Why do people continually compare animals to children?

one craps everywhere, tears stuff apart and should be in a cage, and then there are animals.

the fact is that some people treat their animals like children (or, sadly, better than in some cases), because they can’t have children, their relationship with their children is poor or non-existent or their child has passed away. and thusly, we have people who dress their animals up and talk to them like children.

i think, too, that it is somewhat natural to develop a strong relationship with an animal/animals. they’re using animals to rehabilitate inmates, to keep seniors from developing depression (since their own kids/grandkids often dump them) and to help people who are suffering from chronic illness (cancer, etc).

every animal, like every child, has it’s own personality, characteristics and the like. but in a certain sense, the bond formed between people and animals is strong. Not a child-parent bond, but a bond nonetheless.

They are mammals, and they do appear to exhibit feelings. I think people can identify with that. For some people, humans are much more opaque than animals are. Perhaps they can understand infants or toddlers, since they can’t use words very well, and they connect that with animals who can’t use words, and may, for all we know, be unable to manipulate symbols.

Animals can easily be substituted for people in the affections of their “owners.” They seem to give nothing but love, and if they don’t, the owners often abandon them. You can hug them whenever you want, mostly. They exhibit character. They appear to respond to you. Their responses often seem to be as sophisticated as the responses of infants. I don’t think it’s a big mystery what animals and children are equated.

My mom does that with her dogs but if you knew them you would agree that they think they are human. I know she does it because she used Dobie (who was my dog) as a replacement for me when I left for the military. As you can see people use animals to feel voids since domesticated animals seem show more emotion. There is nothing wrong with treating your dog as a child if you don’t have any as long as you remember they are an animal and there is a chance they well attack you ( children can do the same thing though).

Because some of us think that animals should be treated NO different than people such as kids. Animals are also smart, smarter than some people too.
The also have feelings. Which some humans don’t understand that they do. Animals are like children in a way, you have to care and look out for them. If they do something wrong at times it is the owners fault not theirs.
They can’t speak for themselves so we “animal activist” have to do it for them.

I think people confuse the companionship animals provide with actual human companionship. Now, I love my cats, and I love having pets because they do love me and the way they play, and entertain me…I think I also like that they depend on me, which humans like to feel.
I don’t see anything wrong with loving animals, I think it’s a good quality in people. But, I do think comparing them to children is ridiculous. And it usually means the person has never raised a child, because parents will definitely tell you there’s a big difference from walking a dog for 10 minutes or changing 10 dirty diapers in a day.

I think to consider a bear a child or a chimp as a child is really based on ignorance. People don’t realize that they’re wild animals and always will be. But I think the dependency of the animal (or the perceived dependency) brings out the “maternal” instinct in some people (even men) and we consider the animal a baby because of this dependency. HOWEVER, a life is a life, whether it be an animal or a child and, in all cases, should be cared about and for. If it takes people to consider animals as children in order to do that, so be it, I say.

And I think baby animals ARE like babies.

The one thing that children and animals do have in common, and why I think they are compared is innocence. Even predators are innocent in the sense that they are just living their lives. Also predators kill to feed unlike adult humans who kill for sport, who kill for gain, who kill for cruelty.

All this coming fro a guy who compares himself to a Zebra?~

lots of GAs, but some misconceptions here. I will try to cover them all. One, we have a dog, we treat her like a child, in that we talk to her, hug her, love her, and my wife buys her clothes. But the difference is, the dog will live at maximum, 14 yrs. A child, at maximum, will outlive us. If my child had a debilitating disease, I would spend whatever it took to save/cure it. My dog, only to a point. Quality of life is better for an animal than quantity of life. That’s not cruelty, that’s realism.

Two, animals serve a purpose, many dogs are Therapy dogs. Animals can fill a void, and people bond with animals, but they mistakenly attribute that bond being possible with ALL animals. People think squirrels and rabbits are cute, which I suppose theyu are. They also harbor fleas, and these fleas can carry diseases. Animals you find in suburban areas, like raccoons, chipmunks, ground hogs, and the like can be dangerous, no matter how cute they look. They might live among people, but they are still wild animals. Raccoons are notorious for carrying rabies, even more so than bats, which also live inside the city limits.

I raise Hissers. They do not feel affection for me, and never will. Same with the spiders I often look at with affection and handle. They are bugs, they do not have compassion for humans. I’ve seen people jump my ass for eating beef but then, turn around and smash an ordinary harmless spider because it was in arm’s reach. If all life is sacred, as some of you assume, why aren’t bugs and spiders included? There are 30,000 known species of spiders in North America, yet only 4 can make you sick if they bite you. the other harmless ones usually will not bite you, as they have no reason. Spiders are only aggressive towards their prey, humans are not prey.

Predators are not innocent, innocence is a moral attribute that does not apply to animals. Chimps will hunt down small monkeys, kill them and eat them. Sometimes they just kill them for sport. Cats will play with a mouse before killing it. Wolves, coyotes and other predators have been known to kill an entire herd of sheep and not eat any of them. Man is not the only creature to kill for sport, or for cruelty.

