Pets as property
in Animal Welfare
Citayam Fashion Week in Jakarta is now booming and attracts people’s attention, especially those with a passion for the modeling world. This weekly event shows street fashion a la Harajuku in Japan which attracts people both locally and internationally. Various
models and looks are shown with so much confidence.
By: Drh. Zulfikar Basrul Gandong, M.Sc.
Modeling is one of the professions that have been fascinated by society. Here in Indonesia, there are many modeling agencies that manage several models. With lots of interests from society, this profession is often related to people. And although both are categorized as living creatures, animals are different from humans. Especially it looks weird if modeling is related to animals. Furthermore, if we talk about animals in social science scope, there
are two of several theories that discuss about animals which are: Hedonism and Perfectionism.
In general, Theory of Hedonism tells us that a good life is all about comfort and without pain. For example: when there is comfort from many simulations and very little stress in an animal’s life. Whereas Theory of Perfectionism is a good life that realizes species – specific potentials, as in animals have nature habits for example: fishes swim and birds fly. And that are considered crucial as behavioral indicators. These theories are fundamentals when related to animals. In this case, animals for entertainment.
Basically, humans can be individuals that can maintain and add a good relationship with animals and vice versa. Relationships between humans and animals have been there for a very long time, including relationships with dogs and cats. In 2002, Peter Singer said that our moral decision as human beings to all creatures is equal so we shouldn’t take away animal rights. Regulation in Indonesia also support that argument where in Government Regulations No, 95 of 2012 regarding Veterinary Public Health and Animal Welfare in Chapter 92 stated that it is forbidden to use and utilize animal beyond nature capabilities that may impact the health, safety, or cause the death of animals; as humans with common sense, we should be able to look at animals as living creatures rather than objects or tools/accessories to satisfy its owners.
Animals used for entertainment have been an issue in animal welfare, particularly in the pet world. Preece & Chamberlain (1993) wrote that activity that is crueler than animal cruelty is when animals are forced to act outside of their natural self with ways that are so degrading and disrespectful. Forcing animals to wear clothes like they are modeling will only cause more sadness to both the animals and people with animal ethics. Clothes that are worn except in medical conditions will make animals uncomfortable and violate one of the domains in Five Domains (Mellor et al. 2020). This article hopes that we can start being a society that is more sensitive to animal welfare issues. Look at animals as living creatures rather than tools or accessories. And lastly, always obey and implement Law as our National Fundamentals.
Extended Reads:
Appleby, m. C. & sandoe, p., 2002. Philosophical debate on the nature of well- being: implications for animal
welfare mc. Ufaw, 11(-), pp. 283-294.
Mellor, d.j., beausoleil, n.j., littlewood, k.e., mclean, a.n., mcgreevy, p.d., jones, b. And wilkins, c., 2020. The 2020
five domains model: including human–animal interactions in assessments of animal welfare. Animals, 10(10),
p.1870.
Preece, r. & chamberlain, l., 1993. Animal welfare & human values. Cloth edition ed.
Anada: ilfrid laurier university press.
