Professor Claims ‘White Supremacy’ Causing Shelter Animals to Be Euthanized
Leftist professor argues against humane policies towards animals
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A liberal professor at the University of California-Riverside has made the bizarre claim that shelter animals are put down because of "white supremacy" and “capitalism."
Katja M. Guenther, who specializes in gender and sexuality, writes in her book “The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals” that systems of “capitalism, anthroparchy, white supremacy, and patriarchy" are causing animals to be euthanized.
Guenther also argues that allowing dogs to sleep inside your home is reserved for “white and wealthy” people.
The author also argues that telling people not to keep their dogs chained up in backyards is designed to oppress people of color.
She argues that such humane policies impose “middle-class norms of animal keeping in which companion animals are considered family and treated accordingly."
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Such policies supposedly ignore that people of color “are themselves trapped in poverty, may have few options for legitimate income generation and possibly rely on their dogs for … status.”
The book is written from the perspective of impounded pitbull called Monster.
“Like many other dogs at the shelter, Monster is associated with marginalized humans and assumed to embody certain behaviors because of his breed,” the book description reads.
“[Guenther] argues that these inequalities are powerfully linked to human ideas about race, class, gender, ability, and species."
Guenther deftly explores "internal hierarchies, breed discrimination, and importantly, instances of resistance and agency."
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Animal shelter director and author Nathan J. Winograd rejects objectivity in her book and research:
"Guenther deliberately rejects objective evidence of this kind, admitting that “it is not possible for me to be impartial”
“I was trained in sociology, a discipline that emphasizes impartiality and the need to systematize observations and analysis in ways that distance the researcher from the researched."
"I deliberately turn away from these tendencies and instead embrace the messy possibilities of being a researcher with complex ties to the social setting I am analyzing.”
"At best, the book presents subjective feelings, anecdotes, and even guesses as compelling evidence for its conclusions — at worst, it ignores evidence to the contrary."
Guenther holds a Ph.D. in sociology and works within interdisciplinary feminist and critical frameworks, according to her website.
Guenther’s areas of so-called research are "feminist politics and human exploitation of non-human animals.”
“I am interested in understanding how and why inequalities of gender, race, class, ability, and species reproduce so reliably, and what we can do to challenge these inequalities,” Guenther writes.
The professor says she is currently working on developing “a feminist analysis of how rescuers of companion and free-roaming (aka ‘wild’ animals) represent and negotiate their relationships and relations of care with disabled animals.”
