Utilitarianism Versus Deontology

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they are saving unneeded suffering to these kittens as well as helping keep diseases from non homeless pets that the populations of feral cats bring to the city. The Deontology side of the argument believes that this is not the way it should be for all kittens. They believe in looking at it from an ethical point of view not as a duty to the county. These people would like to help these cats and kittens anyway they can. Unfortunately, many people do not realize that feeding these cats isn’t helping them. According to the Humane Society

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of the United States, (May 1992 issue Shelter Sense/HSUS by Dept. of Fish & Game) caretakers of feral cats actually bring the problems such as cat fights and disease to their home and surrounding areas. So even though they think they are doing something good, they aren’t in the long run. As defined in the book Some Reflections on Ethics, by Dr. Ramendra, normative ethics is the attempt to discover some acceptable or rational defensible view concerning what kinds of acts are right and why. This may be what both sides are actually looking for in their attempt to do the right thing for the animals. It goes back to the word “good.” Is it good that the shelter is saving kittens from a horrible life on the streets, filled with hunger, trauma and death? Is it good that the citizens want to try and save some of these helpless creatures and find them the proper home to be a good pet for someone? Maybe both sides should look at it from the others point of view.

In conclusion, I want to bring in the two words that I believe can help both sides deal with this issue, Care Ethics. Care Ethics, as mentioned on The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy ( Iep.utm.edu) is most often defined as a practice of virtue in maintaining the world, ourselves and others who are dependent and vulnerable. If the shelter takes into consideration that all cats in the TNR program are not feral, but possibly stray cats that once had a home, a solution could be made to please both sides. Take the time to pick out the friendly but scared stray cats from the ones labeled feral. If a stray cat is pregnant, have one of the willing citizens foster it until kittens are born and ready to be

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adopted. Spay and neuter all the kittens prior to finding homes for them. In this way, the feral cat population is not growing, yet all the possible adoptable kittens are not being euthanized. Maybe then both sides can drop the feelings of being on a side of Utilitarianism or Deontology and work together on the opposite side of the ethical spectrum in Care Ethics to make the world a better place for us, and the animals in our community.

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References

• Fieser, James, Ph.D. Founder and general editor, Dowden, Bradley Ph.D. general editor Iep.utm.edu, ( ISSN 2161-0002) Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, University of Tennessee at Martin

• Nutter, F.B. DVM, Levine, J. F. DVM, MPH, Stoskopf, M. K. DVM, PhD, DACZM (Nov. 1, 2004) Journal of American Veterinary Medical Administration Vol. 225, no. 9

• Donald, R.L.( May 1992) Shelter Sense Vol. 15, no. 5 Transcribed with permission from The Humane Society of the United States.

• Dr. Ramendra Some Reflections on Ethics, Internet edition published (2008) revised edition (2013) published by Buddhiwadi Foundation, copyright Ramendra ( 2008-2013)