Do you remember your first dog or cat? Perhaps even your first boa constrictor? Whatever your preference, pets can play a huge role in our lives, even becoming full-fledged family members. But is domestication really in an animal’s best interest? Does pet ownership create a loving bond between human and animal, or does it only serve our own interests?
Rutgers University School of Law
I maintain that we ought to care for the domesticated nonhuman animals whose existence we humans have caused or facilitated through the existence of the institution of “pet” ownership, but I do not think that we should continue that institution. We should sterilize companion animals in the manner that is least invasive given the particular situation.
I am often asked: “But doesn’t sterilizing an animal raise a moral problem?”
Of course not. If we agree that the institution of “pet” ownership cannot be morally justified, how can we say that we have a moral obligation to perpetuate it? That makes no sense.
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