Is it really that unusual to dislike animals ?

[Whyisthatweird]

I’ve been told so many times now that it’s either not normal or a sign that something is wrong and one person even said it made them feel so uncomfortable to be around me when realising what an aversion I have to animals ??!! Surely I’m not alone ??

I don’t hate animals - I’m just either phobic about them or I can’t stand them for multiple sensory reasons (smell, dirt, germs etc) and therefore totally avoid them ! I don’t make a fuss about it it’s just when anyone realises they act like it’s a sign of being some kind of psychopath ! A colleague recently got a puppy and I couldn’t be in the same room. I can see why others find them cute and accept that but I feel nauseous around animals and she was trying to follow me around saying ‘what’s wrong with you ?’ It got really uncomfortable.

Am I the only one ? I feel like some kind of freak !

What's interesting is that those of us who don't like animals can understand that others have a different point of view. But that the people who love animals cannot understand that not everyone has the same opinion as them.

And after having thought about it, yes it's pets I have an issue with and no interest in. I'm very allergic to cats and don't want your "doggo" anywhere near me. Quite happy to feed the birds and squirrels in the garden and like to see the deer in the field behind the house.

Not liking one type of animal eg dogs is fair enough. I don’t like spiders.

Not liking any animal and doing absolutely nothing to change it - that’s definitely in the batshit arena.

Animals are a big part of life for most people I know (I’m horsey and live rurally so practically everyone I know has horses, dogs, cats, farm animals) so unfortunately I couldn’t be friends with someone that didn’t like any animal at all. You just wouldn’t fit in.

Yes. Not everyone wants to fawn over animals or finds them fascinating but to actually dislike them is weird and not in an endearing way. On further reflection, it betrays a rather ignorant attitude.

It isn’t ‘batshit’ to not like things that you and your mates like, and it doesn’t matter if @Whyisthatweird doesnt fit in with animal centric people- this isn’t primary school, she can just play with someone else!

Couldn't be in the same room as a puppy. 🙄

Ignorant of what?

I’m the same. Just don’t like them in my home/space and I think it’s perfectly normal and acceptable

the whole “never trust someone who doesn’t like dogs/cats/llamas” is bollocks

So because I don’t want a dog or a cat living in my house I hate nature!

fucks sake, this is the kind of bollocks I mean when I say it’s ridiculous.

And this…

ignorant?

I don’t hate nature! I don’t actually hate as in wish harm to animals I just have what I can describe as an intense dislike and severe aversion ? I wouldn’t want harm to come to any living creature though

I get the feeling this is a common belief from the way people react to me when they realise what severe issues I have . It really seems to visibly put some people ‘on alert’

This was my thought too. It's a very unusually strong reaction to feel nauseous, panic attacks etc. Reading your posts, I did think ND trait.

Ah yes, because that’s what I said, that people who don’t want dogs or cats in their house hate nature.

Honestly some people are so desperate to be offended and to turn a comment about someone else into something they can be offended by it’s embarrassing.

Can you really not see the difference between someone who doesn’t like cats or dogs and wouldn’t want them, and someone who is so averse to all animals that they can’t even hear the lyrics to Noah’s arc?

The former is understandable. Not everyone likes the same animals or wants them around.

The latter isn’t normal and neither should it be normalised. And the OP should want to get past it, because if she doesn’t she runs the real risk of this having a major impact on any children if she has any.

Where will it end? Not allowing the children to learn to read with the oxford reading tree series because it contains a dog?

Not wanting them to have friends because she might have to fetch them and they might have pets?

Not being allowed to sing about any kinds of animals at preschool?

And the reason why I’ve made those extreme suggestions is because the OP’ can’t even listen to the lyrics to Noah’s arc, so the above isn’t dissimilar.

Actually for the most part they are.

The flowers need the bees and the insects to pollinate them.
The Birds eat the seeds and drop them both from their beaks and in their droppings and spread them so they can grow elsewhere.
The bigger animals produce dung which fertilises the soil which enables the plants to grow.

The predators eat some animals which then biodegrade into the soil high enables the plants to grow.

