Do animal lovers really love their pets more than humanity?
Remeber the Lacy Peterson story? When they found out she was pregnant when she died. They found the fetus and was discussing this in the media and talk radio shows. Well there was this caller who said she was an animal lover. She said her only concern was "What happened to her dog that she was walking" and hoped it was still alive and ok. Why was this her only concern about the case and what happened to this poor lady and her family. So do all animal lover care for their pets more than Humanity? Just trying to understand not trying to offend anyone.
long_ar2006-08-24T23:36:59Z
Favorite Answer
I think it depends... If someone is single who has pets for more than 5 years, and most likely will love their pets more than humanity. I know a friend of my is like that. True story: When I got beaten by my friend's dog, i was in pain instead saying sorry to me or checking if i was ok, my friend went to kiss the dog and use baby talk to tell the dog, "Precious, that is not ok to bite people".....
I'm thinking she heard every gory detail about that case, except for if the dog was okay. It was probably the only question she hadn't had answered by the media at the time. She knew Lacy was killed, she didn't know if the dog had been, too. That's my take on it. She could also be weird and unable to relate to human beings, hence the concern for the dog, but I think it's probably just a normal curiosity.
I didn't hear about this particular story but i am an animal lover. I have two dogs whom i adore and will have a new puppy in two months time. My dogs mean everything to me because my children are adults, my son lives in Scotland, my daughter's moved to Germany.They have their own lives and although we love each other dearly, are very, very close, we talk on the phone daily! They lead busy lives with their work, partner etc... So i don't see them as much as i would like.
Then my partner works away from home so he's often home week-ends only. As you can see ... My dogs are there for me all the time and they mean so much to me!
I do care about humanity, in fact doe what i can to help what i believe to be worthwhile causes, ranging grom abused women and children to cancer (I'm a cancer survivor twice) and naturally ... Rescue dogs!
I have to say that where my dogs are concerned ... I have done just about everything, including jumping into a lough known to have sucking holes after my OES (Pic) jumped in totally unaware that he could drown and i must stress that i did it without thinking either! I just saw him jump, swim off and jumped straight away. We were both very lucky to avoid a sucking hole. Now some people might call me crazy and you can imagine how badly my partner, children, family and friends took to the news but! I went on automatic pilot the minute i saw my dog in! And you know, to be honest! I do believe i would have done the same thing if it was a person!
I am an animal lover and at times I can regard an animal over a human. With Lacy Peterson, I was most concerned with Conner (I am sure she was too) and her. The dog was fine anyway, we all knew that...that was someone being ignorant and disrespectful. I brake for everyone and everything except tarantulas and snakes.
I do think animal lovers (especially those with pets, or who have had pets they really loved) do ascribe a higher value to animals than non-animal lovers. I know before I had dogs, I didn't really understand why pet owners sometimes act so ridiculous, talking baby talk to their dogs, feeding them homemade treats, etc.
But now that I have dogs, I totally get it. I think it's because animals are so reliant on people to take care of them (at least domestic ones are) and don't play games, or do evil things intentionally. So when you have them, you instinctively bond with them and want to look out for them. And this carries over to other peoples' animals as well.
I'm especially sensitive to stories of mistreatment of animals (especially dogs) now that I have 2 of them. Before I had dogs, it didn't affect me emotionally like it does now - I'd think "oh, that's too bad" and move on.
Personally, when I give to charities, it's almost always animal-related because I feel like there are a lot of people who donate to human-related causes, but maybe the animals out there don't have anyone looking out for them.
An interesting quote from Mahatma Gandhi - "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."