What’s missing in “rich countries” I think is the village pet. Loads of places have dogs and cats just roam around and people feed them leftovers and such. People care about them as much as any one would a pet, but no one out right owns the animal.
In Brazil, all capitals have vet programs with free sterilization and in the favelas I lived (Vidigal and Tijuquinha in RJ) they had vets that grew up there and open they clinic there and were really affordable, I guess is the same in other favelas too. For surgeries and more complex procedures there were popular clinics that were cheap.
I think people who grow up middle class in a first world country are so sheltered from suffering that animal cruelty is the first example of it that they can actually empathize with and understand as a black and white issue (to them). Unfortunately, suffering is just a fact of life for everyone but the most privileged. The logical conclusion to “if you can’t give animals the standard of care that I expect as a global top 1%er of wealth, then you shouldn’t own any pets” is a PETA type policy of killing any pet that is living a suboptimal existence. Which, if they were humans, we would consider that genocide. It’s really just not a reasonable stance at all.
All we can do is provide the best care we can and give them the best life we can provide
No one should be judged for anything anywhere when it comes to money
So not judging billionaires? Feels like your statement was a bit too broad
Why should I judge a billionaire? I don’t care about them…
Because being a billionaire is only possible by keeping other people poor enough that poorer people have to let the billionaires make money from the work of the poors.
Because billionaires are not just minding their own business, they are setting the rules for you.
No one is setting rules for me. Lmao wtf does that even mean? Yeah dude. Bill Gates called me yesterday to say I can own a 4 cylinder engine
Billionaires have power over national governments. Of course Bill Gates won’t call you, why would he do that?
Maybe, but as far as things the rich countries have that poor countries don’t - pet care is pretty low on the list of things to rectify imo
I asked because my parents are like “pets that get sick should just get tossed into the trash so they don’t infect us” lol
That’s horrible.
They grew up in poverty and dealt with famines in a post-WW2 war-torn nation.
“Not taking to the vet” and “tossing in the trash” are miles apart.
I mean for perspective… people in my grandma’s generation would just eat the cat before they got too old.
Kinda like livestock… with a dual purpose of pest control…
And before westerners starts sterotyping… reminder again that this is a war-torn country devastated by japanese imperialism and famines were common.
Makes sense in that environment. If someone doesn’t have at least one grandparent that endured some shit then their family lived a very fortunate life. Or more likely didn’t pass down stories of just how bad things got.
Even that’s still a very different scenario. Survival for you/your family, vs intentionally dooming a defenseless, sick pet to a slow, painful death (or laughing about it, in your case). That’s not a Western stereotype, that’s basic human compassion and empathy.
In your first example, euthanasia is far better than “tossing a sick pet in the trash”. Obviously. Anywhere in the world, no matter the poverty level, there’s cheap, quick, humane ways of ending an animals life. And yes, I would do it personally, if I had to. Intentionally choosing suffering over a quick end is wrong.
I consider pet ownership to be too widespread in general because it causes a massive drain on resources (and on local wildlife) while we are in a climate crisis. An even in richer countries, pets are often neglected by their owners causing widespread suffering to the pets themselves.
And I say this as someone that likes and gets on with cats and dogs; I just think there are too many of them.
I want a WASP-y Vegan to reply.
Dogs can eat a vegan diet, they’re not obligate carnivores.
