When I was reading David Grimm’s piece on our relationship with cats and dogs I started to think about the criminal case: Regina vs. Dudley and Stephens. In the case, Dudley and Stephens ate their ill-stricken young shipmate, Richard Parker, when they were all stranded at sea with no real food or water left. They justified their cannibalistic behavior by saying that Parker was going to die anyway and it would’ve been a shame to let his flesh rot away. In other words, eating the body of a sick being is putting it to a respectful use like Favre did with the first ram that was eaten. The ultimate idea I got from The Hare and Their Dogs is that our pets remind us that we, too, are wild beings, but more civilized because we live in houses and have institutions that help to create order in our lives. We can always – if our survival depended on it – resort back to our primitive, wild natural selves; and pets remind us of that connection to our primal selves. I read the Cats Kill article, That Cuddly Kitty is Deadlier Than You Think. I know that cats are thought to be responsible for the extinction of some bird species, and for this reason Australia legalized hunting feral cats in a bid to …show more content…
I think that the popularity of pets – at least in America – is mainly due to the decline of the conventional desire for a family. Also, women are getting more independent; feminism is rising, etc. In essence, if you don’t want human physical contact, you may as well get the next best thing: a furry pet! People will kiss their dogs on the lips and sleep with them in their beds. I am guilty of this behavior. Some people just don’t have the inherent need to become a parent and instead of committing themselves to a husband or wife and children, they invest in pets. Pets have been proxies for children for awhile now. They are our companions that we’ve come to live with (like Haraway stated) that use us for guidance and