What It Feels Like to be a Pet

For decades, many people have been adopting pets, such as dogs, cats, birds, snakes, and rabbits, for myriad number of reasons. They get their own pets because they want to have companion, to get entertainment, or even to give protection to the pets. Regardless of the motives, be it good or bad, have you ever imagined for once what it feels like to be a pet? We may be too selfish to grab some animals as our own belongings - as property - but let's imagine ourselves being caged, isolated, and in some occasions, abused. Can you feel the grievances that they may suffer from? Just because they never tell it to us, it doesn't mean they don't feel it. The worst thing is, we never actually try to think about it for once merely because of hierarchical structure of living beings - the fact that we are humans and they're just animals.

It is definitely unfair that many animals must suffer because they can't live with their associates including their relatives or their friends because we keep them to ourselves in our home, being isolated from the beauty of the outside world. Animals deserve to be free, to have the same right of movement and happiness as we currently have. They can actually feel that if we let them stay in their own habitat, exploring the environment as they're supposed to do. That way, they can do things as they want and don't have to feel afraid of being locked up in the same place they never want. It is within our morality to treat them the same as other humans because after all they're also living beings and for that, they must have conscience of their own. The fact that they have instinct to survive, intention to self defend their children, and ability to procreate shows that they're just as alive as we are, hence they deserve to be treated humanely.

The massive demand of pets has also raised criticism among many animal activists. We never really see it, but the process to gain more pets to keep up with the demand from society is brutal. We can't expect ourselves to pick up dogs or cats in their habitat as easy as finding grass. The only way to gain more dogs is to force them to breed. That is precisely the reason why we have "puppy mills" or also known as "puppy farm" like the the ones we often find in United States. According to the Humane Society of the United States, there are an estimated 10,000 licensed and unlicensed puppy mills in the United States, in total selling more than 2,000,000 puppies annually. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in Avenson v. Zegart in 1984 as "a dog breeding operation in which the health of the dogs is disregarded in order to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits". The term "mill" is also applied to operations involving other animals commercially bred for profit, including cats. Imagine yourself being forced to breed continuously like those puppies in the mills. It hurts like hell and that is what those animals feel. They deserve better. They are not property.

The next thing to say may sound a little bit funny. In reality, there is actually a discrimination to animals as a result of standard of beauty among pets. The problem with pets is, they have to be cute and good looking for someone to be willing enough to take them. However, the puppies born in the mills are not entirely "pets" material. There's a serious consequence from that. Such standard of beauty among pets will surely disadvantage many unwanted pets who don't possess the same attractiveness as those with privilege. They will end up being endlessly locked up without no one having intention to care enough for their existence, not even the mill workers. They will be stuck living in cages without anyone giving them adequate assistance. Many are left dying. The rest ends up being butchered and sold to those who want their meats. A kind of action worse than selling them as pets. It's unfair and particularly disgusting that dogs or birds are treated inhumanely like that. They deserve better. They are not property.

In conclusion, the concept of pets is inhumane. It is paramount that pets are no more. To ensure that they can live freely and not be treated like trash in the mills. Not too many people are aware of this issue. Not too many people know that "puppy mills" even exist. It's time for us to put aside our egoism for once, for the sake of animals out there - the same living beings that we should highly concern about. As what PETA said, "there is simply no reason for animals to be bred and sold for the pet-store trade". We should agree that animals should be treated humanely. They deserve freedom. Free from isolation. Free from abuses. Free from being hurt.