on "owning" pets

I'm still thinking about the article from my previous post (on debarking) and what it means.

I think about animals a lot, and I can't help referring back to the animal persons I interact with most--my cats.

Removing claws, severing vocal chords--these measures just seem like such an outright unwillingness to compromise. Close relationships are about negotiating and understanding, about giving, and loving another being for who they are without intent to change them. This accurately describes my relationships with my family and dearest friends, and it translates well to my relationship with Monster and Mallow. I compromise with them and they with me (yes you can sit on me, and I will hold still for as long as possible so that you are comfortable, but you will have to accept my using you as a book rest), and when there are places we cannot come to compromise (floor-pooping), then we are in the territory of love: I love them, and therefore I accept the things they do which I cannot change or understand. This is not always ideal (the yodeling for breakfast is not pleasant for anyone, and did I mention the floor-pooping?), but no relationship is ever perfect.

Of course our relationships with companion animals are not equal. Monster and Mallow, for example, do not pay rent. They do not finish their chores, wish me a happy birthday, nor will they financially support me in my old age. They are not humans and therefore these things are largely meaningless to them. I have a greater responsibility to them. I clean up after them, feed them, provide them with medical care. It is not an even equation; I make all the decisions about their lives, can dominate them easily, and legally they are chattel property.

So when I hear about pet "owners" disabling their companion animals for convenience, I feel like those animals have been sorely betrayed.

I'm perplexed by the power relationship between humans and companion animals, confused by how we relate to them and what we want from them. I try hard to avoid using terms of ownership when it comes to my cats--I say "my cats" like I would say "my sisters". While I make choices for them all the time, I try to be considerate. While I choose to accept their idiosyncrasies, they don't have a choice about mine.

I would love to spend some time working on ideas about companion animals. I have Donna Haraway's When Species Meet and Companion Animal Manifesto but as yet no time to read them. Since my relationship with Monster and Mal is so immediate, it feels like an important issue to address.