To think that people who don’t like pets shouldn’t be judged as “cold”?

If someone says they don't like (and especially if they say hate) animals that is a huge red flag to me.

Sorry, I wasn't clear - she didn't say she wanted to, she claimed to have witnessed it and hated cats as a result. Still despicable.

Cats have changed very little except cosmetically from the African wildcats they are descended from, far less than dogs have changed from wolves.

The simple solution is keeping them indoors and making sure they are desexed - we're more serious about rules for this in Australia, precisely for our ecosystem.

Not liking pets can be for all sorts of reasons, it doesn't mean a person doesn't like animals or is a big red flag about them in general.

That doesn't make that person 'cold', though, or a psychopath. I'm perfectly fond of dogs and grew up with them, though I don't own any, but absolutely I think the extent to which a friend's life is ruled by her (young) nervy dogs is a bit crazy. They can't be left alone for more than two hours at a time, are too neurotic to cope with dog daycare options or kennels, and she's not left the country for anything other than a brief work trip in a decade, and only when her partner can stay at home, and is always leaping up from lunches to dash back to them. I 'understand' in that it's clear it's worth it to her, which is all I need to understand. I don't have to approve. But I don't think children are in any way a helpful comparison, unless you're comparing it with babies or children with significant additional needs.

Diomi · Today 05:29

I like animals and part of me would love a pet, but I know I wouldn’t be around enough and I don’t want the responsibility. Judging by the dog breeds they choose, the complete ignorance about the needs of their pet and the life some of their animals have, I think many pet owners don’t like animals as much as I do. A lot of people get pets for entirely selfish reasons.
Well most people do- company, fun, excercise. Selfish doesn’t mean they’re negligent

This woman was obviously a psychopath. Wanting to torture or harm animals is way beyond just not liking pets!

Not to mention that these animals have been domesticated for millennia, and it seems wolves as well as cats self-selected for it, living around human settlements. It's far too late to talk as if companion animals are, or should, disappear from the scene.

You can have pets.

But you have no right casting aspersions on anyone else for not being an "animal lover" like you claim to be.

What about vegans who don't like animals? Clearly they don't want them to be harmed.

I am very scared of most animals so avoid being in situations where they are near me. I don't eat meat. Why should I be considered cold when I have a phobia about cats and have been seriously bitten by a dog?

Of course you can.

But surely you can see the contradiction in calling people who don't like pets "cold" and describing it as a red flag while simultaneously paying for the mass slaughter of farm animals.

I never understand the animal lover/vegan/pets issue...🤔

I'm an animal lover and a vegan and I have pets. Is that wrong?

Yes, a former neighbour said exactly that when I moved in and mentioned having two cats (who she would never see, because they're indoor-only). Not just "I hate cats" but a detailed description of cruelty to a kitten, which she claimed was why she hated cats.

Fair enough, but I also think that people who keep pets in suboptimal conditions (ie a massive proportion of pet owners) for their own pleasure or entertainment are vastly more 'sociopathic' than someone who simply doesn't care much for having dogs or whatever other animal as pets

I love dogs, which is exactly why I've absolutely no interest in giving one a suboptimal life in my home. Similarly, I love goats, but no one seems to think it unusual that I haven't got one holed up in my small garden...

Sorry, I’m confused. What has being a vegan got to do with it?

Can I not have pets if I’m not a vegan?

I like my cat, not keen on dogs. Having/not having pets is a matter of personal preference and/or ability to care for animal. A red flag would be abusing animals, but not having pets? Nah.

I work in community healthcare and I often visit people at home.
When I first started, I really wasn’t keen on dogs, didn’t like them jumping round and licking me, felt on edge round them etc.
But I need to develop a rapport with my patients, and a good way of doing that is showing a friendly interest in their pets. So I suppressed my feelings and tried to interact with dogs as much as possible. And doing that I started to like them much more. It’s hard to not like an animal when you are talking to it, and it is responding back, and the owner is smiling and chuckling and opening up to you. So I’m really glad I managed to change my response. But it was my own decision to do that. Nobody should be expected to change their response, or judged if they don’t (obviously I’m not talking about actively mistreating animals).

If I hadn’t made myself do that, probably lots of owners would be viewing me as cold. But I wasn’t, just wary.
People who have had negative experiences (I hadn’t really) have lots of reason to be wary, nervous, scared, completely averse. Everyone has different experiences.

👀

Nor do humans.

Yet the million pound business of making dogs ‘cuter’ to the point they have many health problems, can’t breath properly etc but hey as long as they look cute eh?! 🙄

I chose not to have pets as I wouldn’t want them left alone all day when we’re all at work. It’s not fair on the animal.

Anyone that agrees with OP I assume you’re vegan? It hypocritical if not.

No one wants them running feral. I would want them to be phased out, no more breeding. Problem solved.

Absolutely not. I don't think cats and dogs are the natural order of things, and would prefer we maintain our true wildlife, such as foxes, badgers, squirrels. I would prefer it if dogs and cats did not exist. They do not fit into the ecosystem.

But you have a rooted hatred of badly-behaved pet dogs?

Actually, a friend of mine who has an ingrained terror of dogs after a nasty bite in childhood, is fine with coyotes and wolves, having lived in places where both were naturally occurring. She says no one shouts 'It's OK -- he's friendly!' while their off-the-leash labrador races towards you in the park.

My friends all have dogs and cats and I was brought up with dogs and cats, I like to fuss my friends animals and enjoy seeing them when I’m at their houses but I personally do not want them in my house, the smell, dirt, extra responsibility, cost, less spontaneity and we both work so don’t have the time to dedicate to pets which as far as I am concerned makes me a sensible person unlike some owners now a days who shouldn’t have pets and spoil it for the responsible pet owners

I’m a vegan, an animal lover, and I’ve lived wild and free in the woods, communing with the animal kingdom for the last 3 years. The only clothes I wear are fashioned from large leaves (that fall naturally, I don’t pick them), and I subsist on roots, berries, and extremely carefully curated mushrooms.