'Pet' an insult to animals, academics say

Herald Sun ^ | 4-29 | Fiona MacRae

[WOBBLY BOB]

'Pet' an insult to animals, academics say Fiona MacRae From: Herald Sun April 29, 2011 12:00AM Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrintEmail Share Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these? Academics say that rather than being a term of endearment, "pets" is an insult to the animals concerned and their owners, who should be known as "human carers". Source: Herald Sun IN a statement that gives a whole new meaning to animal rights, leading academics have called for pets to be renamed "companion animals". They say that rather than being a term of endearment, "pets" is an insult to the animals concerned and their owners, who should be known as "human carers".

Editors of a new journal devoted to animal ethics, including an Oxford University theologian, also want the terms "pests" and "vermin" to be dropped. Wild animals, meanwhile, would be referred to as "free-living" or "free-ranging".

Even innocuous phrases such as "sly as a fox" and "drunk as a skunk" are seen as an affront to animals.

[ClearCase_guy]

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

How much better off the world would be if "academics" actually had to work for a living, rather than get paid to sit around and dream up things to "improve".

For starters, that would mean Obama and his entire administration would not have the luxury of imposing the superior enlightenment and intelligence on the nation because they'd be too busy struggling with the real world, of which they obviously know very little.

[winkadink]

I asked my cats if they objected to being called pets, and both of them said no. So I shall continue to refer to them as pets.

[TSgt]

I agree with the academics!

Animals should be called “food” not “pets.”

[Michael.SF.]

Even innocuous phrases such as "sly as a fox" and "drunk as a skunk" are seen as an affront to animals.

So I guess calling Fiona, 'Coyote ugly' or 'fat as whale' are also out?

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

It’s “almost over”....

[FrankR]

I don’t have time to reply, got to run over to “CompanionSmart”.

[TexasFreeper2009]

animal rights activists are an insult to Humanity.

[jess35]

My dogs really don’t care what I call them as long as I continue to feed them, buy them toys, play with them and generally cater to their every whim.

[WayneS]

Well, here we have it.

Irrefutable proof that you simply CAN'T fix stupid, even by giving it a PhD.

[svcw]

When my animals ask me ever so politely not to refer to them as pets I wont, until then they are pets.

[WayneS]

Maybe they should apply for ‘stimulus’ funds to pay for their new signs...

[WOBBLY BOB]

“Piled High and Deep”?

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

As long as it's a low-flush toilet. They can bottle it to go too — just not in a disposable plastic container.

[camle]

when my pets KNOW i’m calling them pets, then i’ll worry. for now they can’t speak english.

[Secret Agent Man]

Worthless college degrees strike yet again.

They became wise to become fools.

[Dahoser]

Even innocuous phrases such as "sly as a fox" and "drunk as a skunk" are seen as an affront to animals.

Meanwhile, another group of foreign academics has identified "built like a brick ****house" as an affront to outhouses and loos the world over. They expect to start a movement in the US to address this and other insensitive building references such as "big as a house" and "dumb as a doorknob," though an exact date depends on how quickly they can pass through customs.

[Cicero]

I was driving across Vermont last year, and I noticed a sign for a “Companion Animal Hospital.”

My first thought was that they must specialize in seeing-eye dogs, dogs brought into nursing homes to comfort the sick, or the like.

My second thought was, oh, just the latest PC trend.

[reegs]

I guess my dog must feel pretty awful everytime I call him “dumb-ass.”

[nolongerademocrat]

My G-d! These people get some great weed!