From: NPR
Pets, Pests And Food: Our Complex, Contradictory Attitudes Toward Animals
When psychologist Hal Herzog‘s son Adam was young, he had a pet mouse named Willie. One day, Willie died.
“When he died, we thought it would be a good lesson for the kids in terms of understanding death to have a funeral for him. After all, you know, he was a pet.”
But a couple of days later, Hal’s wife found some mouse droppings in the kitchen and asked him to do something about it.
“She asked me to kill the mouse, and I did,” Hal recalls. “I went out, and I bought a mousetrap. I put a little dab of peanut butter on it and put it [in] the kitchen. And, the next morning I got up, and the mouse was dead.”
Why did Willie the pet mouse get a funeral, while the other mouse received an early end? This week on Hidden Brain, we explore the contradictions and quandaries embedded in our relationships with animals.
Read the whole story (subscription may be required): NPR
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