And the plants in turn feed the animals.

Go to an area such as a desert where there is no wildlife, and you won’t see any plants.

Similarly an area with no plantation doesn’t make a home for animals.

They all need each other to exist, and we need all of them.

The damage that is done to our environment is done by humans. And even in the case of pests such as grey squirrels, the reason why those pests are there is because generally man has introduced them.

I grew up with lots of different kinds of animals and I’m vegan, but I don’t like a lot of animals- pigs in particular make me feel sick, something about their weird little feet and flat noses 🤢 everyone’s different, and like pp have said as long as you’re not actively harming animals it doesn’t seem to be that big a deal!

Also, I find it much stranger when people who go on about how much they love animals also eat them! No logic there!

What if someone (animal lover or not) doesn't like camping? They don't mind other people camping, it just isn't their idea of fun and they would never do it - it's literally their idea of a nightmare - does that mean they "hate nature" or want to destroy countryside? Of course not! It just means that's not how they choose to engage with nature.

I really don't understand why people aren't allowed to have likes and dislikes without it being "batshit", "really weird", or "unhinged". As I said before, you can admire and respect animals and think they are magnificent without wanting to be in contact with them. And it really doesn't make you empathy-deficient!

I feel for you OP because people are going to judge you harshly if you admit to having a dislike and aversion to animals, even if you don't wish them or do them any harm. You could in fact spend all your free time helping charities or donating to foodbanks or the magic breakfast - you'll still get "you're weird and probably evil underneath" type judgement.

I do think you should seek therapy simply because it's having such a detrimental effect on your life, making things awkward when it needn't be so bad. The case with the puppy for example, if you were able to remain in the room and feel relaxed and not anxious to leave, that would be a win for you.

I used to know two people who didn't like animals. Neither wished them any harm but felt they belonged out in the fields or countryside or whatever, just not in people's houses. Neither could see any value in keeping animals as pets and couldn't understand why anyone did. They were still nice people and weren't mysteriously horrible, they just weren't fans of animals. And that's OK, even if I don't understand it; I don't need to, it's their personal idiosyncrasies not mine.

And btw, Hitler had a dog. Presumably he liked dogs, so he must have been a good person, right? Oh, wait...

Yes. But none of that is affected in any way by someone not liking animals and choosing not to be around them.

That all still exists, she just doesn’t enjoy the physicality of it.

She isn’t going out destroying it, murdering sheep, replacing wildflower meadows with asphalt etc. She is no more damaging to nature than any other human- she just chooses not to hang around with animals.

And actually, the I love animals brigade, especially people who keep pet dogs do a massive amount of damage to nature in terms of the effects of dog wee/poo on ecosystems and waterways, the production and disposal of poo bag, the production of dog food- and that’s before you add in the fact that pets now all need a Halloween costume and Christmas pyjamas!

As a pp said, tolerance seems to mainly be one way

”you love animals, I don’t, each to their own”

”I love animals, you don’t, you’re clearly not to be trusted”

Op, the issue is not that you do not like being close to animals , whether those animals are pets or farmyard creatures. That’s fine. We all have different likes/ dislikes.

The issue seems to be that you are uncomfortable with this feeling and, at times, you do not know how to deal with your discomfort.

Can you ask your gp for a referral to counselling? Or , if you are lucky enough to have one close, an autism outreach centre?
Even without a diagnosis, they may be able to point you in the direction of developing coping mechanisms, so you are not as distressed or discomfited .

Hope you can find something which helps.

I wouldn’t trust someone who didn’t like at least some animals, signs of a wrong’un in my eyes.

I don't like animals and don't understand why people find it strange. Everyone likes and dislikes different things and personally they just don't interest me, don't think they are cute, etc. I don't think the nausea is usual though so for your own sake would be worth investigating that.

Not sure if its unusual or not but I'm weary of people who don't like animals, unless it's because they were attacked or raised to fear them.

I'm weary - in the real sense of the word - of people who churn out nonsense about people who don't squeal over kittens and think dogs don't belong in John Lewis.

Tolerance really does go one way only.