“I recently asked a veterinarian friend how he thought about our relationship to companion animals. “They are slaves—chattel slaves,” he said breezily. I was astonished and irked by the nonchalance of his proclamation. But as I thought about it afterward,… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“Yet still, beneath all the marketing and social construction of attitudes and desires and shopping habits, there is a deep yearning for connection. The… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“There is a tendency to oversimplify the issue of spay/neuter and to promote the essential benefits without recognizing that our animals do suffer some… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“A common misconception is that pets have easy lives. They don’t have to do any work to find food and shelter or to protect… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“I know that market value is a repulsive accounting of somebody’s worth, and many of us would be unable to put a monetary value… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“If you balk at the idea that dogs could be bred like pigs, I’m sorry to disabuse you. Dogs and pigs alike are treated… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“Emotional attachments to and functions of animals in human families are highly variable — and not always positive. Some family pets are surrogate children,… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“Often we jump to the conclusion that a dog or cat who doesn’t like to be petted is cranky or unfriendly, but this isn’t… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“Some of this diversity in animal feeling is surely related to enculturation (we in the United States tend to love dogs and be disgusted… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“I recently asked a veterinarian friend how he thought about our relationship to companion animals. “They are slaves—chattel slaves,” he said breezily. I was… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“Massive round-ups of strays have been replaced by daily intake and elimination, the large crate full of dead dogs replaced by a steady trickle… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“I’m focusing here on dogs because this is where almost all of the research and exposés lead us. But of course puppies aren’t the… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
“Animals are not genderless objects. “He” and “she” are vast improvements over “it.” “Who” is more fitting than “that” or “which.” (So, it isn’t… — Jessica Pierce Copy Share Image
