Don't you hate it when people call animals it?
By zemma1992
@zemma1992 (126)
Portugal
July 28, 2010 3:38pm CST
Don't you hate it when people refer to animals by "it", you might call me crazy but i like to refer to animals using he or she as if they were humans, i think that "it" isn't that good, as y treating them by he or she it's like you feel closer to them, what are your thought on that except for "This guy is crazy and needs to be locked up in a mental institution ASAP"
3 people like this
15 responses
@sender621 (14893)
• United States
29 Jul 10
Animals are living breathing creatures of this world. They deserve to be treated with kindness and compassion. Inanimate objects should be referred to as "it." i don't believe that any animal should ever have to fall into this category.1 person likes this
@Nymphantom (143)
• Vietnam
29 Jul 10
I don't think you are crazy. I call my pets by name and he/she too, but I'm not hating people who call them it also, because in proper English, it's the right way right?
@Galena (9110)
•
29 Jul 10
in English, it's not correct to refer to a living thing as "it"
"it" refers to an inanimate object, like a table or a television. not a living thing.
lets say someone has a child, but you don't know if they are a boy or a girl.
you don't ask
"how is it doing at school?"
you ask
"how are they doing at school"
likewise if you don't know the gender of an animal, it is correct to refer to them as THEM or THEY. if you are referring to something belonging to an animal buy you don't know their gender it is "theirs"
so.
that is their collar.
NOT
that is ITS collar.
or THEY are in the garden.
NOT
IT is in the garden.
@Nymphantom (143)
• Vietnam
30 Jul 10
Don't take me wrong, I love pets. But it's nothing to do with the English.
You said we should call them "they" instead of "it"
But, in case that there's only one cat, how can we call "they", because they prefer to plural subject right?
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
29 Jul 10
No. I don't find unpleasant when people refer to animals by "it".
I remember I was in the second grade when I began learning English. The teacher told us that when we speak about objects and animals we should use "it". We found it very unusual, because in our laguage even the objects are referred by "she" or "he". That's why I don't feel confortable to use "it" for a pet. If I don't know the gender of the pet, I try to reformulate the phrase, so that the pronoun won't be necessary. It's not that I feel closer to animals when I call them "she" or "he", but this comes naturally from my native language.
I imagine the same happens to you, because your native language is a Latin based language, too.
Yet I can't blame people who use "it" when referring a pet, because I think it's normal for an English speaker.
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
30 Jul 10
You should be right, as English is your native language. But we, who learned English from books and dictionaries, have to beleive they are right.
Here it is the definiton of "it" by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia:
it: pron. 1. Used to refer to that one previously mentioned. Used of a nonhuman entity; an animate being whose s e x is unspecified, unknown or irrelevant; a group of objects or individuals; an action; or an abstraction.
and
it: pron (subjective or objective) 1. Refers to a nonhuman, animal, plant or inanimate thing, or sometimes to a small baby.
Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/it
Maybe what you say is normal for spoken English.
@Suggar (3606)
• Bulgaria
29 Jul 10
I love animals too. And i like to call my cat Shone. When i talk about Shone i use "he", because i know his character, i care about him and i love him really much.
But if i talk about some animal, which i haven't met at all, i think it's right in english, to say "it". I still love that animal, never mind who is his owner, but some said me that in english, it's better to use "it", for something which is far and u don't know what other way to call it.
And yes, when u say he or she, only u know how important is that animal for you. It's normal. And u don't have to go to ASAP at all. May be some people don't understand that every life is important and we have to respect it. This is a rule from our life, but sometimes it takes years someone to understand it, sometimes it doesn't happen at all, which is sad.
@vect0r85 (41)
• United States
30 Jul 10
After working for many years in an animal hospital I have heard animals referred to as "it" several times. I have come to find that people do this because they do not know if the animal is male or female. I have avoided this by avoiding the pronouns in general. Instead of saying "why is it/he/she not feeling well?" (always bad to call a male she or female he) I will say "why is sam not feeling well?" Variations that avoid the pronouns in general will help avoid any bruised feelings.
@liweiwei0909 (403)
• China
29 Jul 10
In generally, I don't hate it when people refer to animals by "it", but for myself I like to use 'he' or 'she' on the cute animals, provided that I know the s-e-x of them...
@jerikjames (1041)
• Philippines
29 Jul 10
I think the reason why people usually call animal 'it' is because it's very hard to tell the gender of an animal. It doesn't automatically mean they're treating your pets or animals as things. So no I don't hate it. I love my pets, but it wouldn't hurt my feelings if ever people call them an it. They don't know my pets, so I don't care what they think about them. Besides, I don't think calling animals 'it' is doing injustice to them. I mean, it surely wouldn't hurt their feelings right? And it's not violating any of their rights. 
@T_Diamond (965)
• New Zealand
29 Jul 10
Yes, it is sad to think about. Expecially if you and your pet are close together and then someone calls him/her an "it".
Animals can be part of your family, so why would you call anyone that's part of your family an "it"?
@ameenmalik (52)
• Pakistan
28 Jul 10
well i keep my pets like my own children s i just love them anything and i agree with u i like to refer the with there names or gender only
@rogue13xmen13 (14402)
• United States
28 Jul 10
I usually don't like it when people call animals "its", but I can understand why people do that, and it is usually because they don't know the gender of the animal or the name of the animal. If people know the animal's name and gender, then they have no reason to call any animal an "it". I have three cats and I call them each by name.
