ABSTRACT:
The last years in Brazil were marked by the existence of natural and technological disasters. In addition to the social and environmental impacts, there is another tension, of a moral order, involving the place occupied by domesticated animals. The aim of the article is to understand the complexities at play in the humanitarian turn towards these animals. From bibliographic consultation and journalistic sources, I observed the questioning of the way these animals were governed from the perspective of health risks, and secondly, the demand that they be incorporated in the responses to disasters as humanitarian victims. Based on the discussion on “moral entrepreneurship” (Becker, 2008) and on the “excuse” (Werneck, 2012) it was possible to understand that the criticism of the inefficiency of the state apparatus can be thought of as a claim for a new moral framework for animals with ethical and structural implications on the role of public and private institutions in the governance of animal lives.
Keywords:
human and animal relationship; disasters; sociology and anthropology of morals; governmentality; humanism