I don't want to get a family pet due to ethics

[Markinsomerset]

Hi,

My wife really wants a pet and thinks it is very valuable for the children. However ethically I don't agree as cats are responsible for distroying lots of species. Dogs I think its very unfair for as each day I'm sure they feel like they are being abandoned each time they are left alone. Can't guarantee that the suppliers are ethical.

If everyone got rid of their pets then no one would go hungry in the world. They just seem like a selfish interest IMO.

Who is right?

YABU, I think you are totally over thinking the issue plus it is more or less impossible to live an 100% ethical life you surely just do your best.

Why don't you get your family a rescue cat, maybe an older one that is unlikely to hunt if it bothers you that much.

Get a cat like mine. She acts SO tough but a killing machine she is not. She's so clumsy she'll trip herself up before she gets anywhere near her intended prey.
In fact have my actual cat. Just give me an address and she can be yours as soon as I finish my tea.

If everyone got rid of their pets then no one would go hungry in the world.

Hahahbollockshaha

But seriously, get guinea pigs or hamsters and get them from a rescue centre so you don't have to worry about the ethics of breeding them, which I also have. Just look at the RSPCA website to make sure you have a large enough enclosure for them, it's often supposed to be larger than the ones commonly sold as suitable. Also be prepared to look after them (including social interaction) if you can't make the kids do it - they mustn't suffer because of children's attention spans.

This has just proper made me laugh

Gold fish?? Failing that a tamigotchi??

Get a robot dog?

A house cat that doesn't go outside doesn't kill animals (unless you also have pocket pets). This is not the norm in the UK, but very common in the US.
You can also get veggie cat food that is appropriately supplemented with taurine: www.veggiepets.com/shop/vegetarian-vegan-cat-food.html

Alternatively, buy a suitably large cage (min 80cm x 40cm, like these www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages ) and get a syrian hamster - lots of pet owning experience, won't miss you when you are out (will be asleep and solitary anyway) and fun to interact with.

If I were your wife I'd be swapping you for a few cats.....

(but you can't eat RoboRover if you get peckish)

If everyone got rid of their pets then no one would go hungry in the world

Ha ha, you're working on the assumption that everyone would spend the extra money on feeding the world? Nah. I'd just spend it on clothes and gin .

...... Tomorrow belongs to meeee....

I understand what you mean. Just don't get pets if you don't want to be a part of that.

I agree with you OP- I love cats but would have to have a house cat to avoid the bird killing Boak at the smell of litter tray. Every cat we've ever had regularly brought fledglings in.
What about a dog from a rescue? Unless it'd be left at home every day it would be happier with you than in a pound or dead.
Although tbh if you don't want a pet, you shouldn't have one.

I was so ready to be with OP until I read this:

If everyone got rid of their pets then no one would go hungry in the world.

WTAF. Who's behind OP? Come on, I know it's one of you regular vipers. Fess up.

Get a hamster

Seriously?? You shouldn't have had kids then, the impact the human species has on biodiversity etc is huge. I take it you also don't drive a vehicle, have a telly or phone?

I concede i sort of see where you're coming from but when humans are sending the planet to hell in a handcart it seems bonkers to pick on pet ownership!

That cat picture is epic MrsFring! Thats a plotter right there! To the food bank with him!

People who don't want all of the costs and responsibilities of pet ownership shouldn't have pets. They won't care enough about them to treat them properly. So you definitely shouldn't agree to having any animals in your home.

Surely this thread cannot be serious.

I have two dogs and a cat. I don't do this "ethical" stuff. Clearly.

If you are actually serious OP, you sound like hard work. Let your wife and kids have fun without turning everything into an "ethical" issue (I'll bet you do).

My dog's in shock after reading this thread

Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha..

There is some merit to this argument. Many wild species in various parts of the world are threatened because non native species have been introduced to their habitats and have either threatened them or their food sources. Red squirrels for instance are a prime example, and while they are of course not pets the introduction of the grey squirrel into their habitat has been catastrophic for their numbers.

Similarly cats are another example and they have been introduced by humans and they are responsible for killing numbers of animals, birds, shrews etc which are endangered. There are islands where there are no cats and the benefit to the populations has been immense.

In addition to this, many pets are still obtained from the wild and there are certainly arguments against e.g. birds being brought from the wild for the pet trade. e.g. when I lived in Namibia we used to get love birds in our garden, I knew of at least two pet shops in SA who used to travel to Namibia in order to capture love birds in order to set up breeding pairs and then sell the babies as domestic love birds. The same is true of many other species of birds, parrots, reptiles etc, and while we are now in a place where most birds etc are several generations on from their original wild ancestors, the fact remains that there is still a large market in the exotic wild caught pet trade, and the birds we keep as pets originated in the wild at some point.

While we as individuals do keep animals as pets and mostly don't have an issue with that. In truth it is no more wrong to object to the keeping of animals as domestic pets than it is to objecting to killing them for for food.

Not sure how you conclude that if everyone got rid of their pets no one in the world would go hungry.

By 'get rid of' do you mean distribute them to the third world as a food source? Otherwise I'm not sure that what tiddles or fido eats is going to make much difference to world hunger as most commonly bought animal foods are made from the scrapings of the abattoir floor.

If however, by 'get rid of' you mean you think there should be a mass killing of all the pets in the world, I think you need to go back to your dictionary and look up the word ethical again.

Of course cats are killing machines that's how nature evolved them to be. And as for dogs feeling abandoned every time they're left, no they don't. Some do, some don't, they're individuals with different attitudes to their situations.

Personally, I think you sound like someone I wouldn't want near my dog or cat so I think it's probably best if you do manage to dissuade your wife from getting any pets

So if I've got this right poor people should be fed IAMS?

Just love the what you on about mate response. keeps making me chuckle.

As you were.