Dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, snakes, lizards, oh, my! All of these animals are in some way domesticated, because if they weren’t,they wouldn’t live in our houses.

Don’t ask me about the people who get caught with tigers as pets, because I don’t get that particular desire. Seriously, why would you want a four-hundred pound cat capable of serious damage with little effort living with you?

All of those animals listed above, as well as those that aren’t listed but are still common household pets, are conscious creatures. I won’t debate emotional abilities or animal intelligence with you, but most people will agree that emotions or not, these animals have some sort of mental state that allows them to act based on things that happen in their environment.

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