The small family living unit lacks space, Earth, other animals, seasons, natural temperatures, and so on. The pet is either sterilized or sexually isolated, extremely limited in his exercise, deprived of almost all other animal contact, and fed with artificial foods. This is the material process which lies behind the truism the pets come to resemble their masters or mistresses. They are creatures of their owners way of life.
This quote from John Berger's About Looking critiques the artificial conditions imposed on pets, reflecting on how these constraints mirror the lifestyles and environments of their human owners. It invites contemplation about how closely intertwined our existence is with those we domesticate. Pets, in their constrained lives, become inadvertent symbols of human limitations and disconnections from the natural world.
Berger highlights the irony in the common saying that pets resemble their...
