“Domestication is seen as a process in which humans deliberately and with forethought assume control over the domesticate’s movement, feeding, protection, distribution, and above all, it’s breeding – directed at achieving specific identified goals’’ – Zeder (2012).
The domestication of animals began over 11000 years ago, with different portrayals of the relationship between Homo sapiens and the animal in definitions (Zeder, 2012). The above-quoted definition illustrates the human ruling over the animal in the relationship. Alternatively, it is seen as a symbiotic relationship, where both humans and the domesticated species both mutually benefit (O’connor, 1997).
As I see it, domestication of animals as companion pets is closely associated with “Survival of the cutest” as expressed by my senior Lam Jia Jun in his blog, with a focus on flagship species (Lam, 2019). I feel that his concept could also be extended to domesticated companion animals, where it seems to me that these animals are protected by humans and may not face the threat of extinction. Although a subjective statement, the commonly domesticated companion animals including cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, etc., are mostly aesthetically appealing and adorable, which is one of the reasons why humans are the only species with pets (Hogenboom, 2015).
Image of a cute domestic cat
In contrast, the domestication of animals for agriculture portrays the concept I came up with – ‘’Survival of the tameable’’, meaning the animals do not pose a danger and are not afraid of humans. Unfortunately, being tameable has placed the domesticated animals, including the chicken, pig, cattle, etc., in an unshakeable fate to survive and become food for humans. Animal domestication for agriculture has undeniably become a challenging responsibility for humanity to shoulder, where the welfare of animals for agriculture feels like a heavy weight on me.
Given my attempts in becoming vegetarian, I understand the difficulty in assuaging the demand by humans for farm animals as food. The least I hope for is an improvement in the welfare of farmed animals, such as in free-ranging farms where the animals have the freedom to access fields and sources for their own food. But what does free-ranging actually mean in the farm industries?
Video retrieved from PETA’s Youtube channel
This video highlights how I should not take “labels” as it is and the stark differences in standards of free-ranging in various farm industries (Riveria, 2017)
The dawn of the human-livestock relationship has consequently led to increasing land-use for agriculture purposes to meet the demand for meat consumption. It was reported by Bruinsma & Alexandratos (2011) that 1.2million km2 of land is required for agricultural purposes till 2030. Unfortunately, agricultural land-use would threaten the environment including its biodiversity and the climate (Zabel, Putzenlechner & Mauser 2014). In my view, the domestication of animals for agriculture feels wrong to the farm animals and the environment. It feels wrong to mankind as well, where I resonate with Jared Diamond’s article on agriculture being ‘’The worst mistake in the history of human race’’ (Diamond, 1999).
What about my opinions on the domestication of animals as companions? – Till my next post!
Paws out!
<<Additional inputs as of 24/9/2020>>
Hi everyone. I would like to point out how some of the information above are my opinions that are admittedly inaccurate. With the help and the knowledge from Dr Coleman, I can now better explain them.
For instance, I would like to highlight how “cuteness” is not considered a factor to which how the dog species were domesticated. They were domesticated for herding, guarding and and even hunting – you can find out more here.
- Also, I left out a pretty important information – birds are wild animalswild animals, only some species are considered pets.
References:
Alexandratos, N., & Bruinsma, J. (2012). World agriculture towards 2030/2050: the 2012 revision. ESA Working Paper No 12-03. Rome: FAO.
Diamond, J. (1999, May 1). The worst mistake in the history of the human race. Discover Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-worst-mistake-in-the-history-of-the-human-race
Hogenboom, M. (2015) Why do we love our pets so much? Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150530-why-do-we-love-our-pets-so-much
Lam, J. (2019, September 13). Survival of the cutest [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://blog.nus.edu.sg/unnaturalselection/2019/09/13/survival-of-the-cutest/
O’Connor, T. (1997). Working at relationships: Another look at animal domestication. Antiquity, 71(271), 149-156. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00084635
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. (2018, February 27). Chickens Crammed Inside Shed on ‘Free-Range’ Farm. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/HXlfn4uIDm8
Riveria, L. (2016, June 4). Unmasking the truth behind food labelling in the chicken industry. Independent [United Kingdom]. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/supermarket-chicken-labels-truth-free-range-battery-treatment-organic-a7751536.html
Zabel, F., Putzenlechner, B., & Mauser, W. (2014). Global agricultural land resources–a high resolution suitability evaluation and its perspectives until 2100 under climate change conditions. PloS one, 9(9). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107522
Zeder, A. (2012). Domestication of animals. Journal of Anthropological Research, 68(2), 161-190. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.com/stable/23264664