The excerpt “Animals Like Us” by Hal Herzog brings up a multitude of moral questions that aren’t exactly easy to answer. Herzog mentioned a few different stories having to do with certain individuals’ interactions with animals that brought up moral concerns. It would be extremely difficult to characterize any of these situations as being more or less “morally problematic” than the others. The reason that it would be so difficult, is that they are all different, personal, situations, and although they all have to do with animals, they are not quite comparable. For each individual, the moral problems are greatly difficult for them, personally. Judith Black was faced with a difficult decision that affected her personal morals and ideas; ones that she felt strongly about. Black knew she had to make a choice; “She could either quit eating fish, or stop thinking of herself as a vegetarian”(Herzog242). Her decision may not have affected the world, but it deeply affected her as a person, which is why this cannot be compared to the story concerning the moral conflicts of having pets. The story of the snake and the cat was a much larger-scale issue, though not necessarily more problematic. i think that both stories are equally as problematic for whoever is dealing with them, the difference is that one of them is down on a personal level, and the other one brings up questions that are a lot broader and get the public thinking. Even being on a large-scale, however, even the question of the morality of having pets can be brought down to a personal level. Each and every person will have their own personal opinions on these moral issues.
In his story, Herzog brings up the concept of “the troubled middle”, which is basically a category for people who are conflicted about their ethical obligations to animals, as Herzog puts it. He uses himself as an example when he writes, “I oppose testing the toxicity of oven cleaner and eye shadow on animals, but i would sacrifice a lot of mice to find a cure for cancer” (Herzog247). I believe that a lot of people would file themselves within this category, because it is not an easy task to be on one side or the other. I, myself, would put myself in this category, because i do not see the world as being black and white. I definitely am against any sort of animal cruelty or testing, however, i do eat meat from farms, because i know that the animals were not treated badly. It’s very troublesome to completely follow all of the “rules” of one side of the issue, because there are many ways to look at it.
I’ve never really understood what has separated some animals as being perceived as pets and others as food. Personally, I see farm animals as pets, at least that’s how i would treat them. However, I do eat meat, and i support local farms, so i understand that people have to do it, it just couldn’t be me. I’m not really sure what characteristics of animals put them in a certain category though. For most of society, cats and dogs are pets, while cows and chickens are food, it’s just the way it is and has always been. Even though I would treat the cows and chickens as pets, I acknowledge tat they are, for the most part, in the food category. As to why, I am unsure.
aspenladieu 