Unfit Stewards: The Role of the Intensive Pet Parenting Ideology in Constructing Racialized Narratives.

This article examines how privileged white individuals use the intensive pet parenting ideology—a socially constructed set of beliefs that pets are innocent companions deserving of substantial financial, time, and lifestyle sacrifices—to racialize people of color (POC) and justify their exclusion from the veterinary profession. Based on 44 interviews with a racially diverse group of veterinarians and veterinary students, the study finds that respondents commonly attribute POC underrepresentation in veterinary medicine to cultural differences in pet ownership and care, portraying POC communities as less likely to form emotionally intensive bonds with pets or to prioritize pet welfare. These racialized narratives, often unsupported by empirical evidence, serve to naturalize occupational segregation and obscure structural barriers such as the high cost of veterinary education and lack of diversity initiatives. The findings highlight the pervasive role of pet-related ideologies in reinforcing racial and class hierarchies within animal-focused professions and call for further research on how such ideologies operate beyond neighborhood contexts.