![\"from](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2017\/01\/dogs-1210323_1920-1024x739.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Put simply, is it ethical to own a dog to provide you with companionship, even if you won\u2019t be able to care for it properly?<\/p>\n
This is a question that I\u2019m asking myself in connection with my mom. \u00a0She\u2019s 77, and has owned two dogs, Shelties, getting the first one just after I went off to college, while my younger brother was in high school, and replacing him after he died. \u00a0It seems to me that it\u2019s been 5 years or so since her second dog died, maybe less, but for quite some time, while my dad was in the hospital, then in rehab, a new dog was quite out of the question. \u00a0Now she\u2019s looking at the Humane Society website for her preferred breed on a regular basis.<\/p>\n
But I worry. \u00a0She\u2019s not physically active, so she wouldn\u2019t be able to take the dog on walks or other activity. \u00a0I am doubtful that she\u2019d be able to train the dog. \u00a0And if Dad has another hospitalization, what would she do? \u00a0Put it\u00a0in a\u00a0kennel? \u00a0Leave it at home all day, or simply spend less time at the hospital? \u00a0Not to mention that if she herself were hospitalized, the situation would be even more difficult. \u00a0And they don\u2019t live nearby, and my sister, the closest of us, is too far to help.<\/p>\n
So while she was here visiting, I had encouraged her to volunteer at an animal shelter, or else to look into fostering a dog, so that, if she\u2019s not able to care for the dog, or becomes unable to, there\u2019s no serious problem. \u00a0She wasn\u2019t interested in either of those options. \u00a0Bottom line is that she wants a dog as a companion that she can get emotionally attached to, not just an animal to pet and brush.<\/p>\n
Now, I\u2019m not actually in a position where I can veto her decision. \u00a0If she finds a dog she likes, it\u2019s her choice whether to follow through or not. \u00a0(Though, to be sure, she\u2019s been talking about this for a while \u2014 if she\u2019s so picky that none of \u00a0the animals available are right for her, then maybe she herself isn\u2019t confident this isn\u2019t the right decision.)<\/p>\n
But maybe it isn\u2019t as poor a choice as it seems. \u00a0After all, a dog isn\u2019t a human. \u00a0It\u2019s an animal. \u00a0And, look, we eat animals all the time. \u00a0We confine pigs into pens, wait for them to grow to full size, then kill them and eat their meat \u2013 pork, ham, bacon. \u00a0Yum. \u00a0Is it somehow any worse to bring a dog into the home and give it insufficient exercise or opportunities for activity?<\/p>\n
Now, it seems worse because a dog, or any pet, is an animal that we have made a conscious decision to care for, so that to fail to do so is to go back on a commitment \u2014 though, of course, if you never committed to taking a dog on a walk, that\u2019s not really the issue, is it? \u00a0And, in any case,\u00a0is it actually ethically wrong?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Image: \u00a0from Pixabay; https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/dogs-puppies-play-two-group-1210323\/<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Put simply, is it ethical to own a dog to provide you with companionship, even if you won\u2019t be able to care for it properly? This is a question that I\u2019m asking myself in connection with my mom. \u00a0She\u2019s 77, and has owned two dogs, Shelties, getting the first one just after I went off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":5808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n