to think it's time we stopped keeping "pets?"

[Hullygully]

Why do we still do this?

Apart from working animals, guide/guard dogs etc, isn't it odd that we keep animals in our homes? Expensive, huge amounts of waste that has to be dealt with, extermination of songbirds etc etc

Yes?
No?

Am discussing with dd, so interested in views!

fish gene pool good argument.

JoyfulPuddle, pets have been popular long before the present century, certainly in the first half of the 20th century. They were relatively cheaper to keep as they ate scraps and less was known about animal nutrition.

Since we are most of us parents on here perhaps we shouldn't worry too much about the carbon footprint of other people's pets: we've done our best to add to that by breeding. I don't suppose some lonely pensioner's cat adds more to the footprint than my two children.

Isn't it the amount of crap they produce? Literally?

cory

No, there's plenty of documentary evidence that pets help children like mine with SN develop key skills.

I remember a study (from nursing days though so 1992 ish) that showed someone's BP reduces if they stroke an animal (presumably if they like animals anyway!)... and they are company for the elderly.

And my rescue cat saved my life so ner.

(anyone who thinks humans are the only ones who benefit from pat keeping has never had a cat!)

Evidence

BBC, so muct be true

Thanks, Pacific.

It's still all about us, isn't it?

We have a dog and a cat. Both get one small bowl of biscuits a day. The rest of the dog's food is leftover food that we or the children do not eat, while the cat survives on rabbits. So we have a waste disposal system and a vermin control system for the price of just a few biscuits. Plus they're both kind of cute. What more could we ask?

Because my dog is the loveliest creature and I would lead a lesser life without him. :)

Dogs and cats are breeding all over the place without people's intervention, so I don't think that "letting them live out their normal life span and without breeding more" would work well.

I was walking my dog yesterday and I put her poo in the poo bin and thought about all the millions of poo bins and all the tonnes of crap and wondered if it was quite the thing.

Well, yes, I took that as a given.

Although I think it is more than likely that wolves etc hung out around early human settlements for scraps etc.

We once looked after a neighbours goldfish while they were on holiday and I was amazed how fond I became of him. Although I am more of a doggy furry kind of potential pet owner, really

' I took that as a given' - I ment the 'it's all about us'

I think pet-keeping is an odd thing. Yes, it's good for the elderly/lonely to have that bit of companionship and a reason to go out, but what strikes me is how it's all purely for humans' convenience.
A puppy's birth is engineered by humans, money changes hands, and said puppy is wrenched from the snuggly litter before they're even weaned.
Puppy cries all night, new family hopefully integrates it as a member of their household. Then the poor thing only gets to go out when its owners choose, unless it's a farm dog or the like.
Not much of a life, is it?

< Disclaimer: we did this ourselves, and I love her to bits, but still feel sorry for her >

No.

If we start to phase out all the environmentally-damaging, 'odd' and seemingly pointless things we do, our lives would be stripped of anything that made it agreeable.

If we stopped keeping domestic dogs or cats, what would happen to them? They are now entirely dependent on human beings - we made them to a certain extent. It's grossly unfair to say - sorry, we don't want you anymore, fuck off to oblivion!

I think that one of the few really good things about our species is that we sometimes display a fondness for other non-human animals. It shows that we are more than just eating, fucking and shitting machines - because we do something for sheer joy, and show empathy to creatures we can't possible understand.

And what about zoos? Or would they survive? Those animals are 'pets' to all intents and purposes. What would happen to those species who were in danger in the wild?

God no I love my pets :)

Although I did share a house at Uni with a guy who had come from Vietnam. I once found him watching Animal Hospital in absolute shock and disbelief. He had a hard time getting his head round us paying for medical treatment for small animals that children couldnt get in his country (and died from a want of).........I had to see his point

I wanted a dog from the age of 3, to the extent I extracted several promises of a dog from my Dad over the years and use to get my mum to buy dog food for an imaginary dog.
I got and dog 2 years ago (after a 22 years of waiting) and I can honestly say it was one of the best things I have done, I use to suffer from depression/anxiety/ panic attacks which haven't been an issue since we got Daisy. We now have 2 dogs and a DS, he s 9 months and loves looking at the dogs, stroking them (pulling their fur). They are expensive I have a breed that requires regular trips to the groomers at 50 pounds a time, which is alot more then I spend on myself in the hairstyling department.

But we love them they are well cared for and looked after, their food is quite cheap and they eat a lot of leftovers.

I would say this though some people buy animals and don't give a shit. When we bought Daisy she was terribly run down. She had been purchased by a 12 year old girl (who sold a horse to buy her) and after 6 weeks they farmed her out to a friend as she chased another of their dogs who was pregnant, when she returned she apparently chased the cat so she went back to the friend), I didn't know what to look for when I bought her she was so tatty we didn't see the sores on her sides which were infected. Or know her glands were infected, after 3 months and 300 pounds spent at the vet she was well, but I often think how lucky she was that we bought her, frankly the previous owner didn't care and I imagine would have abandoned her if we hadn't taken her.
I do think perhaps dog licenses should be bought back or people should be vetted in someways before purchasing a dog, but I can't see that happening.

I've been wondering for years if there isn't something more useful we could be doing with dog poo. I'm never one to leave it in the middle of a pavement or even a public open field/space (unless they have gone off into the undergrowth where no-one walks) but I do think sticking it into a plastic bag and putting it in the bin is adding insult to injury somehow. Letting it wash away/rot down naturally has to be better for the plant, but not easy or pleasant if it is in a high traffic area!

"I was walking my dog yesterday and I put her poo in the poo bin and thought about all the millions of poo bins and all the tonnes of crap and wondered if it was quite the thing"

Try visiting a sewage farm! It will make you wonder a great deal more.

Obviously the principle of keeping pets is about human wants and needs but I suppose you could argue with rescue animals there's some altruism. I always wonder on here though when people express outrage at a healthy dog being put down whether they are all vegetarians, otherwise .

For the planet, not the plant.

Yes, probably is just their crap that causes the CF Hully but then it's the same with us, and all carnivorous beings I suppose, beacuse you can't really recycle it.

But then cows are responsible for most of the planet's methane, so do we get rid of cows? Let's just get rid of humans and be done with it.

But, but, but my dog is so sweet and I loves him.

What more do we need?

Dont make me get rid of him. He is the only one in the family who looks at me like that.

Even the 18mth old raises his eyebrows at me now.