The “Pet” Debate

What Is the Role of Companion Animals Today?

This week, the CBC Radio aired a program entitled “Do we love some animals too much?”. The program was the third episode in the CBC’s new series “Tooth and Claw,” which aims to address the modern complications of our relationships with (non-human) animals. Two of the guests, Globe and Mail columnist Sarah Hampson and author Jon Katz, suggested the answer to the above question is yes, by raising their concerns that an intense love for a pet may be a sign of misanthropy or our reluctance to form deep relationships with other people.