ABSTRACT
The concepts of ‘domestic’ and ‘domesticated’ encompass a diverse spectrum of animal experiences. This diversity has highly differing implications regarding conceptions of animal's leisure and access to such. Not all animals which are domesticated are domestic, and not all domestic animals are domesticated. The focus in this book is on those animals that live in close proximity (physical and emotional) to humans. It can be argued that these animals’ closeness to humans can paradoxically make them both vulnerable and/or privileged compared to other animals. While all non-wild animals are subject to the inherent asymmetry in power that exists between humans and animals, this is complicated by animal: animal power imbalances. An animal obligations approach is suggested as a way forward in considering the rights and needs for leisure of human-construed and constrained domestic animals and also of the animal-oriented leisure desires and experiences of humans.
