Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to This is so pathetic

Well said. For some, dogs, cats and people are merely objects.
Bowser — (archived)

Relationships are viewed in the light of what can be gotten from them.

The dogs in my life started out as "the puppy", became a "dog" and then evolved into another being with needs and rights roughly on a par with mine. And certainly I owed them more than they owed me. While they continued to sleep on the floor, eat from a bin and drink water from various toilets when travelling. They were full-fledged members of the family. These guys were good, and friends and relatives regarded them as they would have any other valued relative.

And at some point one realizes that except for a slight difference in genetics we were identical. Same emotions, same reactions. Given their basic good nature at this point it has always felt like a privilege to know them.

When my first dog was in his final illness, he was in the hospital recovering from exploratory surgery. I visited him in his lower cage, sat with his muzzle in my hand through the wire, talked with him and read some. An attendant came along and said I had to leave or spend the night there. The vet said not to give me that option, I'd stay the night. My vet said he'd seen that relationship between a man and dog only once before. And that pooch had the same relationship with my sister and brother-in-law.

That experience will always be inconprehensible to those unable to relate to other beings except as objects to be manipulated toward one's own ends. And for those people it includes people.

Arf

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