Argumentative Essay On Domesticated Animals

Domestication is the change of an organism on the genetic level to better suit human needs, humans began this practice for thousands of years ago and it continues today but at a significantly lower rate. As observed by Francis Galton, the British scientist, “It would appear that every wild animal has had its chance of being domesticated, that [a] few… were domesticated long ago, but that the large remainder, who failed sometimes in only one small particular, are destined to perpetual wildness.” (as cited in Diamond, 1998, p. 165). As social life has changed and the demands on newly domesticated would have shifted, it is possible that new species are candidates for domestication in the near future.
On today’s farms we have the oddest anomalies
Unbeknownst to the ancient humans, their preferential treatment and breeding of certain animals altered their genes drastically over thousands of years. When compared to their wild ancestors: cows are smaller and produce more milk, sheep and alpacas produce and retain more of their wool, several species have even lost brain mass and lost sensitivity in sense organs, all to better suit humans (Diamond, 1998). It isn’t exactly a one way flow of benefits however, domesticated animals are intern feed, sheltered and bred in stable environments. The main reason for domestication was to make life easier on humans. Why hunt alone or on foot, when you could work with dogs or horses, or why go through all the trouble of hunting your prey, when you could cultivate it at home. Not every attempt at domesticating an animal made things easier for humans however. When it came to domesticating large terrestrial herbivores only 14 out of the world’s 148 species were fully domesticated –those 14 being Sheep, Goat, Cow, Pig, Horse, Arabian camel, Bactrian camel, Llama and Alpaca, Donkey, Reindeer, Water buffalo, Yak, Bali cattle and Mithan- (Diamond, 1998). The reason behind why 134 of the large terrestrial mammals failed to be domesticated,
The Ringtail Cat is a small creature in the Musteloidea Superfamily –meaning it is related to large weasel-like creatures, otters, badgers, raccoons, etc.– (Timm, 2008). Ringtails are about 24 to 32 inches long –half of that length being its tail- and weighing in around 30 to 39 ounces (Williams, 2002) making it smaller than the average adult cat. It adheres to the six requirements of the Anna Karenina principle, with an omnivorous diet and small intake they are easy to keep fed, the of breeding age by their second year (Timm, 2008), nothing that would implead them breeding in captivity, they are calm and somewhat timid with no apparent penchant for aggression, they don’t panic in a destructive way, and while they don’t have a social structure instill submission, they are not territorial and can be found in groups. In addition to those criteria they were also selected for their lack of musk or territorial marking, quiet and infrequent vocalizations, soft coat, appearance, low physical maintenance, and possible functionality as a