Abstract

MOURET, Sébastien. Animal labor and moral agency. Training and education of working dogs.Translated byAgustina Blanco. Laboreal [online]. 2022, vol.18, n.1, e19159.  Epub Sep 30, 2022. ISSN 1646-5237.  https://doi.org/10.4000/laboreal.19159.

This article discusses the animals’ moral agency on the basis of animal work. Based on a comparative ethnography of the training of patrol dogs and the education of guide dogs, in particular the place of the kennel, it sheds light on how animals relate to violence and benevolence through animal work. In police training, the kennel is an instrument of isolation and domination, which confines dogs to aggression in order to make them instruments of public force. It is part of the animals’ suffering at work, marked by a pathologization of canine aggression, thus showing that the exercise of violence - biting and hitting - is not self-evident for dogs. Conversely, for guide dogs, the kennel helps to develop the two pillars of education, practical intelligence and attachment, so that the animals learn to take care of blind people and thus become care workers.

Keywords : animal Labor; moral agency; dressage; education; kennel.

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