boyle’s, Thirteen Hundred Rats, Gerald chooses a rat over his snake because he “felt the presence beside him, its spirit, its heart, and it was no reptile, no cold thankless thing” (Boyle). When reptiles are described as “thankless” and “cold”, it makes me wonder how this description has become a universal reference for reptiles. When society thinks of reptiles as being “cold”, they attribute this description to the qualities of having a lack of affection, emotion, and warmth. On the other hand, this description of reptiles creates the question; can other animals show affection, emotion, warmth, and thankfulness? Animals cannot talk or speak about how they are feeling or a thought they want to convey, so humans would

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