16:01: Gulf News: Keeping pets, especially those of a more exotic species, is unnatural and detrimental to the welfare of animals.
16:07 Dr. Raimundo Tamagnini: Keeping pets can be very important for us and them as long as they are treated and kept in perfect condition. Regarding exotic animals, each animal is a different case. So, basically, I’m not in favour of this statement. Keeping pets will also make us more aware of how to treat and care for animals. Please be clear that I mean companion animals like cats and dogs. Regarding exotic animals, I agree that they should live in their natural habitat!
16:09 Meghna Nair: I am for the argument. It is definitely unnatural to keep animals belonging to exotic species as pets. It is also against the rights and freedom of animals. By keeping animals in captivity or as pets we deny them freedom and their rights. Animals should be given the freedom to live in their natural habitat and move freely, rather than domesticating them and keeping them as pets.
16:11 Montserrat Martin: Cats and dogs are mainly domestic animals that are very well-integrated in our lives and happy to be part of our homes. But when it comes to exotic animals, why are we humans so selfish by wanting to bring creatures from the Amazon to our backyard rather than going to the Amazon to admire wildlife and Nature in their purest natural environment?
16:15 Gokul Gopakumar: Pets are not denied their rights if they are not overly restricted in their existence. Keeping dogs in a kennel all day or tied outside the home is cruel and definitely an infringement of their rights. I would also agree with the statement in the case of any birds kept in captivity, because their life depends on flying, which captivity denies them. But dogs not put on a leash for the entire day are not necessarily denied their rights as most dogs themselves are tame, urbanised animals that are used to living in a human world. Cats are similar.
16:15 Montserrat Martin: The sad part is that due to the lack of information, many people are cruel without even having the most remote suspicion. A typical example is when we pay money to see animals living indoors with no access to its natural environment and so on. People queue up to take a photo next to the poor animal that will never know where he came from and what his natural habitat looks like. Of course we can reduce the argument by saying: “It’s okay, they were born in captivity.”
16:16 Dr. Raimundo Tamagnini: Unfortunately not even common sense prevails when people own exotic animals. No medical care, limited exercise, feeding ... the list is long.
16:17 Gulf News: In the vast majority of cases, the welfare of the animals kept as pets is vastly improved. They are kept safe, healthy and in a social environment, despite the difference in species.
16:21 Dr. Raimundo Tamagnini: I can only accept exotics animals in captivity when under the care of professional and trained people and only if they couldn’t survive on their own in the wild.
16:21 Gokul Gopakumar: Pets are in general cared for well or at least people mean well in what they do for the pets, except for those exotic species that we were talking about earlier. An exotic pet is definitely an animal that is not urbanised. Its natural habitat and surroundings are very different from those that a pet owner can provide.
16:24 Montserrat Martin: Yes, in some cases people do take care, in others they don’t. For cats and dogs, the topic is a complete different issue. For wildlife, why are we even considering a question of ownership? The concept of zoos right now is evolving, bringing people to the animal’s environment and not accommodating them to our needs.
16:25 Meghna Nair: Keeping animals as pets definitely improves their health conditions and at the same time provides benefits to the owners as well.
16:27 Dr. Raimundo Tamagnini: In my opinion, these questions have different approaches and arguments if they are regarding cat and dogs or exotic animals.
16:33 Meghna Nair: Keeping cats and dogs in small flats as well as birds caged would be morally wrong. It would restrict their movement, which could also cause adverse health problems.
16:36 Montserrat Martin: Yes, Meghna. But after thousands of years of having them around, how do we look at that statement now? When there are millions of pets living in apartments worldwide? Do we throw them out; put them to sleep to release our guilt and their confinement? Where do we draw the line on what is acceptable to have as a pet?
16:35 Gulf News: Living creatures deserve the basic rights which captivity denies, even though they may have no moral comprehension of their experiences, be it bird or fish.
16:39 Meghna Nair: We happen to be totally unaware and do not actually care if we deny basic rights to animals. Even if we happen to realise, we pause and think for a while and then later resume our usual routine. Who thinks about ensuring freedom and rights to pets? Aren’t pets just for our pleasure and so we don’t actually care about theirs?
16:40 Dr. Raimundo Tamagnini: Definitely, they should have basics rights and be respected.
16:41 Gokul Gopakumar: Animals deserve their place on Earth. As we expand and take more space, their homes are taken away from them. To compensate for that is important. To assume it doesn’t matter is ignorant. We may not know for sure what they need but we have to try and make their lives as comfortable as possible. That’s our responsibility.
16:42 Gulf News: For most people, pets make up a part of their family that has a genuine emotional connection just as one would have to a human family member. The negative implications of pet ownership are generally caused by the humans, not the animals.
16:43 Dr. Raimundo Tamagnini: I have to agree. Due to my experience as a vet, humans can be amazing with animals as well as selfish and disrespectful. In our modern times, I feel people are becoming more aware of animal rights. There still is a long road ahead, but the relationship between human being and dogs and cats at the moment is very symbiotic.
16:46 Montserrat Martin: If I had a choice to go back in time and know what I know now. I would only look at animals from a distance to avoid the great feeling of them taking over my space, purely for what they make me feel and completely forgetting what they really need.
16:47 Meghna Nair: Pets are good emotional partners as well as helpful companions. It’s very much correct to say that it is only humans who happen to observe the disadvantages of the pet culture and not the animals themselves. But animals do not have any means of communicating with us and so we cannot consider their opinions, either. But we are becoming more aware of animal rights and many new steps have been taken to ensure animals of their basic rights. At the end of the day, it’s up to us to decide whether what we are doing is morally right or wrong and proceed from there.
16:47 Gokul Gopakumar: You know more about your pet than it does about you. Just that simple fact means that any fallout between the two is the human’s fault. You know about its needs, about its biology and there are entire fields of study based on your pets. The pet knows who you are only in some cases. My fish at home have no idea who I am, yet I am strangely attached to them. If one of them were to fall ill the fault is mine, obviously. What we need are regulations and legal protection for pets so that pet owners can’t simply see their pets as a joyous past time. Adopting a pet should be a serious matter, like adopting a child. It is a life that you take in at the end of the day.
