Denna sida på svenska. What part does the rat really play in our lives? Is the rat our friend? A member of our family? Or is the rat "just" an animal, that can be exchanged with another fun toy? How we see the rat depends a lot upon ourselves and and our own experiences and views, our lifeexperiences. Here I thought I'd touch some extreme but thoughtworthy cases of different ways to relate to our companion beeings the animals, and also provide some examples of different consequeces of these different ways.
Me and many with me see the rat as a family member, living on the same conditions as the dog and other non-human family members. This means that the animals in the family are allowed to take space, and effort is put in to provide the rat with what it needs; in the form of living space, food and stimulans etc. Time is put in to search for knowledge about the animals one has, also time is put to watch what the animals do, what they like, what they do not like etc. One tries to get to know the individuals as they truly are, without adding specific human aspects on the behaviours of the animals.
In some families animals are humanized, and they are alloted qualities in the family life that the animal as a species cannot have. This is common with dogs. They are humanized and considered to have other qualities than research have found dogs can actually have. Animals in such a family are often spoken of as "beloved" and the family members can have very strong emotional bonds to the animals in the family. Often you can hear people say that their dog actually "understands" whet they are told etc. Sometimes this develops into an disadvantage for the animal in question. If an animals are given a lot of freedom and support on the grouds that it is believed to have other qualities than it actually have, this can give varying results. Rats and other animals that are not imprisoned in cages of course thrives. But if the owner allots the animal a higher intelligence than the animal can actually have, the animal is at risk to be punished for behaviours the are perfectly natural for the species. If you humanize your non-human family members and for example believe they can be yealous, and then punish the animal for showing a behaviour that can be mistaken for yealousy, you are unfair to the animal. There are many examples of how pwople humanize animals and then punish the animal for behavoiurs that are perfectly healthy and normal for the animal. The dog is the species that is most cursed by this fenomenon, due to it's recognized high intelligence. This can happen to the rat too since the rat is also a very intelligent animal in its own way. An animal that is generally considered stupid, like forinstance the cavy, is not at risk for this kind of misunderstandings.
The dog is generally believed to understand what you tell it, and can therefore be subjected to punishment if it does not obey. But how many Swedish-lessions you ever give your dog it will still never learn to understand Swedish. The same goes, of course, for the rat.
In other families the animals are just exchangeable objects of entertainment. You can even see how in some families they rather buy a new dog, cat, rabbit or whatever kind of animal they have, that pay for expensive veterinary care. It's "just" an animal.. Here the animals are only valued for their ability to entertain their humans, they have no value as the animals they are themselves. Little or no interest is shown to find out any facts about the animal since it has such a low value. Some religions state that animals are made to be used.
At the same time there are often talk about the fact that children learn to take care of others through taking care of animals.
Children growing up in a family where animals are treated like true family members and where you strive to find out as much as possible about the animals in order to make them thrive, children learn that other individuals have values too. They are taught to actively seek information about things they are interested in.
Children growing up ina family where animals are humanized never learns to understand the animals. They do not seek knowledge, instead they explain animal behaviour in terms of human behaviour. In the long run the risk misunderstanding other stings than animals, unless they are taught to actively seek information. They do learn to love animals, though, which probably is good for their futures, and their animals.
Children growing up in families where animals are exchangable can use this point view to other living creatures they meet in theyir lifes, including humans.
The animals themselves did not ask to move in with us humans and live on our conditions. Animals can't speak, or let you know what they think, and therefore they are extra vulnerable. They can't defend themselves or even call for help. Therefore we believe their conditions ought to get extra consideration. People can tell if they don't like a situation, or just leave when they get enough. Friends and relatives can tell you when when you do things they don't like. Animals can't. Animals are owned, they are our possesions. They have no voice. The rat usually do not utter a sound, either when it is hungry or thirsty nor when it is in need of something other than water of food.
Written by Eva Johansson, published in R8MZ 16 1997.
Copyright Eva Johansson.
Last update: 11th of August 2006.