To find people who dislike animals a bit cold in general

[Tinhatattheready]

Yes it’s probably goady. Yes I’ve made an apt name change but...

Honestly - anyone I’ve ever met who’s “not an animal person” always seems to be a bit... off.

I’m not talking about those who are say scared of dogs, or a bit mistrustful of cats. I mean those who are very much “it’s just an animal” (and no I don’t include farmers in this either.

I know plenty of people who are nervous of animals and they’re lovely / but have known maybe around 3 people who really are jist “who cares” and they are not so nice.

I don’t dislike animals in that I would never wish any harm on them and I abhor animal cruelty but I have no wish to touch them or be in close proximity. I think it’s horribly unhygienic to have animals roaming a house but I’m in the minority on that I’m sure and it’s no skin off my nose how other people choose to live. It makes me want to vomit when you see a cat who has been prowling and pooing everywhere, sitting down on a kitchen worktop. Utterly grim. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to lock up anyone who mistreated said cat out of pure cruelty. Maybe that makes me cold...oh well, I can live with that!

I find it strange if a person is a loud vegan animal lover and pet owner chastising anyone for eating an animal product yet happily scrape a can of dog/cat food for their pet.

I definitely prefer people who like animals and children and can relate to them.

I think having a blanket dislike for all animals is a bit cold and strange. I love animals in general, but find some people's dogs annoying or don't like a particular cat because it's aggressive. I couldn't imagine just disliking every animal for no reason. A particular animal, with reason, yes, completely normal or generally not liking dogs because you've been bitten, again normal.

I find it strange if a person is a loud vegan animal lover and pet owner chastising anyone for eating an animal product yet happily scrape a can of dog/cat food for their pet.

I think this is a reasonable point. Many vegans choose not to have pets because of this exact reason. Other vegans have cats and dogs and put them on a vegan diet, which I think is cruel and inappropriate.

I have a cat (he is a rescue). The cat predates my veganism, and is my responsibility. The only alternative to me giving him meat is that I give him up for adoption by someone else. That would be very traumatic for him, since he is old and wouldn’t cope with the disruption, and it wouldn’t actually solve the problem since it would just be someone else buying meat for him instead of me. But once he’s no longer with me I won’t have another cat (even though I love cats) because buying meat for him does make me uncomfortable. I might rescue a naturally vegan animal like a rabbit, or I might just accept that I’m not in a position to have pets.

I totally disagree with breeding animals to be pets. There are too many animals already in shelters for us to be breeding even more. And that’s before you get into the ethical minefield of the number of breeds now exhibiting defects because of irresponsible interbreeding.

Tbh I think owning a pet is a bit of a weird way of expressing one's love for animals. I mean, I don't think it's motivated by notions of how best to live within our environment in terms of wildlife, which is what I would define as caring about animals. Also, people who are fanatical about their pets do tend to have distant/fractured relationships with people (eg the type who says "I prefer animals to humans") so yeah I guess I agree with you OP, although not in the way you meant.

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman agree with a lot of what you say. The choices you make re what you consume are very similar to how lots of folk lived a couple of generations ago - cull, bit of poaching, low key husbandry eg chicks and bees. Little environmental impact and a fairly unsentimental attitude to animals eg they work, or sometimes you eat them, but mostly you leave them alone and they certainly don't sit on your sofa or your bloody bed.

I agree with recent posters about finding the business of keeping pets a strange way of showing you are an "animal" person or more caring/less cold than others.

I personally think horse riding is cruel, breeding pedigree dogs or other animals to keep as a kind of toy cruel.

I love animals and wildlife in their natural settings, though. (Except rats...)

I’m not an animal person. I find them annoying and time consuming. I also hate seeing animals suffer, I feel sad when they die and am working towards veganism.

I do find people’s attitudes to animals strange. I can’t get obsessed with a pet, I wouldn’t revolve my life around a dog etc. I also some pet owners are entitled, mainly dog owners.

I try to be a kind person I general, I don’t think I’m cold. But I’m just not a fan of animals.

I love most animals, grew up riding ponies etc, always had a dog at home. As an adult I'd never keep a dog as I find them smelly, dog shit makes me feel ill and they hinder freedom.

For example, my mothers dogs rule her life so much so she never leaves them and never sees her 3 grandkids. Her house stinks to high fucking heaven and frankly I don't think I need go on.

Georgina, have you ever seen a bitch weaning her pups? She is very keen to be shot of them. Whether you agree with it or not, dogs have been selectively bred over millennia to bond closely to people. I know an assortment of dogs who could leave the farm or jump the garden fence and never come home, but they don't.

Lineman one of the dogs is a sofa regular. But not on the bed.

I worked with a woman who took 2 weeks off work when her dog died. When she can back she insisted that it was the same as when I had lost my dad a few years before and had taken time off work. I didn't agree as in matter of weeks she could (and did) get a new dog whereas my dad was irreplaceable. I don't think that makes me cold.

I have a friend who constantly tells her kids and anyone that will listen, that she prefers her dogs to her children. I see the look on her children's faces. I don't agree with her. I don't think that makes me cold; in fact I actually care very deeply for her children's mental health.

Everywhere I go, people's pets jump up at me, slobber on me and claw me. I push the pet away. I don't think that makes me cold I just don't want the pet near me.

I don't go 'aww' when I see a pet because all I see is mess, noise, vet bills and what a pain it is when it comes to holidays, nights out or day trips. It's like having a child that never grows up. The responsibility is huge and I don't want that.

