My daughter..."If I had a million dollars, I would have a million animals".
Posted on 04/17/2010 9:39:19 PM PDT by Krankor
Is it possible to actually "love" an animal- like a cat or dog? Any Freepers love their pet? How about those with non-traditional pets? Anyone love their cow, horse, snake or pig?
My daughter..."If I had a million dollars, I would have a million animals".
I love my dogs and my horse. The emotion I feel for them is like a dilute version of what I feel for my children. When an animal I own dies, I am very sad for a long time though my grief is not anywhere near as agonizing or prolonged as it would be if a human died. I would not deliberately die for my animals, but I have risked myself for them. I make many sacrifices for them and go to enormous trouble and expense for them—not to spoil them, but to do what is ethical for their care.
Love is blind.
Looks schizoid and dangerous.
Gorgeous, both of them!
Probably because he is...schizoid, anyway. He’s hell on wheels, but I wuv his widdle face.
I love my dog. I do not love him anywhere near as much as I love my family, though.
Cheerios a little pissy this morning?
This dog thinks she's attached to my hip. She follows me from room to room. She loves me, that's for sure. When I wake up in the morning and she hears me stir, I hear her tail wagging and thumping on the floor. No doubt about it, she's my best friend.
When she blew her knee out in a gopher hole while chasing frisbee I paid about a grand to have it screwed back together. When she did the same thing to the other knee a year later I didn't give it a second thought. Another grand. Money-wise I bet she's cost me 10k over her life, and I'd do it all again without the slightest hesitation. I'll never know a more faithful friend.
That being said, when I'm out in the wilderness, her job is to get eaten by the bear while I get away. :) She knows it... I know it... and we're OK with that. I love having her as my dog. But I'll still reserve the words "I love you" for my human family... even though I do love her. I love her, but she's a dog. That's the way the universe works.
Dogs seem to love US, so it’s not crazy that we would love THEM. Cats I’m not too sure about. Mine sure “loved” me whenever I made a turkey sandwich.
I love the bond between kids and their dogs; I compare my relationship to my dogs now with the one I had with my childhood pup, and I miss the purity of it.
It’s funny you mention that. I was blessed to have been in a home with a dog from very early on. It seemed we always had dogs big and small... LOL.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live without a dog around. In a way, it’s a connection with my memories. We’re kind of adopting another dog here soon. He’s a King Shepherd and he’s as fanatical about my daughter as Max is... he’s just twice the weight of Max. LOL.
I’m the luckiest person on the planet... my wife really puts up with me on stuff like this.
It depends on one’s understanding of the word “love”. If by love you mean “affection”, then a resounding “yes”. But if one understands the true nature of love, that it is an action and not a feeling, then the question becomes more complicated.
It is quite possible to act lovingly towards a pet, to take good care of a pet the way one loves a garden and takes care of it, or loves a firearm and keeps it clean and oiled. But if the discussion is about the true meaning of love, then no, one cannot love an animal.
True love entails extending one’s ego boundaries in an effort to affect spiritual growth in one’s self or another. Animals are incapable of spiritual growth, and are therefore incapable of giving or receiving true love. They can certainly exhibit affection and loyalty, but that is not the same thing as love.
What most people feel towards their pets is affection. To equate a pet to a human being, let alone a child, is to engage in infantile anthropomorphistic fantasy.
I understand all of this, and yet I have still felt grief and shed tears over the loss of a beloved dog.
Me too. I love my dogs so much. My mother never allowed us to have pets, she’d say, “WAIT UNTIL YOU GET MARRIED!” She was wise and knew she’d be the one taking care of them! I got my first dog at the age of 40. And soon after my second dog. I cannot imagine my life without them, I love them so much. But my Lilly is getting older and I’m beginning to think about the inevitable and it makes me so so sad.
And this about our love for an animal: TRIBUTE TO BEN
Sounds like the making of a sled team!
I sleep with my chihuahua, Fidel.
Massive tears on the death of any of my pets. They are loved ones.
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