Abstract
The study of human-animal relations has been conspicuous in contemporary anthropology. It has developed along two complementary fields, one political and the other epistemological. The first involves activism and new social movements concerning the rights and moralities of animals, while the other questions and reframes the distinctions between animals and humans. In this article, I address these issues by investigating a moral dilemma involving an old, sick dog that, after spending its life as part of a human family, had to be euthanized and ultimately became blood stock for a veterinary clinic. Physicality and morality are mobilized contingently in this research context, both to identify and differentiate humans and animals and to compose and decompose a pet.
Key words:
Human-animal relations; Pets; Humanity/animality; Naturalism