During lockdown,I was struck by the amount of people who claimed to be animal lovers and believed they had a right to break lockdown in order to get a puppy. I live in a puppy farming area and many of them had no issues with purchasing puppies from these farms. I'm vegan and possibly have a slightly different thought process about pets but know that my wish to own a trendy cross breeds should never justify supporting puppy farms.
On an online forum one of them had paid 1.5 k for a sick puppy. She had picked it up at a garage because the seller said it was more convenient, it had fleas,worms and fake vaccination certificates.
These people are far more dangerous in terms of animal welfare issues than someone who has no particular interest in animals.

Neither DH or I are animal people. DH doesn't like captive animals (including pet dogs). At least most children get toilet trained at some point but with an animal, you are stuck picking up their crap for the next xx number of years. Children grow up to be adults and taxpayers, very important for people who need a pension and it is vial for wider society. You are stuck paying vet bills until dear old rover dies. Also, i feel immensely sorry for the poor dog in the flat downstairs who yelps constantly and is never taken out (its a first floor flat and we have a communal garden but the poor animal is stuck inside all day long. They keep telling the dog off, i think they honestly got the dog so they can abuse it verbally).

I wouldn't mind a hamster or guinea pig (not something that poos all around my home) but if i am honest, it probably is quite childish and pointless, i should just spend more time with actual human beings.

IMO it's those with pets that are the odd ones. Why do normally sane, adults talk to animals in silly voices? And don't get me started on those that insist their pet is a "fur baby"...no it's not, it's an animal treat it as one.
I like animals but not pets.

So is the concept of pet ownership, zoos etc, that essentially breed animals for a form of slavery/captive life (no matter how well treated) really that selfless, warm and compassionate?

Arent we all indirectly responsible for encroaching on animal kingdoms anyway by our mere existence, since we are not cave dwellers. So all humans are "off" and cold?

I love this idea of dogs as captive animals. Mine have ample opportunity to fuck off over the horizon at least twice a day, but they don't. They get a bit hysterical if they can't find me. They're pack animals. They like to be around humans.

Yeah it's not selfless. Plus pet ownership actually impacts negatively on the natural world in terms of waste, noise, habitat destruction etc. So you might be friendly disposed towards your pet but by engaging in the very human activity of owning one you are adversely affecting animals.

Surely it's more realistic to say that most people who lack empathy for humans also struggle to relate to animals as well - that's not particularly surprising surely?

However, I am surprised that someone who is neither vegetarian nor vegan is so quick to judge when there are plenty of people who feel that the mass breeding, slaughter and consumption of animals shows a bit of a lack of empathy for those animals. But if a vegan expresses the same thoughts, they are generally accused of being 'one of those' vegans, preaching etc.

Someone who demonstrates such an overwhelming capacity for compartmentalising their emotions depending on the type of animal and whether they want to eat it or not might be more of a worry, personality-wise, surely?

Someone who demonstrates such an overwhelming capacity for compartmentalising their emotions depending on the type of animal and whether they want to eat it or not might be more of a worry, personality-wise, surely?

Well, yes, apart from the fact that it's so widespread as to be entirely normalised. I agree with you, and don't have significantly different or less affectionate feelings towards cows or chickens to those I have towards dogs or cats, but it's a piece of doublethink that meat eaters manage all the time, the total disconnect between the shrink-wrapped chicken breast in the supermarket and the animal it came from.

Surely it's more realistic to say that most people who lack empathy for humans also struggle to relate to animals as well - that's not particularly surprising surely?

This and vice versa. Don’t most serial killers have a history of inflicting torment in animals?

Yes but also people who are OTT over animals are odd too. I like animals, especially dogs and cats, but I don’t place the same value on an animal’s life and a human. I once volunteered at a cat rescue and the cat ladies were in a league of thier own. I got the impression that they thought I should be grateful for donating my time to clean up shit and cat sick. Fuck that!

I work in healthcare, I (like to think) I do my job well and that I'm an empathetic and compassionate person. But I am completely indifferent to most animals. I'll watch a wildlife documentary and I like seeing animals in the wild but I'm really not a fan of pets at all and would never own one myself. I don't mind cats so much but I don't like dogs at all. I don't go all goeey at pictures of small animals and I don't tend to cry at films either unless its about real events (titanic, boy in striped pyjamas etc.), although I can appreciate that others do.
I obviously don't condone cruelty and would do something if an animal was hurt in front of me/ would try to find help, but I don't particularly like being around animals and I don't think that makes me a cold person. I can understand though that a lot of people like animals a lot more than me though and I wouldn't tell someone they couldn't be upset about their dog dying.
I do have a problem with people that are so entitled and self absorbed about their pets that they won't put their dog in another room or at least keep hold of them and stop them jumping all over me while I'm trying to treat their family member who's just had a stroke though although to be fair people are getting better at doing this.

I don't like animals. We don't have any pets. I hate the idea of having animals in my house. I don't enjoy going to the zoo/farm to look at animals but do go with DS or my nieces. But I would hate to see anyone harm an animal or an animal hurt.

I saw a dog get hit by a van years ago on my way to work and as the van driver was beside himself and trying to find the owner, I sat with the dog and stroked it. It was really sad and I felt so sorry for the dog as it was in pain and it's owners when they arrived at the scene to find their dog had died. I hugged the owner and looked at photos of the dog on her phone while her husband took him home. I called DH and cried and then ended up not going to work that day.