What is up with the world of pets?
People have some wild weird animals for pets. It seems people are willing to domesticate indoors anything smaller than they are. They prefer to domesticate the 500-pound and up animal on a farm (except for Ming, the Siberian Tiger, who spent time in a Harlem flat).
What is it about human beings that lead them toward “pethood” (it seems, the only species that does it)?
And what is up with the animals they choose? My niece and her friends shared a hamster or gerbil or something that size. They hid the thing in their dresser drawers to keep it from their parents. You can imagine what happened: Death in Three Weeks. It seems, gerbils don’t really like sock drawers.
What do you think about the wild world of pet ownership? Are some animals too dangerous? How unfair is banning a particular animal because of its (alleged) nature? Should a person be able to own any animal that person can take care of? What gives human beings the right to capture and domesticate or breed animals?
Should the government get involved and and regulate what animals can and cannot serve as pets? Where do you think the line should be drawn?
This is not only for the human beings who have chosen to care for wild animals. Think about the wild animals growing up in some room with twin beds, a dresser and a desk, or on some patio with patio furniture it cannot use. Or, a cage.
Please post a substantial response of at least two paragraphs, using at least two sources from the reading.
