The Social Construction of Domestication

[Brandon Becker]

Ida Hammer make a powerful critique of Friends of Animals' speciesist and patronizing views of "domesticated" nonhuman animals:
http://www.veganideal.org/content/social-construction-domestication

Excerpt:
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Most pets are classified as so-called "domesticated animals." The root term "domestic" comes from the Latin word for house. As such, it's no wonder that the "domestication" of other animals relates to the social construction of our inability to understand these other animals as capable of living independently of a human household.
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[Tim Gier]

Thanks Brandon,

It's easy to get stuck in the mindset that says some other animals are incapable of living on their own, or best suited to being treated as perpetual infants. I wonder, were they given the choice, if those other animals we currently confine in our homes would rather be free, even if that meant a "hard life" of fending for themselves. I know what I would choose.

[Brandon Becker]

Exactly, Tim. We should accord other animals equal consideration and respect, regardless if they are deemed "wild" or "domesticated" by some humans.

All sentient beings have moral rights to self-ownership (freedom from enslavement- owned as chattel property by humans), their lives (freedom from murder by humans) and their liberty (freedom from bodily harm and confinement by humans).

"Domestication" is dependence upon humans due to captivity and reproductive control over generations. If any of the currently enslaved could not live independently of humans due to human-induced genetic problems (such as pigs who endure intense suffering when their legs cannot withstand their weight after a few years) or lack of suitable habitat (we shouldn't disrupt ecological systems, which harm free-living individuals), they still deserve to live free of being owned, murdered, and confined (even if it cannot be fully realized) by humans.

Watch "The Laboratory Rat: A Natural History" (http://www.ratlife.org/ or http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7746085357822333003#) to see how "domesticated" rats when released to a large fenced-off but natural environment were able to immediately engage in the same behaviors and thrive just like their free-living counterparts in nature.

[Lisa Qualls]

In the United States some of the same rationalizations were used to defend keeping Africans enslaved including "they cannot survive on their own",  "they are better suited to physical labor" , "they are not as intelligent as whites", etc. and when that form of slavery was finally abolished the establishment did many things to prevent the "free" African-Americans from succeeding.  Speciesists (same as racists) are still using those same prejudiced comments and attitudes against non-humans.

It would be really nice if those who have been the victim of racism or sexism would realize that they are committing the same crimes when they are speciesist. 

[Brandon Becker]

Great point, Lisa. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Kate✯GO VEGAN+NOBODY GETS HURT Ⓥ]

Hello Brandon. Thanks for starting this interesting and useful discussion.

You make this statement

- We should accord other animals equal consideration and respect, regardless if they are deemed "wild" or "domesticated" by some humans. -
I fully agree.

You also say

- we shouldn't disrupt ecological systems, which harm free-living individuals -

I would agree with this where the disruption of ecological systems would cause harm to the free-living individuals who were living there, but where the disruption of ecological systems would be of benefit to the free-living individuals who were living there, then I would be in favour of it.

Can I assume you would to?

 

To explain this idea further I offer this essay

http://arzone.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-ethics-of-the-ecology-of

 

Thanks

Antispeciesist greetings

[Brandon Becker]

Yeah, I'm not making a categorical statement against disrupting ecosystems. I was just assuming, under the precautionary principle, that unless humans can be reasonably sure that the disruption will be a net benefit rather than a net harm (without making any individual worse off, all things equally considered) to all inhabiting sentient beings of a given environment, then we should avoid intervening. I'll definitely read that essay from Oscar Horta you linked to, as I want to always be sure I'm promoting what's best for other animals.

[Maynard S. Clark]

Will the world see peace is WE (a small percentage) just refrain from doing violence in OUR share of the space-time continuum?

During the 1960s and 1970s, faith communities that committed themselves to PEACE used terms from the Vietnam war (the War in Southeast Asia) and termed their buildings and communities 'a DMZ' - a demilitarized zone.

 

How effective are WE (by our not doing violence)?

 

How tempting it must be for those who want to have an impact to want to scale up their own use of power, rather than to back off.  But 'escalation' of violence seems to make things much worse (or does it)?  What is effective, and what did Mohandas K. Gandhi teach about Satyagraha?  Is that morally and strategically TRUE, or is it not?

Feel free to friend me and connect with me.

 

One answer I've found and tried effectively over these years is community organizing, vegetarian (read vegan) community organizing.  Bringing together they SYNERGIES makes HUGE differences in the qualitative transformations we can make happen, nonviolently.

 

Maynard

[Brandon Becker]

Maynard, I don't see how this is related to the topic at hand. Did you accidently reply to the wrong topic?

[Bill Cherry Jr]

The fact is that whether you accept it or not, a household pet of the common dog and cat variety especially is probably the equivalent of an emotionally or intellectually handicapped child. It is the result of breeding for a specific trait which has all but completely wiped out their wild 'instincts/knowledge'.

There is a difference. I guess it all boils down to what one considers respect for being. For example, a store puchased cockatiel has no place in the American wild (let alone in domestication). Not only is it not indigeouness to the area and apparently those that have escaped have not been able to acclimate but they have also had olmost all of their 'wildness' bred out of them. This is where the feral thing comes in.

So if a dog is a pig is a boy,... then would you allow a mentally or emotionally handicapped child, whom you know their tendencies, traits and characteristics would prevent them from actually functioning on their own; would you not feel a responsibility towards their well-being?

[Bill Cherry Jr]

Dr Yates. Do you feel that animals in the wild are on a level playing ground with domesticated 'pets', emotionally, intellectually ? (bear with me sir, I'm only two yrs into understanding the nuances of AR)

Bill Cherry

 

[Tim Gier]

Given that the evolutionary process which got the world to having wolves in the first place took tens of millions of years, it's reasonable to assume, I think, that our selective breeding of them in the last ten-thousand years or so is just so much "tinkering at the margins" in terms of their basic behaviors and constitution.

[red dog]

This discussion is too abstract for me. Obviously FoA misspoke when it said domesticated animals can't have rights, but what is the problem with the statement that "domesticated animals require us to look after their welfare"? Does anyone seriously advocate turning tame animals loose in the streets (where all their "natural habitat" has disappeared)? My dog wouldn't stand a chance in the winter in a cold climate--some large dogs (like huskies and Jindos) might, but the survivors would probably form packs and threaten people's safety as they still do in many parts of northern Canada. There the usual solution is "dog shoot days."

In practice, FoA promotes veganism, opposes breeding and supports low-cost spay-neuter programs--all of which prevent animals' rights from being violated in pounds and other facilities (and from being shot in places with no spay/neuter programs or leash laws). I'm not necessarily defending FoA as an organization, but they were providing low-cost spay-neuter long before any mainstream group acknowledged the need for it.