# Why are so many Americans squeamish about animals? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065 "2012-08-20T16:29:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/21 "2012-08-21T17:34:50Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Being as it’s you posting that, maybe it’s reached Australia as well as parts north of the Rio Grande (or maybe we have different definitions of “Western”, I know mine doesn’t match that of the author of The Clash of Civilizations), but most people in Europe still hold to the view that an animal is less important than a person. A lot of Americans sound like if there was a fire in their home and they had to choose between saving Fluffy or saving a human, they’d have serious problems deciding. Not exactly. Americans would save a human first but many would then actually go back into the fire to save a pet. I gather that Europeans might be more likely to not risk going back for an animal. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/22 "2012-08-21T17:38:24Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Not exactly. Americans would save a human first but many would then actually go back into the fire to save a pet. I gather that Europeans might be more likely to not risk going back for an animal. I certainly wouldn’t. Sounds like we need another poll. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/23 "2012-08-21T17:47:41Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > If he got expensively ill, I would not pay for treatment, I would humanely put him down. I’ve met exactly ONE person who calls her dogs “her kids” and would no doubt pay out the nose for their well being and survival. Which is fine. But it’s not the norm. It does sometimes seem like for at least some segment of the population it is the norm, but I’ll admit I have no numbers, hell I’d be interested in cites. I don’t even remember where I saw it but someone was in disbelief at how people could not have pet health insurance, when there are 50 million people in the US without insurance! ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/24 "2012-08-21T17:53:22Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Yeah, I was asking if you thought that was common, rather than wacky outlier-types. Just like there’s a difference between giving a little girl a play makeup kit versus tarting her up like those “Toddlers and Tiaras” beauty pageant girls. > > .) I don’t think they are wacko extremists, on the level of PETA saying it is wrong to kill mosquitos. THAT is wacko extremism when it comes to animals. Again I’m not talking about media, I’m talking about talking to people and them expressing that they are parents to their dog or that I am cruel to keep a dog outdoors. What would they say if I told them commercial dog food is considered prohibitively expensive locally, and a lot of people purchase pet grade rice along with beef liver for flavoring and make dog food at home? It is a kind of judgemental thing, like they are looking down on you. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/25 "2012-08-21T18:13:24Z")
First the OP’s comparison to people being portrayed as being killed in movies (fictional deaths), to not showing animals being killed on reality television series (actual deaths), is not a fair comparison. I have seen plenty of fictional animal deaths in movies, and actual real deaths of human beings are rarely shown on television. Second, I have no problem killing pests on my properties, including stray dogs and cats, vermin, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/26 "2012-08-21T18:39:11Z")
Because I see animals as innocents, so when they are killed within a story, I’m heartbroken and outraged. They did not ask for that situation and did nothing to bring it on themselves. I can’t think of a single example where I was rooting for the animal to die. I don’t even like it when the animal is portrayed as “evil” or dangerous, such as a grizzly bear eating all the humans in the movie. I _still_ don’t want the bear to die; the bear is just being a bear. Humans, on the other hand, usually bring their shit down on their own heads, and in general, have it comin’. In the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/27 "2012-08-21T18:50:39Z")
> [@Atakapa](#): > > It’s even odder to see people calling animal control to deal with poisonous snakes, skunks, possums, and the like. In many places, it is outright illegal to kill wildlife without a license or authorization. I remember once visiting a friend in Maryland and a (non-venomous) snake got into the house and we caught it and looked up on the internet what we were supposed to do and there was a general statement that it was a violation of state law to kill wildlife. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/28 "2012-08-21T19:00:13Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Actually, it was not frowned upon to harm or kill animals during film making. There were various devices to make a horse trip and fall, for instance, and quite frequently the horse was injured. The Running W is a particularly well known method of making a horse fall down. It’s very effective…and quite cruel. > > There are, incredibly, some fairly recent movies on this [list](http://www.avclub.com/articles/yes-animals-were-harmed-21-films-and-tv-shows-that,72051/) of movies and shows where animals were harmed or injured. Note that these are just proven instances. [John Waters on animal rights.