# Are pets slaves? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 20, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388 "2016-07-20T03:07:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/1 "2016-07-20T03:07:54Z")
This has been mulling around in my head recently and some people I know have made good points (I think) towards it. I find it hard to argue against, even if the arguments are mostly from an emotional point of view. But I’m at a loss. I have four dogs and I’m not sure what to think about it right now. The people I know say yes but I don’t know. Here are some links they gave me: > **[Are Pets Slaves? - The Real Scott Carter](https://therealscottcarter.com/are-pets-slaves/)** > > I love my cat so shouldn't I set her free? This post explores the complex relationship with our beloved furry prisoners and asks: Are pets slaves? [https://forbiddentruthblog.com/2015/01/19/the-forbidden-truths-of-pet-ownership/](https://forbiddentruthblog.com/2015/01/19/the-forbidden-truths-of-pet-ownership/) Does it hold water? Or is it just looking at it from a human perspective? I could use some logical hell here. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/2 "2016-07-20T03:13:24Z")
It doesn’t hold water for most pets. Even animals that can’t simply run off because they are fenced in or never let outside will usually return back to their home if they do get out. This is rarely because they can’t fend for themselves, it’s because the vast majority of pets have a great life and little is required from them. Certainly animals can be abused, chained up, poorly fed, kept only to provide a service, but that doesn’t make the general concept of pet ownership equivalent to slavery. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/3 "2016-07-20T03:13:49Z")
I think you’re confusing the slavery of human beings with the ownership of domesticated animals. Those are pretty different. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/4 "2016-07-20T03:16:41Z")
You’ve never shared living quarters with a cat, have you **Machinaforce**? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/5 "2016-07-20T03:20:29Z")
Cats certinly aren’t. They don’t do anything they don’t feel like doing. Even working cats, as on a farm, are basically following their innate murderous instinct. Working dogs mght be considered slaves. But I abhor dogs and so don’t care what happens to them, unless they are beloved by someone I love. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/6 "2016-07-20T03:21:24Z")
You may as well ask if children are slaves. Some have been, but it doesn’t make parenthood equivalent to slave ownership. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/7 "2016-07-20T03:28:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You may as well ask if children are slaves. Some have been, but it doesn’t make parenthood equivalent to slave ownership. Ten, twelve years ago I knew a woman ho felt very passionately that it was wrong for parents to force even their very young children to do anything they didn’t wish to do. I assume her kids have eaten her by now. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/8 "2016-07-20T03:35:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It doesn’t hold water for most pets. Even animals that can’t simply run off because they are fenced in or never let outside will usually return back to their home if they do get out. This is rarely because they can’t fend for themselves, it’s because the vast majority of pets have a great life and little is required from them. Certainly animals can be abused, chained up, poorly fed, kept only to provide a service, but that doesn’t make the general concept of pet ownership equivalent to slavery. But what about the links I posted, it seemed to me like the first one did a good job of making a case for animals being slaves. They can’t go outside when they want to, or how we put chips in them so they can be return to their “owners”. What about that (among other things the article mentioned)? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/9 "2016-07-20T03:39:20Z")
How about a summation of the points in those two links in the OP? I can’t willing make myself click on anything labelled forbiddentruthblog. It sounds wingnutty already. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/10 "2016-07-20T03:41:33Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > How about a summation of the points in those two links in the OP? I can’t willing make myself click on anything labelled forbiddentruthblog. It sounds wingnutty already. I can’t really summarize the second one, painful as it might be you just have to read it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/11 "2016-07-20T03:44:01Z")
The second one isn’t too long of a read, I’m not good at summarizing. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/12 "2016-07-20T03:47:55Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > But what about the links I posted, it seemed to me like the first one did a good job of making a case for animals being slaves. They can’t go outside when they want to, or how we put chips in them so they can be return to their “owners”. What about that (among other things the article mentioned)? No they don’t make a good case. They compare apples to oranges and tell you that oranges are red and taste like apples. Pets are not humans, they live short brutal lives in the wild, which is not a choice they make either. When we speak of dogs and cats in particular they prefer to live with humans. A caged bird might be considered the equivalent of a slave if not for the fact that they are not human, but even if you do consider them to be slaves that does not make all pets slaves. ETA: And caged birds that get free often return to their homes also. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/13 "2016-07-20T04:05:10Z")
I do notice how they try to liken them to humans, even though it seems to me like they might have a different way of perceiving it than we do. To us it is slavery. But I don’t know about them. what about the second article? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/14 "2016-07-20T04:08:47Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I can’t really summarize the second one, painful as it might be you just have to read it yourself. Then make your own arguments. Here’s mine. Every cat I’ve known, and every cat owned by anyone I’ve known, has lived with absolutely no duties assigned or expected, and in return has been given food and shelter, using the latter only when they felt like it. They’re the very opposite of slaves. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/15 "2016-07-20T04:11:19Z")
Let us say that the counterpart to slavery is freedom. What would animals do with freedom? The predators would hunt and kill the prey animals, and thus worse than enslave them: they would murder them. Meanwhile, what would the prey animals do with their freedom? Eat, shit, and procreate: those are the only things they are capable of doing. Since they do this under their enslavement – and do them more comfortably, as their food source is assured and they are protected from predation – their conditions under freedom would be worse than their conditions on farms and ranches. What can you meaningfully offer to animals, in order that they might govern themselves rationally under their new freedom? They cannot comprehend the social contract, nor property rights. Animal freedom is a fable. It has no realistic meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/16 "2016-07-20T04:14:02Z")
If we are going to call pets “slaves”, then what is it when humans kill animals for food? Murder? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/17 "2016-07-20T04:15:00Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Animal freedom is a fable. It has no realistic meaning. I hope so. I’m getting tired of blowing up those damn windmills. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/18 "2016-07-20T04:17:11Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > If we are going to call pets “slaves”, then what is it when humans kill animals for food? Murder? Some do. As always I feel obliged to point out tht humans are animals no less than cats. If it is murder for me to kill, butcher, and eat a deer, how s it not murder for a cat to torture, dismember, eat a few choice bits of a rat, leaving the remainder to die slowly until a human comes along to put it out of its misery? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/19 "2016-07-20T04:18:12Z")
I don’t have to read past the first paragraph of the second article to ignore it. I didn’t have to read past the title actually, but wasted a few seconds continuing. Truth is not served encrusted with poison. Your articles are nonsense. Make a case for the equivalency of pet ownership and slavery yourself or counter the arguments presented that state otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388/20 "2016-07-20T04:37:58Z")
My cat overlords command me to remind everyone it is humans who are the slaves. Are you seriously thinking it is the master who scoops the poop of the indentured ??? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pets-slaves/760388.md?page=2)