Cassandra Kuplast

Mr. Jesse Miller

English Composition 110 H-5

6 November 2019

                                                            Seventeenth Journal

I found the first full passage on the fourth page very interesting, and it seemed to flesh well with what Herzog was talking about and asking about throughout his writing. Herzog talked about the so-called “moral burden” of bringing animals into our lives. He posed the question about morality between carnivorous pets versus non. He had a pet snake named Sam, and Sam always wanted meat. This lead Herzog to ponder the moral burden surrounding owning this kind of pet. Can you feed a small animal to a bigger animal without harboring a feeling of guilt?

I thought the second to last passage on the fifth page interesting as well. Herzog talked about how his friend Ron studied the ability of the brain to repair itself after injury by using cats as an experiment. At a point in the experiment, Ron would have to “perfuse” the cats, which kills them. This was especially difficult, because Ron became attached to these cats, and he would come to the lab and play with them on the weekends. After perfusing the cats, Ron’s demeanor changed greatly. He became very sad after losing his cats. This made Herzog question the moral complexity of having animals, and then having to kill them. This passage segued into the next one as well. Herzog talked about how dog owners think of dogs as family members. I found this interesting, because I too think of my dogs as members of my family. However, why do we feel this way about dogs? People don’t often share the same feelings towards their pet mouse. So what is it about certain animals that make us feel more emotionally connected to them?