The fact that you mention humans killing for sport or gain or whatever reminds me of the argument I got into with someone over whether hunters were psychotic, and then the people that hunt felt the need to defend their actions, by saying they eat what they kill. I for one, feel no need to defend my dietary habits to anyone. If you don’t like the fact that I am a hunter, then stay out of the woods.

Finally, I don’t expect you to agree with me, nor do I figure I can make you understand why I asked this question, but I do have a suggestion for you, There is a book by the Christian writer D. Keith Mano called The Bridge. It came out in the 70’s and it addresses the whole animal activist mentality in a way that is very eye-opening. Sure, it’s fiction, and it is graphic in places, but it shows what can happen when we let the activists dictate public and government policy. It’s long out of print, but I found a copy on eBay.

@Judi obviously, the irony of my fluther name escapes you. Let me explain. People don’t keep zebras as pets because although they are herd animals, like horses, they do not respond well to domestication (like me) and they are stubbornly bull-headed (also like me) and they are more closely related to asses than horses. (make your own joke there). There is a reason the African tribesmen don’t ride zebras like cowboys rode horses. This is also the same reason you will not see people using zebras as pack animals, sporting animals, or even as pets. They are unpredictable and are unsuitable as domesticated creatures. (ask my wife how hard it was to domesticate me.)

I like zebras, I think they are neat, and I have had a fondness for them for almost 20 years, but if given a chance to try zebra meat, I’d go for it. I think life is about choices, and trying new things. There are a lot of things I’d like to try that other people find offensive. I don’t care, I live my life for myself and for those important to me, not to fit into some obscure popularity contest.

Besides, I have found that it is stupid to compare myself to other people, as they are way more fucked up than I could possibly know. =)

The only connection I see is that people jump on the defensive easily for children and animals because they cannot defend themselves against adult humans.

i think it’s because they are both ‘house-broken’ when they’re taken into a new home. no one lets their kid pee all over the floor, and no one wants their dog peeing all over their couch. people tend to adjust both of their natural behaviours to suit themselves better.

besides, psychologically, there are a lot of similarities between humans and nonhuman animals in general.

Most of the similarities between children and animals has been covered here, but I don’t see too much about the attachment people have for them, which I think is the biggest factor. Many people feel just as psychologically attached to animals as they are (or imagine they are) to children.

When you put a lot of your own emotions into a relationship with an animal, it is indistinguishable from the same feelings about a child.

@evelyns_pet_zebra, I was being silly and sarcastic. Didn’t you see the ~ ?
I thought I was pointing out the irony. It was not an attack.

Kids are animals simply due to the fact that they are human. We are all animals, and children, who have yet to be tamed by culture, exhibit all the brains and behavior of a puppy or a hamster. I equate the intelligence of my cats at about that of an average, human 5 year old. My cats are not people; that’s why I love them so much.

Ignorance of the realities of the animal kingdom.

@Judi sorry, I missed the ~, things have been weird lately, and my fluther habit has suffered.

http://www.eontarionow.com/science/2009/08/11/your-dog-is-as-smart-as-a-toddler-study/

They might not be far off.

I have no answer, as i do a big problem! My boyfriend and i have been living together for 21/2 years. He has a 3 yr old dog, WHICH I LOVE & I have two children WHICH I LOVE. The problem is that my children always do something wrong, never right no matter what! They can go an entire day with out havin to be spoken to BUT NO KIDS ARE PERFECT, & then one little thing happens where one or the other gets into trouble & thats their end of the day! Now the dog not perfect as well, does somethings here n there, & EVERYTIME i say something or get mad THE DOG IS ALWAYS COMPARED TO MY KIDS… So in other words our dog can do whatever cause the kids dont listen over this or that. I am PISSED right now because last night my daughter (7) & I had a sleep over in my bed room, she got into trouble cause she brought her beads into my room & they spilt she picked them up, i spoke to her & carried on with the rest of our night. THIS MORNING, the dog came in jumped on the bed with us, he pissed all over the BED floor & into the other room, So i get pissed, who wouldnt, & hes half asleep brings up the beads up from last night, says ” you didnt do anything, so who gives a shit!!!!!” Un fucking real huh, then he is cuddled up with the dog like a fucking baby & being nasty to my kid telling her to be quiet at 12 in the afternoon. I can see animals being treated like our children, BUT to compare them is this sort of a matter is fucked up, Mean & I am just so sick of this all. I do everything but have a say in nothing. I am lost and I know that the only reasons we fight is over the dog & my 2 kids 9&7, but mostly over my little one cause shes a bit hyper but loveable SHE JUST TURNED 7 ON JULY 12TH. I need some advice here. I cant stand how things are. This is really to much to deal with.

This has nothing to do with pets and everything to do with your asshole boyfriend.