Sometime in the last twenty years, words have changed meaning. I don’t understand that. I know times change, and I swore I’d never say “When I was a girl…” when I was a girl. But words have meaning and I’m tired of the perversion of them.
Let’s start with adoption. According to the dictionary
verb (used with object)
1.
to choose or take as one's own; make one's own by selection or assent: to adopt a nickname.
2.
to take and rear (the child of other parents) as one's own child, specifically by a formal legal act.
3.
to take or receive into any kind of new relationship: to adopt a person as a protégé.
4.
to select as a basic or required textbook or series of textbooks in a course.
5.
to vote to accept: The House adopted the report.
6.
to accept or act in accordance with (a plan, principle, etc.).
—Verb phrase
7.
adopt out, to place (a child) for adoption: The institution may keep a child or adopt it out.
There is nothing in the above that mentions animals or pets. When you go to a rescue or shelter and pay money for an animal, you are buying that animal. You are not adopting it. You are exchanging money for goods. I know it’s an animal, not goods. Nope, still goods. You exchange money for goods and services. Animals fall into that goods category.
Before you all go screaming away – oooohhhh Kathy thinks animals are products and that’s terrible. No it’s not terrible. Does it mean that I think they do not deserve our utmost care, love and concern, no. It just means that I don’t really think they are furry humans. When is the last time you saw a human delight in rolling in dead things? When is the last time you saw a human digging in a cat box, eating “kitty tootsie rolls”? When is the last time you saw a human cleaning their offspring with something other than a baby wipe?
Yes, they are endearing, loving, wonderful creatures. They complete our lives, they enrich our lives, but they are not humans. I could not live without my dogs and my horse, but I love them precisely because they ARE dogs and a horse.
Let’s take the word MURDER now. I’ve been called a murderer because I have bred and sold puppies. I’m called a murderer on a regular basis, actually.
noun
1.
Law. the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder), and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder).
2.
Slang. something extremely difficult or perilous: That final exam was murder!
3.
a group or flock of crows
Aside from that flock of crows thing (I love A Murder of Crows – wonderful movie with Cuba Gooding, Jr.), murder appears to be a crime against humans. According to Animal Rights activists, we (people who own or breed purebred dogs or purebred anythings) are murderers – we kill dogs that are available for sale through shelters and rescues. They’ve made it illegal in
Note to self: Please explain to me why it’s okay to buy a dog from a shelter or rescue, but not from the breeder through a pet store? It’s the same dog, with the same health issues, the same breeding, the same everything. The only difference is the middle man – the shelter or rescue.
People who want purebred dogs buy them from breeders or buy them from rescues and shelters. Not everyone wants a random bred dog. Some people have specific needs in their lives, where they live, how they live. They have determined a specific breed of dog fulfills that need. More than likely they would not want a large black dog of unknown parentage, unknown health and unknown temperament. To deliberately choose a dog that fits for you and your family is responsible, in my opinion. It’s a true commitment. It acknowledges that you expect the dog to be with you for his lifetime.
The ARistas were furious because President Obama got a purebred dog. He had some very specific needs – allergic child, never owned a dog, isn’t home a lot <bg>. He chose a dog (well, Ted Kennedy chose Bo – but the PWD was on the ‘list) that was right for his family. Would it have been better for them to take a dog from a shelter that made Malia ill that was too boisterous, and would have to be returned? Ridiculous.
But, to the AR fanatic – President Obama murdered a shelter dog. Every puppy I sell murders a shelter dog. Using the word murder makes it more horrific. Murder equates the life of an animal to a human life and in many cases elevates the animal’s life. By using the word murder, AR fanatics are saying buying a dog deliberately takes the life of a shelter dog, it’s intentional, you mean to KILL a shelter dog.
If one were to follow that same train of thought, it would stand to reason anyone having a natural child is murdering a homeless child. It is as illogical. That is the heart of it all. AR thought and dogma has nothing to do with logic, it is simply a belief system. One has to BELIEVE for it to work.
Christians are Christians because they believe in the divinity of Christ. People who believe in animal rights believe that we do not have the right to OWN an animal. That is the basic philosophy.
Words mean something. I will continue to try and discuss words and meanings as well as ideas, facts and beliefs. Thanks again for coming out!
Ch. Clarkens Castaway - Wilson tolerating Bruce petting him.
Well, unfortunately, we can't stop the meanings of words from extending to other areas and taking on other uses. It's called, depending on the process, semantic bleaching or semantic extension, and it's a natural process in language evolution. However, we can continue to use the words in the ways WE know them to be used and counter those other meanings by reminding others of the "original" uses of the words. My perspective as a linguist in training. :)
Posted by: Abby | 02/23/2010 at 07:26 PM
Another great job Kathy- Thank you for your voice!
Posted by: Karen W | 02/24/2010 at 03:31 PM