Medicalization of Companion Animal Care and Social Control: The Case of Sterilization

• In Event: 20820 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 1. (De)Medicalization Processes

Abstract

Nowadays, companion animals are much more entangled with humans in multispecies households in many societies. However, scholars have rarely studied companion animals' health and medical care from a sociological perspective. Using the case of sterilization of companion dogs, I adopt the concept of medicalization from the sociology of medicine to explore how (bio)medicalization of companion animal care constitutes an institution of social control and contributes to the human biomedicine empire building. Through analyzing the sterilization of dogs from historical and comparative perspectives, I unpack the complex social functions of medicalizing companion animal care as a way to insert institutional control of them as well as their human owners/ companions. In this emerging field, future studies should consider more veterinary practices and investigate how medicalization constructs the caretaking of companion animals and engenders medical, cultural, political, and economic implications.

Author

• Juliette Zhu, CUNY-Graduate Center