# psychiatric term for concern for animals over humans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 3, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277 "2013-10-03T17:18:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/21 "2013-10-04T22:16:19Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Hot naked women ARE people. How come every time hot naked women are brought up, somebody jumps in and says stuff like this? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/22 "2013-10-04T22:53:44Z")
I dislike feral cats, but I wouldn’t want to nuke them from orbit. OK, maybe a little. But I am apalled at the old ladies who put cat food outside of the backdoor for “the poor homeless kitties”. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/23 "2013-10-04T23:23:04Z")
Conversely, is there a term for someone’s feeling threatened and defensive when other people express concern for animals instead of chanting “Humans are #1! Humans are #1!”? ---
**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:** [October 4, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/24 "2013-10-04T23:45:55Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Conversely, is there a term for someone’s feeling threatened and defensive when other people express concern for animals instead of chanting “Humans are #1! Humans are #1!”? I don’t feel threatened or defensive when those express concern for animals. I do find myself moderately annoyed by persons who equate their love for a dog or cat with my love for my actual, human child. Dogs & cats, and some other animals, are of moral value in my opinion; their suffering is not meaningless, and it is possible to feel genuine love for them. But they’re not worth as much to me as the average human, and they are not our children. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/25 "2013-10-04T23:53:26Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Conversely, is there a term for someone’s feeling threatened and defensive when other people express concern for animals instead of chanting “Humans are #1! Humans are #1!”? Concern for animals is perfectly fine (whether or not it is in practice restricted, as is commonly the case, to the cute ones). Elevating concern for animals above concern for humans is a sign of real, and quite possibly deep and even dangerous, moral malaise. Statements like this: > [@Claverhouse](#): > > Dunno; but the preference for the welfare of fellow humans over fellow animals is merely gross self-serving sentimentality. truly scare me, and strike me as deeply cynical. This way nihilism and the end of the world. I am not saying **Claverhouse** would set off the doomsday machine, but the person who did would be someone who shares that opinion. Yes, humans _are_ better and more valuable than animals, not because they are “our team”, but because humans are the only animals (that we know about - I am prepared to concede that we might discover others some day, though probably not on Earth) capable of even beginning to understand what is in question here. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/26 "2013-10-05T00:14:05Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Statements like this: > truly scare me, and strike me as deeply cynical. This way nihilism and the end of the world. I am not saying **Claverhouse** would set off the doomsday machine, but the person who did would be someone who shares that opinion. I suspect that Claverhouse was being deliberatively provocative to make a point. In any case, yeah, a lot of people, me included, tend to see children-like characteristics in pets, and that will sometimes trigger paternal instincts. Not surprising, since animals like cats or dogs have been specifically bred for centuries to somewhat resemble toddlers. And people expressing stronger distress in front of a suffering perceived child than in front of a grown human, that’s called “being normal” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/27 "2013-10-05T01:43:24Z")
> [@dflower](#): > > So many people seem to have little compassion for our fellow man. So many of our fellow man are assholes. Statistically, I mean. Do the math. ETA: Yikes! That post was typed out by Kali, one of our dogs. Further ETA: not that I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/28 "2013-10-05T03:51:56Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I don’t feel threatened or defensive when those express concern for animals. I do find myself moderately annoyed by persons who equate their love for a dog or cat with my love for my actual, human child. > > Dogs & cats, and some other animals, are of moral value in my opinion; their suffering is not meaningless, and it is possible to feel genuine love for them. But they’re not worth as much to me as the average human, and they are not our children. I don’t have children. I call my pets “my kids” because they are like children TO ME. I realize they are not children TO YOU. There’s nothing wrong with me for thinking or saying that my pets are like my babies. Don’t expect other people to love and value your children like you do. They’re your kids, not mine. ---
**Author:** ![Athabasca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Athabasca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athabasca)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/29 "2013-10-05T04:38:07Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > Except when Saul was describing how Old Yeller’s owner sent him on a trip to Belize, right? > > The relationship between dogs and humans closely parallels the relationship between [children and their parents](http://www.ericlevonian.com/attachment) (0.438 Mbyte .pdf). The relationship parallel is only as far as the child is dependent till age of 18. The dog is always dependent. This is why I feel the death of a pet always hits harder, because we know the relationship will always be finite, and the poignancy of that is just too hard to bear somehow. When my collie died at age 9, I was totally unprepared, and i grieved for far longer and far harder than for my father who was 88 when he died. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/30 "2013-10-05T04:46:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, PETAism is the disorder of valuing hot naked women over animals or people. Oh I have that. Had it for years. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/31 "2013-10-05T14:58:28Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I agree, I think people are tapping into the same emotion as for children. Innocent, need to be protected, outrage over misuse, abuse, neglect, overwhelming sorrow for death – it’s the nearly the same thing. We don’t have nearly the number of kids running around as we used to, so there is a lot of transference to animals. > > Another contributing factor I’ve noticed is that many more people do not have any experience with animals out of the context of a personal pet. They have no experience of wild animals, or hunting, no experience of raising livestock, and they often don’t even know anybody who does. So, the sense of what animals are for has changed as well. > > I’ve watched this sea change happen over decades. When I was growing up, it would have been an unusual adult who had a deep emotional connection to animals – pets were mainly for children. I always was passionately attached to my pets – but I was also an isolated and lonely child who rarely had friends who lived near enough to see every day. I didn’t know anyone else who had that kind of connection to animals. But now it is a commonplace thing. I couldn’t agree more. I’ll take it one step further… I think having an emotional attachment to an animal – _any_ animal – is bizarre and unhealthy. Only humans, IMO, can and should be loved. We have two barn cats. Their job is to kill rodents. We also have three children. It has always been a fear of mine that one of our children will develop an emotional attachment to the cats. So at an early age I taught them to hunt. I’ve also encouraged them to shoot feral cats. I’m happy to report none have developed an emotional attachment to our barn cats. ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/32 "2013-10-06T21:15:10Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I couldn’t agree more. > > I’ll take it one step further… I think having an emotional attachment to an animal – _any_ animal – is bizarre and unhealthy. Only humans, IMO, can and should be loved. > > We have two barn cats. Their job is to kill rodents. We also have three children. It has always been a fear of mine that one of our children will develop an emotional attachment to the cats. So at an early age I taught them to hunt. I’ve also encouraged them to shoot feral cats. I’m happy to report none have developed an emotional attachment to our barn cats. I feel sorry for your kids. :mad: they deserve better parents ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/33 "2013-10-06T21:41:05Z")
I grew up hunting and fishing, slaughtering goats, chickens etc, I have always had dogs and have lost many over my life. I was always sad when I lost a good dog but only one time did it seem to really rip me apart and then linger for a long long time. It was my first dog after I married, the first dog that was just mine. We hunted, hiked, worked, trained and just did everything together. It was never a matter of getting him to do something, as long as I could get him to understand what I wanted he simply did it with joy, every time. I was as happy to see him everyday as he was to see me. Looking back on it even 40 years ago I still feel it. We can’t always control what we love. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/34 "2013-10-06T21:53:22Z")
I care more about \*my \*dog than I do about _other peoples_’ kids. I think that’s pretty normal. But in general, I think you have to be a wacko to think animals overall are more deserving of love, sympathy, and respect than people are. Otherwise, there would be far more vegetarians and far more cannibals in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/35 "2013-10-06T22:29:16Z")
Is there a psychiatric term for humans who get all bent out of shape at the idea that some people are more interested in the welfare of animals? I can’t find “Laughably Foolish Jealousy” in the DSM-V index. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/36 "2013-10-06T22:45:35Z")
Would Dian Fossey be considered a sufferer or victim of this “condition?” It sounds like her seemingly crazier and crazier defense of gorillas and alienation of local humans went a long way towards getting her killed. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/37 "2013-10-06T23:16:38Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I couldn’t agree more. > > I’ll take it one step further… I think having an emotional attachment to an animal – _any_ animal – is bizarre and unhealthy. Only humans, IMO, can and should be loved. > … That is way, way more than one step. I once had a really interesting in retrospect argument with a friend who had a similar opinion. Essentially he thought that love, itself, was a finite thing and you shouldn’t waste your allotment on a mere animal. I fervently disagreed then (35 years ago). I am not so sure now. Love is NOT finite. But human beings are.They have limited energy, limited focus. So, I can see the other side of the argument that way. But I find animals easier to love than people, and it’s better to love something than to love nothing. So that’s another side. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/38 "2013-10-07T00:15:33Z")
I don’t particularly like people or animals but tend to have more sympathy for animals simply because I don’t tend to think of them as being complicit in their own mass destruction. I also think of them as being basically guileless - at least once you have some basic understanding of them. If you’re consistent and predictable with them, they tend to return the favor. People . . . not so much. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/39 "2013-10-07T05:36:04Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > If there were, would the fact that they have a term for it make you think that they understand it better than if they _don’t_ have a term for it? :dubious: > [Calling a set of symptoms a syndrome ≠ understanding what causes them](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=179549) Well, yes. Just because there is not a one-to-one correlation does not mean that named syndromes are not more likely to be understood than unnamed syndromes. The latter are almost certainly not understood, while the former are just possibly not understood. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277/40 "2013-10-07T05:51:35Z")
> [@LorieSmurf](#): > > I don’t have children. I call my pets “my kids” because they are like children TO ME. I realize they are not children TO YOU. There’s nothing wrong with me for thinking or saying that my pets are like my babies. Don’t expect other people to love and value your children like you do. They’re your kids, not mine. Yes, there is. Because they aren’t (unless you really do have a mental/moral problem) and shouldn’t be. They are only like your children in the very superficial sense that you take care of them and love them and would feel sad when they die. There is definitely something wrong with valuing the lives of your animals over the lives of someone else’s children. We are so sure about this as a society that this is enshrined in law. An animal that attacks humans will get put down. The human may not even be seriously hurt. If that human is a child, it’s generally even worse. Human beings who undervalue the lives of other human beings are punished by society once they reach a certain threshold. That is why crimes such as murder, rape, or even assault are criminal at a level way beyond harming an animal. If your cats got off your property and started damaging my property, I could legally end their lives. The most a human can get is a fine or jail time. And, with young enough children, they won’t get anything. I know you love your cats, and they are the closest thing you have to children. But you do not love them the same way a parent loves their own children, and I sincerely hope you do not value their lives more than that of other human beings in general. Insisting you do is in fact a problem. No, this doesn’t mean you can’t call them your children, as it can merely be an exaggeration. But to get upset when points out that they aren’t really as valuable as children is to say that that you are not exaggerating, and that is a problem. Your pets are not your kids. They may feel like your kids in a limited sense, but that does not make them worth more than someone else’s children. If you do really value them more than other people’s children, you either value your pets too much or other people too little. People whose children get legally killed for something they can’t control tend to become quite revolutionary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychiatric-term-for-concern-for-animals-over-humans/670277.md?page=3)