Sociology

Pets form the daily part of our lives. There are tens of thousands of pets which we interact with in our homes. For example, pets like dogs, cats, birds, monkey and rabbits are very familiar animals to us. In a broad sense, mankind has identified with them for an infinitely long period of time to an extent that they have become like our family members.

However, you may ask yourself why pets as animals have become part and parcel of our households yet we continue to violate their rights. Animals, according to my view, deserve to be treated equally well just like human beings. There are numerous benefits we derive from them. However, in this essay, I am going to explore one specific importance of animals as pets and why they should be given due care and consideration like human beings.

Animal liberationists have presented in-depth arguments concerning how animals are generally given bad treatment. If their opinion on animals is anything to go by, then the society has an overwhelming responsibility to review and correct its attitude on animals. Shell (121) observes that pets provide pleasure, companionship, and protection or the feeling of being secure. This is unbelievable bearing in mind how animals have been mistreated and continue to be mishandled even today. In his point of view, Shell has a strong feeling that animal pets are indeed friends to human beings. Some pets like dogs give a real identity of security whenever they are around. Cats and birds for instance, elicit a lot of liveliness whenever we interact with them. The aesthetic value in them is incredible. Why then should their existence and comfort rights be ignored Is it that animals cannot talk for themselves and so they are less important I dont think so.

Ordinary definitions of pet obscure not only what man and animals are but also what is the place of the pets in the family structure (Shell 123). The great value posed by animal pets has lost meaning from time immemorial. As Shell notes, the rightful position of pets in a family unit is yet to be acknowledged. Despite this scenario, there are those who have come to realize the importance of pets. For pet lovers, pets are family (Shell123). We still have opponents to this element of giving value to animals as pets. They vehemently argue that it is not morally right to think of animals as part of our family members. According to them, a family structure is blood related and there is no way animals can form a family with human beings and become equals.

According to Heidi Wallace, Sara Staats and Tara Anderson (280), it is important to realize that human circumstances have changed greatly in the last 5,000 years. The technological advancement coupled with change in human culture has revolutionized the human thinking in the aspect of animal rights. Animals are no longer extensively used in errands like hunting or providing warmth. This does not however, overlook the precious roles animals play even today. Heidi et al. agree that animals are still in our abodes a majority of human familieskeep a companion animal (280). To be able to keep a pet demands love for the animals. It is also a voluntary act without compulsion. This human-animal behavior has survived the test of time and is vivid evidence that there has been a strong human-animal bond across time, change and cultures (Heidi et al. 280). For this historical background reason, animals should be accorded the much needed love, care and family embrace they deserve. If indeed their companies make sense to us, then there is no valid ideology why their interests should not be protected. In any case, both human beings and animals still belong to vast known animal kingdom, not plants It is therefore ridiculous to despise or perform any act to animals that is considered injurious.

Consider this theory. Human nature does not permit lone ranging. We are well knit like a fabric to an extent that going, doing or living alone is not our nature except in extremely unexplainable cases. As everything is rapidly changing around us so do the human fabric continue to be torn apart. In the end, we are too busy to find quality time for one another. It is at this point when animals come in as pets to cover up our loneliness. Heidi et al, according to research carried out in the United States of America confirms that avoidance of loneliness is the most frequently given reason for keeping a pet (286). Most people still value animals as pets. They keep us company when we are bored, a role that is supposed to be played by human beings. If this is true that animal pets can break our boredom and keep us lively, then I dont see why they should be segregated or disregarded in the human society. They too have a right to good shelter, quality food and health care. The social importance of pets cannot be over-emphasized it clearly stands out for itself.

Alexa Albert and Kris Bulcroft (544) assert that pets have been overlooked in family studies.Rational social scientists have not thought of them as real family members. Children are also not included in studies related to  family power, response to transitions and communication structures( Alexa Bulcroft 544).These social scientists seem to be extremely occupied with matters related to family challenges rather than the positive aspects of animal pets. Moreover, young growing minds, namely children lack adequate and relevant information to do with changes within family units. All these put together form a protracted web of ignorance to animal dignity. If proper information on animal care was passed from one generation to another, the neglect being experienced today would just be a mirage.

Despite this misinformation, there is still more to celebrate because Americans spend over  5 billion annually feeding dogs and cats alone, while only  3 billion is spent on baby food.(Alexa Bulcroft 544). These statistics attest to the fact that animals form an integral part of our society. Like the Americans, the rest of the world and humanity in general ought to embrace this animal protectionist policy.

Pets are largely ignored by the city dwellers because their economic value is viewed to be low. It is however, imperative to note that the economic attachment given to animal pets is a disguise to their real function social output. As we have investigated above, the social gains derived from pets has far reaching implications which are beneficial to human beings as well. A society cannot flourish if the social element is weak, unstable or at the verge of collapse. In another study carried out among the American households, respondents were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 the extent to which their favorite pet is a member of the family (Alexa Bulcroft 547).It was amazing that the majority of the respondents rated on the scale 5 indicating that animal pets are sincere members of the family. The hypotheses in this research indeed came out to be true. From this and many research studies carried in the past, we can be me conclusive that animals can be used as pets, playing an inevitable role of companionship, happiness, pleasure and security. For this undisputable importance of animal pets, they should also be incorporated into human rights and liberation efforts. This will definitely protect these innocent creatures from being extinct with time. I strongly suggest more vibrancy in the animal liberation movements for the sake of animal posterity.