To prefer animals to humans?

[malificent7]

Ok i know im a grumpy old sod.
After an afternoon with a tricky class i reglected on something i oftwn think about....how much i prefer animals to human company .
( dp excepted.)

Animals are so much more simple, honest and just easier to be around.
Give me cats over colleagues any day.

[FatherChewieLouie]

The people I’ve met that hate cats have turned out not to be very nice people themselves. That’s my experience, anyway.
Acknowledging that you said in your experience, but still... my abusive bastard ex loved his cat, as did I (in fact I was the only person whose hair the cat tried to chew other than the ex). My brother, on the other hand, fucking hated cats purely because when he left for school one day he saw a cat with a mouse in its mouth. He was a diamond of a guy but he (wrongly in my opinion) ascertained that cats were evil. I love all cats and want to make them all mine (or rather, let them all make me their pet) but I must query that point.

[SureJan]

I prefer people! Out of your immediate human family, surely you don't love your pets more?!

[TooManyPaws]

Much prefer animals. The relationships are far less complicated and exhausting. I can't be around humans all the time as I'm very much an introvert and my cats and dogs are calming and loving. They don't twist things and put you down; they don't swing from love to hate in a heartbeat.

I used to have a cat who only really liked human company; she just wasn't interested in other cats, even her brother though she did mourn when he died.

[LaurieFairyCake]

I love people, they are wonderfully intricate and complex and the relationships I have are amazing all the way down to my soul

And I love my dog a huge amount, it's a much simpler and probably more joyous relationship because it's so simple

I understand why other people (and me half the time) prefer the simple joy of pets - I'm an introvert and pets suit my nature

I tend to think people who love pets like their own company and are content being accompanied without being drained

I know for sure when I was raising teenagers I preferred the company of the cats - didn't mean I didn't love them or think they're amazing - but omg the work of shaping adults ! And the conflict in the house while they developed their personalities

[Afternooncatnap]

I loved my cat very much. I love my dog (not as much as the cat) but neither compares to the love I have for my son.

[WhyDidIEatThat]

Humans are animals 😕 aren’t they?

[WTAAF]

I prefer animals. Probably because it's such a simple and stress free relationship. I'm a total introvert, so people leave me drained and my pets help me to recharge. I don't think animals are better than people, I just find them easier and more enjoyable for me to be around.

[Lethaldrizzle]

Animals can't talk. If that's your megalomaniac idea of a fulfilling balanced relationship, fill your boots! People are awesome!

[Whatslovegottodo]

I love animals, but love lots of people too.
What upsets me is all the grief I get for being vegan, and yet so many people proclaim to 'love animals' and yet eat them .
You don't, you love pets.

[Cavender]

mirime

[mirime]

@Cavender

People generally say that they prefer animals because animals don’t talk back

You've clearly never met the older of my cats!

The other one doesn't talk back, but he's not vocal at all.

[ohfortuna]

So much for nurturing ape societies....
www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/18/chimpanzees-are-natural-born-killers-study-says-and-they-prefer-mob-violence/?utm_term=.1d8003e5b139

[ohfortuna]

Humans love pets because we respond strongly to things which look cute to us, we become powerful emotionally attached to them we anthropomorphize and this causes us to become even more strongly emotionally attached to them

[ChardonnaysPrettySister]

Cats are bastards.

[ohfortuna]

I mean seriously does anyone think that they would have a better life as a female chimpanzee or someone's pet dog?
Does anyone really want to be an animal?
wouldn't you rather be human with all the interesting complex things that humans can do
for the massive potential that humans have
dogs and cats ain't going anywhere, they're just living toys that humans have invented
what's the matter with you people?

[ohfortuna]

I watch a lot of stuff about Monkeys and Apes and their societies are so much more nurturing
More nurturing than humans? So do they build hospitals and invent Hi-Tech pharmaceutical products to care for the sick do they invent prosthetic limbs for people who have been injured?

[ohfortuna]

I read a very interesting article recently by a psychologist studying animal behaviour, he cautioned against assuming that dogs and cats really thought much about us at all
Sounds interesting Cavender, I don't suppose you can remember who is it was by can you?

[Lollipop30]

Laudanum 💐
I really am sorry you’ve had such a hard time and such truly awful human relationships.

I don’t doubt you can be very fond of an animal but it is still a transactional relationship.
I protect you = you feed me and provide shelter

[Taffeta]

Hating animals, eg cats, is different to being ambivalent.

The people I’ve met that hate cats have turned out not to be very nice people themselves. That’s my experience, anyway.

[Personwithhorse]

It is not animals who are destroying the planet with pollution, destruction of the environment, over breeding and killing of all other animals.

Give me our pets any day

[lidoshuffle]

All animals have a place in the ecosystem. They kill or are killed but it's without malice and everything is balanced. Earth is/was heaven on earth, an Eden, but humans are destroying it, not just for ourselves but for so many other species.

Watching something like 'Blue Planet' fills me both with wonder and with sadness and dread, and shame for what we are doing to our animal planet-mates. So yes, I suppose I do prefer animals to humans, as a species.

[Timmytoo]

I completely disagree with you Eatalot. I have two cats, they hardly ever leave my side and they greet me at the gate when I come home if I go out. They don’t scratch or hiss ever. I’m not completely deluded thank you, I just have an amazing relationship with my beautiful cats and I love them and would do anything for them.

[deepestdarkestperu]

I think whether you prefer animals to humans (or vice versa) probably depends on how you've been treated by people and animals over the years.

I love both. My cats can be extremely affectionate but I'm fully aware it's either because they're cold or hungry!

[Ragusa]

I'm also highly suspicious of anyone who states they prefer animals to people. I love animals, we have pets, but .... no. People are definitely higher up my pecking order.

[formerbabe]

One of the nastiest women I've known preferred animals to humans. Like another poster said, i'm always suspicious of people who do.