As part of their evolutionary destiny animals
have been substituting humans—sometimes because they were better suited for the
job or just more expendable. As beats of burdens lugging the load, winged
messengers, or more recently bomb sniffers—they had jobs thrust upon them; mostly
undesirable ones vacated by humans.
But often we see urban jungle dwellers
extending the function of animals to a humanoid level—that is, seeking them to
fulfil roles that easily could be desired by humans. What’s one to make of
that?! Are humans failing to relate to each other at an interpersonal level?
Why are we turning to the low rankers of the evolutionary ladder instead of the
evolutionary elite?
When did animals turn human—outside of
fairy tales and inside our drawing rooms?!
A pampered pet class has been around as a
status statement or personal whim. But this cute-on-call pet was an accessory
to the Complete Family. These lavished upon expensive breathing toys were often
the affected eccentricities of the Haves. However privileged the pet, it was fitted
around family obligations, social rituals, personal commitments. The pet was a
pet—always an animal. When? How? Why? Did this pet turn into a person?
In this new equation the helplessness of
the pet is matched by the confusion of the human. The Master is enslaved to the
Servant by the forces of need created by—emotional support denied by humans,
alienating situations, or the fear of intimacy/commitment. Pets have become for
some (and who knows for how many to come) comfortable objects of expressed-displayed affection.
Humans want someone to care for, relax
around, and share with…just someone to come home to. But to handle the
complications and emotional demands of human relationships is not always
possible. So that brings in the pet into the picture subconsciously as a
substitute person. The owner projects on it human feelings and wants—which the
animal is not even capable of experiencing!
In science-speak, when you make an animal a
person—attributing to it human motivations and characteristics—it is called
anthromorphism. Or try Pet-Turned-Person.
