Jesuits Condemn Pampered Pets

A lot of people in the West take very good care of their pets - buying them all sorts of high-quality food, toys, and so on. But did you know that this is "morally condemnatory." Yes indeed, it is, at least that's what a Jesuit magazine in Rome is claiming.

The Telegraph reports on the article the Roman Catholic magazine Civilta Cattolica, a magazine whose contents are given approval by the Vatican:

"Animals don't have rights, because these belong to Man," the magazine declared. ... "It's all very well for Italians to have cats and dogs in their homes," Civilta Cattolica said. "They are joyous company for everyone, especially the elderly, who often live alone, and for children." But the article added: "The spending of money on very expensive and expressly made foods to nourish dogs and cats is completely mad and morally condemnatory". The same applied to people who "dress their pets in designer coats".

Fr Mario Canciani, who will bless pets in the name of the saint in Santa Maria in Trastevere church in Rome today, said the article was written in isolation from the real world. "The average theologian is almost always solitary, and closed in his ivory tower."

Now, I can't argue with the idea that some people really go overboard with what they do to their pets and what they buy. People bond very closely with pets, and that's not a problem, but when that bonding takes the place of relationships with other human beings, then that may indeed be a problem. And when spending on pets gets too high, perhaps that is a moral problem because that money could be spent on helping other human beings.

But how much is too much? How far is too far? I'm not sure that I agree with the magazine, but I can't deny that it raises interesting and relevant moral questions which deserve to be addressed.

Read More:

• Guide to Ethics and Morality
• Bioethics
• Roman Catholicism