 But, recently, some philosophers have begun to focus their attention on companion animals, i.e., those cats, dogs, fish, birds, etc., that many of us take into our homes and care for as pets. (See Burgess-Jackson, Rollin, Palmer.) Americans spend small fortunes providing medical care for their animal companions, and lavish time, attention, and love on them. Many of us regard our cats or dogs as members of our family, and we feel ourselves obligated to take special care of our animal companions. But can we really have special obligations to non-human animals? If not, how can we possibly justify the resources expended on companion animals, given the amount of human suffering in the world?