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!

Psychiatrist advised my parents to buy me a dog when I was twelve years old. I suffered from severe depression and anorexia. Yes I know it is a selfish reason but I think he was probably the biggest factor in me still being alive today.

Having mucked out Horse 1 in the cold and dark this morning, trudged up a field to feed Horse 2, only to have to do the same after work this evening, having to withdraw a few hundred pounds in between to pay for livery, having a wacking great cat scratch down my arm, having mucked out 2 litter trays last night , having been landed on from a great height over the weekend as a hint to get up and feed me now! Having no money, hair over everything, mud over everything, having had my toes stood on, having hit the ground hard several times...I have no idea

Should have added: having to do all that when said horse is lame and therefore unridable, who knows?!

So am I lovelydogs, he is the dearest, funniest little thing. He is my baby, he knows it and loves it. He sleeps in the crook of my arm with his nose buried in my neck/hair, and dances for attention.

well i have a dog 2 cats 2 snakes and 2 bearded dragons. We live in rural area so dog has plenty of room, cats too, as far from a road. The reptiles are all in 4ft vivs well cared for and loved. I love all of them and they bring us all alot of joy. There is nothing better than family time on a sat night with all the furry animals sat near the fire, and having a snake snuggled up with you! But agree with the hamster thing

yeah there are downsides! My house needs alot of hoovering and i am forever shovelling poo! The dog is currently in season so she is bleeding slightly too! But it is all worth it!

There is no doubt that animals can bring a lot of joy and even healing. Domestic dogs and cats are now so far removed from their natural environment that they could never be anything but pets. Yet their numbers are increasing and cats especially are vicious little buggers who really do devastate garden birds, field mice, frogs and so on.

And most pets are acquired for our own selfish reasons. I think that even the most loving home for a wild animal (such as a snake, bird, hamster) could never replace their natural environments and I do worry that we are wiping out their natural instincts.

For instance why can't big cats kept in zoos be fed live bait to keep on top of their natural hunting instinct? I'd be all for 'I'm a Celebrity' shot at Longleat in the big cat area.

i completely agree it is for selfish reasons but my snakes are rehomed as are the dragons. My female dragon is blind in 1 eye so would have died in the wild anyway. We all do selfish things but when animals are loved and cared for and have the right housing i feel that pet ownership is not that bad!

You have a point when it comes to rescue animals (I like snakes) but I do think that if the pet industry were more closely monitored then there would be less of these animals that need re-homing in the first place.

We call the basset our "sophisticated parasite"

She has been evolved to leech off of us via the medium of being a family pet and her currency is eye-watering cuteness.

Since early man, dogs and humans have a symbiotic relationship that we convince ourselves we do the better out of.

PETA are very interesting on pets.

PETA are a PITA

I think this PETA page just says they don't want it to be a commercial industry, not that pet-keeping itself is wrong. I sort of get their view, but we live in a capitalist system, there are all sorts of things, potentially much more important things, that shouldn't be commercialised, imho.

As for the merits of pet keeping, It teaches DC:
empathy
responsibility
How to cope with death

I would have thought that the value of increasing empathy with other creatures is worth it alone, really. Just watching pictures of creatures in the wild on TV won't ever achieve half as much.

Floggingmolly I thought for a moment you were going to suggest keeping elderly people as pets!

I think it's an innate human need to be close to animals. Just look at the way toddlers are magnetically drawn to them, pointing at dogs in parks, shrieking with delight when they get to pat a cat, etc. In fact 'cat' and 'dog' seem to feature among the first words people learn to say, regardless of whether they live with them or not. Some friends who don't like animals once visited us with their one year old. They visited again, about six months later, and as soon as their little boy entered the house he started shouting 'meow meow' and hunting desperately for our cats. Meeting the cats a third of his life ago had obviously made a huge impression. His parents were dismayed astonished - they had done nothing to encourage an interest in animals. It was innate. This is just one example, but I don't think it's particularly unusual.

mummytotwoboys how can you hate birds in your garden?

I do worry about cats and wildlife. My cat (a rescue moggie) is crap and can't catch anything but the neighbour's is an adept huntress, which is most upsetting. I tell a lie, my own moglet has caught the odd slug. She's not terribly bright.

She does bring us a lot of happiness though. When our previous cat (another stray) died we were in pieces. I've lost my mother (among others) so it's not as if I've never experienced grief but it really took me by surprise. DP buried her wrapped up in a freshly laundered, pale pink Paul Smith shirt (everyone knows black cats prefer to sleep on fresh, pale laundry).

We also have a corn snake. He has a brilliant viv. tbh they don't do that much in the wild anyway so I don't feel too guilty about keeping him (I hate the idea of most other small pets beign caged up though). He's interesting to keep rather than cuddly and we've learnt a lot about reptiles. I suppose we could have read a book or summat instead though

If there were no cats and we left nature alone, then our children would be able to see a lot more birds, hedgehogs, field mice, stoat, foxes, badgers, owls, rabbits and so on all in the wild and by watching them they would learn a lot about wildlife and their natural habitats.

My kids also love to stroke cats (but are pretty fearful of dogs thanks to some bloody irresponsible dog owners) but then they would love to play with wild mice and stroke badgers too. Doesn't mean to say we should have them as pets!

I applaud those who rescue animals, I'm just sad that has to be the case. The pet industry is thriving and a lot of animals suffer because of it.

Says me who has rat and mice traps up in her loft

I don't think cats bother badgers or foxes (quite the opposite ime). The reason we don't have hedgehogs where I live is because the badgers have eaten them all (according to a hedgehog lady giving a talk at the garden centre).

Little birds, reptiles, amphibians and rodenty things are a different story though sadly.

No, we bother the badgers and the foxes. We have also managed to destroy many hedgehog homes and frog colonies with our lifestyles and new housing estates. Not to mention slow worms, newts etc. We had an abundance of wildlife in England at one point, now all you are likely to see is a domestic dog or cat.

MuttDog was dumped, with her 5 siblings in a sports holdall, zipped up, in a car park. She was only rescued when a member of the public (foolish man, but thank God he did it) opened the bag "in case it was a bomb"...

For all the joy that she gives us, and DD in particular, I really dont think it is 'all about us'. She'd be dead if we hadn't taken her on, and as much as I dont like assigning human feelings to animals, I think she knows it.

For my benefit - oh yes, indeed. Since we had her I am definately a lot fitter...having a dog forces me to get outside and walk, at least 2 hours a day. That can't be a bad thing.

FWIW I would FORCE pet owners to either spey/neuter pets (all pets, not just dogs, but dogs are my passion) at 6 months/before 1st season/however that species works or buy a 'breeding licence' that costs more than the neutering, say £500. I think that would go a long way to stopping the backyard breeders and reducing the

amount of animals that end up in rescues/are killed. Those owners that spout shite like "oh but wonderful fluffy wuffy snookhams MUST have some ickle darling puppies because she is sooooo bweeeewwtiful" or "I'm gonna breed Rover every year cuz I can get £300 for every puppy" may well think twice about it.

I get the impression that for some species things aren't as bleak as they once were.

Badgers, for one. And peregrine falcons of course. We never saw raptors when I was a child in the 70s/80s but they're a pretty common sight these days - even in some towns.

yy LtEve. People are shockingly irresponsible (and greedy) when it comes to neutering their animals.

I think that there would be a lot more mental health problems without them, especially among those who live on their own.

You get raptors in your town? Fuck me - where do you live? ds would LOVE to visit!