Disability and Animals

Abstract

When we talk about handicaps and animals, we more often think of the important help of animals for disabled humans than of the handicap of the animal itself, reflecting our anthropocentric view. But like human beings, animals can also suffer from disabilities. Even the study of animals of the past cannot evade this issue. This is a difficult research topic, because neither texts nor images are plentiful. But handicap was (and still is) part of life on earth. Starting with the Šumma izbu, this paper investigates the problem of animal suffering from disabilities in Mesopotamia.