ive been thinking about getting pet rats, because i like rats and am lonely. but i find something about the idea of pets rather unsettling. if i want to think of the interactions as a relationship, and i do, it seems rather brutal and manipulative to start that with a cage and just hope that stockholm syndrome kicks in before mental obliteration. of course i wouldnt be being wantonly cruel, although try to tell the rat that, and would be genuinely interested in the rats wellbeing, but i just go to the analogy of kidnapping someone and then keeping them in a cage until they became you friend. of course its different because a rat can only bite you, whereas humans are quite good at fucking you over when pissed, but somehow that doesnt actually make be feel better about keeping rats in any way. id probably be more comfortable if they were a baby rat, but saying that sounds just as fucked up, if not way way more so, and leads this conversation about pets and power unnervingly close to the topic of children.
i think i have decided i will just not pay for rats, so at least im not encouraging treating rats as commodities. so ill take them in if i know anyone who needs to get rid of rat babies, as rare as that might be. i dont know. am i (just) a crazy person? what are your thoughts?