AIBU to say that no one should own a caged pet?

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My parents loved animals and hated to see caged pets ie rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs etc. I did end up having one or two of these as a child but they always hated it really.
Now I have DC and they ask regularly for a rabbit, hamster etc. I just can’t agree. I think it’s so cruel. Hamsters gnaw on the bars all night to try in vain to get out.
Rabbits stuck in hutches or small runs all day.
Many people claim to love animals but how can they when they are caging animals? I can’t even stand to see fish in a tank!
Hate house cats too. Also think it’s cruel.

Don’t get me started on house cats. Also particularly cruel. All posters saying ‘I am giving my caged animal a better life than the one they had living in the wild because they are safe from predators’, are missing the point. Would you be happy locked up? Just because you are safe from potential harm, for example getting run over? I’d personally rather be free and take the risks than be caged up all day.

I had cats within a Mike of a road and they came and went as they pleased. Both lived 20+ years. Keeping them indoors would have been cruel.

They don't have to shacked up in those tiny metal cages. When I had hamsters I made bin 'cages'. It's one of those massive plastic storage bins. Hamsters are supposed to have at least 7 inches of burrowing material which a cage will absolutely not allow. It was laughable the first time I put the cage next to the bin. It was like going from a bedsit to a mansion.

My dh came with an indoor cat when he moved in and I’ve always thought it a bit cruel but she was too old to suddenly let out. She seems content though, she just generally likes to be wherever we are, gets excited when she hears my dh car on the drive and we had a cattery unit built so she can go outside when we are. She did escape once when I left a window open by mistake - she just sat outside the window and cried to come back in!

I feel a bit funny about the idea of keeping animals for fun in general though so she may be our first and last pet.

Couldn't agree more OP

I can see your point but these pets have lived their whole life in captivity, they don't know the life that they would have to live if they were wild. As someone has already said, rabbits in the wild don't have a long life, and it must also be stressful for them worrying about foxes/dogs all the time.

We had a guinea pig when I was a child, he had a huge pen and a lot of interaction. He was often out in a run on the grass but he was always scared and did not come out of his shelter much- I think he felt vulnerable out of his pen as there were foxes in the area and I guess he could sense them.

My neighbour at the time looked after his adult daughter's rabbit when she was on holiday. He also felt strongly about caged animals so he let it out in the garden- the rabbit had no idea how to keep itself safe and had apparently no instinct to burrow and so within three days was eaten by a fox. I believe his daughter was incredibly upset when she got home and found her beloved bunny dead. So although caged animals may seem cruel, they live a different kind of lifestyle to their wild cousins and they don't know any different.

Rabbits can be litter trained, so my opinion is only people who are going to let them free roam around the house should get one.

My friend has rabbits. They roam around the house and use a litter tray like cats. Very rarely are they ever in a hutch.

Owning dogs is animal slavery I've heard it all now.
I am a slave to both my dog and cat!

I have two budgies, one of which we are fairly sure would've died or been put down if we had not taken him in and given him the treatment he needed. Their cage door is open all day and they can go where they please (except outside). Interestingly they spend at least 50% of their day hanging out in their cage through what I can only assume is their own choice as I am not shutting them in and they have access to food inside and outside the cage. I even have a second smaller cage in the room as we had to visit the vet recently and one loves to just go and sit in there and have a sing. There aren't even any food or toys in there! I think pets really deserve to be given the best life you can afford, you owe it to them for enriching your life

Rodents gnaw because their teeth constantly grow - not because they're trying to escape their cage.

Often cats don't even have collars so if they get hurt their owners can't be contacted to help them and they suffer.

Umm, there is such a thing as micro chipping!

Perhaps lockdown will finally convince pet owners that being confined is cruel in itself. Having a bigger cage does not make it ok. Nor does letting it out for exercise an hour a day.

As I'm sure most people have realised now a house is just a bigger cage if you can't leave.

I get where you're coming from. What about a house rabbit?

Don’t get me started on house cats. Also particularly cruel.

Is it? Because my two can go out whenever they like and never do. They could not be less interested in going outside.

@PeaceLillies

I've had several cats in the past. All of them, apart from one, were outdoor cats. By outdoor, they preferred being outside, but they had a cat flap so they could come and go as they pleased and they were kept inside during nighttimes etc. Didn't live near a main road but it was quite a rural area with wildlife etc. They all lived to ripe old ages, from 13 years old to 18.

I totally agree that animals should not be in small cages and should have enough room for exercise etc I would say it’s a very small number that don’t have this as pets.

We are a very animal mad family...we have wild animals that you would see in a zoo - have special licences for this- all our animals are very well looked after and are much better off with us then what they would be in the ‘wild’. We are lucky to have a lot of land in the country so enclosures are bigger then most zoos. All enclosures are built to represent what their homes would be like in the ‘wild’. They do have human interaction with us as it helps for health checks. Our animals are very much loved and cared for to their every whim, honestly they are looked after better then us humans.

Oh and they all died of natural causes unrelated to being outside.

YANBU OP

I don’t like animals being caged. However, I am comfortable with animals kept in enclosed habitats. Like cows, sheep, horses are enclosed on grazing lands. Well, smaller animals don’t need as much room but can be kept in enclosures with shelter, out door space and so on. Most only roam so far anyway. My friend has pea hens and chickens and they just roam around his two acres and then they will troop into their hen house each evening so all he has to do is count them and close the door. It’s more to keep foxes out than them in as he simply opens the door each morning and out they go, free to roam.
In a sense humans live in enclosures. What else do you call our homes and gardens?

@AlabamaArkansas if they are provided with access outside and they chose not to then that is fine, but most cats would prefer to be outdoors in my experience not cooped up all day because we decide that it’s a better life for them. No life is without risk. That’s kind of the definition of life. My cats are outdoor cats and would be miserable locked up.

Totally agree. We saw a lady on the beach last week with a parrot (not in UK). It had a line attached to its ankle so every time it flapped and flew momentarily it was pulled back to the woman's arm. It was terrible to watch.
One of my kids asked why she kept a bird who obviously wanted to fly away.
I said perhaps she was lonely and he was her only company.

I'm on the fence on this one. My only experience of people keeping rabbits is for food. They were raised solely for this purpose a d never knew anything different and it doesnt strike me as cruel, opening one to look at ive never really understood but I understand people seem to get something from this. I'd rather people didn't keep cats, most owners only have cats as it's a pet that they don't have to clear up after and get let there neibours do so.. " oh a litter tray would be unhygienic in the house..... Cats are predatory by nature which is fine, the problem is the sheer number of them bred over and above a normal population. Still the light seems to burn brightly for the masses so I'd say YABU unless we say no own should own a pet... and them pets at home would sue mumsmet:)

*Owning one to look at** opening one to look at would be a bit weird unless you are a trainee vet!