After a truly tiring day, I really need to unwind and this couldn't have come at a better time.....thanks, Mrs Wong!
"Pets" - an insult to animals, academics say.
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". 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.
The recommendations reflect a feeling in some academic circles that the language we use when thinking or talking about animals affects how we treat them.
The call for a new type of animal language is made in the first issue of the Journal of Animal Ethics, which bills itself as being "devoted to the exploration of progressive thought about animals".
Although the changes are mainly aimed at those contributing articles to the journal, it is hoped the message will influence how other people view their pets.
In the editorial, Reverend Prof Andrew Linzey, an Oxford theologian who has written or edited 20 books and US philosopher Prof Priscilla Cohn call for a major rethink of animal terminology.
"Despite its prevalence, 'pets' is surely a derogatory term both of the animals concerned and their human carers. Again the word 'owners', while technically correct in law, harks back to a previous age when animals were regarded as ... property, machines or things to use without moral constraint."
But Plain English Campaign spokeswoman Marie Clair, said: "It is not plain English ... I don't know of any pet that has complained about being called a three-letter word."
Coincidentally, I received an email from someone today who said "stray" (as in "stray animals") is derogatory. I suppose it is, but if I used "community animals", would everyone know what I'm talking about? That's the word I used when I first started AnimalCare and most people asked, "Huh? What??"
Again, I can only quote Shakespeare who would say, "What's in the name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet."
I'd still use words that are not easily misunderstood for ease of communication because heaven knows how easily humans misunderstand things!
'Nuff said.
This "human-carer" is now signing off.....goodnight!
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