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYVl4xGTeek&feature=player_embedded) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/29 "2012-08-21T21:44:38Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Then there are those who seem to regard pets as a form of surrogate children. > > I’ve never met anyone like that but I’ve read about them. I’m not sure how big the problem is. What problem? I think I can safely say that the choice not to have real children is one that, in most of the industrialized world hardly raises eyebrows on a societal level, even one’s own parents and in-laws are very likely to protest strongly. We agree that there are some people who, for whatever reason, don’t wish to make the commitment of becoming parents, and it’s hard to defend the idea that these individuals should go forth and procreate anyway. On the other hand, remaining childless doesn’t mean that one necessarily rejects having any living thing at all to care for. And, to be fair, of all those who do decide to remain childless, the decision to keep pets may be inappropriate as well, for example if the person travels a great deal. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/30 "2012-08-21T21:46:22Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > [John Waters on animal rights.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYVl4xGTeek&feature=player_embedded) Thank you for the link, and to you too, **Lynn** for pointing this fact out. I honestly can’t promise I’ll watch it, however, much as I like John Waters’ work. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/31 "2012-08-21T22:06:33Z")
> [@grude](#): > > What is with the “untied dog outside=animal cruelty” thing? I’ve noticed this more and more too, people in the US think you are cruel if you keep a dog outside but untied with lots of shade etc. Multiple people on facebook and other online sources have voiced this opinion to me. One reason might that there are predators in many areas where human habitations have encroached on the wilderness. [Coyotes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote#Livestock_and_pet_predation) are probably the biggest threat to dogs and cats kept outside, but visits from bears and cougars are by no means unheard of, at least in the West. Interactions between pets and these animals have increased as human habitations encroach further into the wilderness, but there is also the factor that our houses tend naturally to attract these predators. Garbage left out the night before pickup, swimming pools and other water features, outdoor pet food bowls all can, and do, attract some of these predators. And unless they’ve got an Alaskan husky or a similar breed meant to endure the cold, why on earth would you leave it outside during the winter? Anyone who’s owned a dog or cat should know, from personal experience, that they prefer warmth to winter cold, even the relatively mild cold of California. Likewise, they prefer being dry to being soaked in the rain. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/32 "2012-08-21T22:28:23Z")
> [@Atakapa](#): > > It’s even odder to see people calling animal control to deal with poisonous snakes, skunks, possums, and the like. Why run the risk of skunk-spray or snakebite when there are people equipped and trained to to handle the situation? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065/33 "2012-08-22T00:59:05Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Again I’m not talking about media, I’m talking about talking to people and them expressing that they are parents to their dog or that I am cruel to keep a dog outdoors. What would they say if I told them commercial dog food is considered prohibitively expensive locally, and a lot of people purchase pet grade rice along with beef liver for flavoring and make dog food at home? > > It is a kind of judgemental thing, like they are looking down on you. Some people do that about kids, too. Bring a snack to school and maybe they’ll sneer about how it’s not healthy/not organic/whatever. Sometimes people have different standards than other people. /shrug I personally think it’s cruel to house pet rabbits outside. I’ve seen photos of domestic rabbits suffering from flystrike (parasitic fly larvae feeding under the skin, which eventually burrow out through the flesh to escape), infested with fleas, suffering from heatstroke, etc., not to mention that rabbits can be terrorized by predators even through the bars of the cage and may injure themselves or suffer heart attacks while trying to flee. Others may disagree with my feelings on the subject. And yes, around here we have coyotes, we have predatory hawks preying on smaller dogs and on cats, and leaving pet food outside only encourages wild and feral animals to come scavenge, maybe even fight your pet for it. So there’s a lot of sense in giving indoor shelter to your dog. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-americans-squeamish-about-animals/632065.md?page=1)