Objects

An animal can never be just an object we own. The difference between various consciousnesses - my table, the living tree, the sentient creature, the human being - each level marks a difference in the respect we show. There’s a lot of difference between an abusive relationship and a loving relationship, one is parasitic, the other symbiotic. Humans haven’t learnt how to be symbiotic with animals because we can’t resist enslaving them.
Valuable resources and useful animals we take. They are ‘there for the taking’, the bounty humans are entitled to, for their ‘survival’. With a lack of respect for them and a lack of appreciation for what we already have, we always seem to want more. That’s the addictive nature of humans – never satisfied. With anything we want, then take, then use-up, we always graduate to boredom with it and dissatisfaction. It’s like unwrapping a box on Christmas day, containing a beautiful puppy dog and six months later, going off on our holidays we have the (by now) dog put down. That which we tire of we develop contempt for. The contempt is useful to allowing us to distance ourselves from the ‘object’. Any semblance of similarity between us and our victims is downgraded. The satisfaction-addict (the human) is accustomed to using; use, not come-to-know. For that we are prepared to compromise conscience. That way we get most out of them.
In other words, certain things the human wants and we’re used to getting what we want. And when we get them we take them for granted. And part of this is like any addict addicted to anything, we expect ‘it’ to be there. The whole thing operates to provide me with what I want, so animal, farmer, animal industry, shop keeper, they all have to be in line, for us. If they give us any trouble or if they’re not forthcoming, then it’s serious business. One faulty link and we’re out of ice cream.
Each of us are codependant on each other, so we have fail-safes to prevent links being broken. We have to take ‘measures’. Farmers struggle to get animals to cooperate. They don’t recognise that animals have a life of their own where the human interest doesn’t plays a part at all. The thought of animals being anything other than a resource for human convenience is anathema to any animal farmer … to build up a relationship with the animals is unthinkable, especially if you intend not friendship but murder. So, animals are there for profiting-from and the human, in dealing with animals, will inevitably abuse them. Any docile animal, any useful thing, any potentially profitable object is up for grabs; to use it becomes a natural consideration. Everything is a business opportunity, and to bring the profits rolling in we must contemplate compromising a few principles. At that point the abuse starts and it may well be ourselves joining the ranks of those who abuse to gain personal advantage.