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--- top_reasons_to_keep_cats_indoors [2025/11/15 18:47] – administrator
+++ top_reasons_to_keep_cats_indoors [2025/12/04 12:21] (current) – administrator
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 ===== Domestication and Pet Ownership =====
-Ethically seen it is quite obvious – domestication and pet ownership violate the fundamental rights of non-human animals. When talking about basic animal rights, then we really should only talk about one basic right – the right not to be regarded as ‘property’. If we agree on the fact that human and non-human animals are not ‘things’ or ‘objects’, then they cannot be a property. Also, if human and non-human animals are regarded as ‘objects’, then they logically cannot have an intrinsic value, and therefore they cannot have any rights. Only the owner of an object, or in our case a pet, has got rights, not the object or the pet itself.
+{{ :house_cat.jpeg?200|}}Ethically seen it is quite obvious – domestication and pet ownership violate the fundamental rights of non-human animals. When talking about basic animal rights, then we really should only talk about one basic right – the right not to be regarded as ‘property’. If we agree on the fact that human and non-human animals are not ‘things’ or ‘objects’, then they cannot be a property. Also, if human and non-human animals are regarded as ‘objects’, then they logically cannot have an intrinsic value, and therefore they cannot have any rights. Only the owner of an object, or in our case a pet, has got rights, not the object or the pet itself.
 Having said that, most pet owners may choose to treat their pets as valued members of their family. The law will protect that decision, because the owner may choose to value his or her property as he or she likes. However, the fact remains, under the existing legal system pets are objects, and they are therefore regarded as property. Animal welfare laws make no difference whatsoever in this respect, they only regulate some aspects of pet ownership, but nothing more. Pet owners have the legal right to treat their animals as they see fit, as long as they provide for minimal food, water and shelter. This leaves an immense grey area for emotional and physical negligence and abuse.