Are we loving animals to death?
Are we loving animals to death? Our love for animals can cause us to act in a way that can lead to suffering. From elephant riding, to inexperienced pet owners – where loving the animal isn’t the same as understanding the complex needs of that species – to a well-meaning traveler buying an animal from a local market in order to set it free. These are all acts driven by love and compassion but can result in suffering. For example, setting a black market animal free will only add currency to the illegal trade of live animals and may result in even more animals awaiting their fate in markets. The adoration for animals that many of us feel might cause errors in judgement to be made in other situations too. People may feel the desire to get up close and personal to a species in order to touch or interact with it. This can be detrimental to that animal’s well-being and the people involved might forget to question whether the animal would choose this interaction f...