Monday, May 9, 2011

Calling animals 'pets' is insulting, academics claim

Calling animals 'pets' is insulting, academics claim - Telegraph: Animal lovers should stop calling their furry or feathered friends “pets” because the term is insulting, leading academics claim.
Domestic dogs, cats, hamsters or budgerigars should be rebranded as “companion animals” while owners should be known as “human carers”, they insist.

Even terms such as wildlife are dismissed as insulting to the animals concerned – who should instead be known as “free-living”, the academics including an Oxford professor suggest. The call comes from the editors of then Journal of Animal Ethics, a new academic publication devoted to the issue.

Editor: Can animals be insulted? Is it an insult to call them "animals"?

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