i think you might be making metaphysical claims, while the topologist is not. moreover, in topology, things dont.become other things or kinds of things; they stay as they are and the (simplified) statement "a staw is a donut" means "a straw is similar to a donut in that they share certain qualities." there is never any actual stretching of an object to change its metaphysical identity, that is a virtual process (and one that has rules and restrictions) that is used to help humans wrap their head around the concept of homotopy.