A dog-owning ethics question

Last updated on: January 7, 2017 at 3:22 pm by Jane the Actuary

A dog-owning ethics question 2017-01-07T15:22:08-06:00 Jane the Actuary

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from Pixabay; https://pixabay.com/en/dogs-puppies-play-two-group-1210323/

Put simply, is it ethical to own a dog to provide you with companionship, even if you won’t be able to care for it properly?

This is a question that I’m asking myself in connection with my mom. She’s 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. It seems to me that it’s 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. Now she’s looking at the Humane Society website for her preferred breed on a regular basis.

But I worry. She’s not physically active, so she wouldn’t be able to take the dog on walks or other activity. I am doubtful that she’d be able to train the dog. And if Dad has another hospitalization, what would she do? Put it in a kennel? Leave it at home all day, or simply spend less time at the hospital? Not to mention that if she herself were hospitalized, the situation would be even more difficult. And they don’t live nearby, and my sister, the closest of us, is too far to help.

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’s not able to care for the dog, or becomes unable to, there’s no serious problem. She wasn’t interested in either of those options. Bottom 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.

Now, I’m not actually in a position where I can veto her decision. If she finds a dog she likes, it’s her choice whether to follow through or not. (Though, to be sure, she’s been talking about this for a while — if she’s so picky that none of the animals available are right for her, then maybe she herself isn’t confident this isn’t the right decision.)

But maybe it isn’t as poor a choice as it seems. After all, a dog isn’t a human. It’s an animal. And, look, we eat animals all the time. We confine pigs into pens, wait for them to grow to full size, then kill them and eat their meat – pork, ham, bacon. Yum. Is it somehow any worse to bring a dog into the home and give it insufficient exercise or opportunities for activity?

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 — though, of course, if you never committed to taking a dog on a walk, that’s not really the issue, is it? And, in any case, is it actually ethically wrong?

Image: from Pixabay; https://pixabay.com/en/dogs-puppies-play-two-group-1210323/

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