To think that people who don’t like pets shouldn’t be judged as “cold”?

[ByMellowScroller]

Not everyone loves animals, yet people think it’s a red flag. AIBU to think it’s just personal preference and nothing more?

I don't fetishise pets above people, but I do prefer my pets and my people to other people and other pets.

It's part of base human psychology to prefer you and yours to others. Some people draw the line at race, some at class, some at income, some at species, some at an individual level.

Having pets doesnt make someone an "animal lover".

• Some pet owners are actively cruel to their pets.
• Plenty of dog owners have used puppy farms (which only exist because there's a market), fuelling an inhumane industry. Similar for kittens, but on a smaller scale.
• Plenty are outright neglectful, or don't fully meet the pet's needs.
• Lots of pet owners don't care about the impact their pet has on other animals (wildlife and/or other people's pets)
• Lots of pet owners will happily eat other animals (and pay for those animals to be killed), just not their pets.

Nailed it.

@TarantinoIsAMisogynist

I do agree with that. I adopt old cats with a short shelf-life so to speak, and a woman at work asked why I'd bother because they'd just die soon, as if I wasn't getting my money's worth - same woman considered not treating her congenitally unhealthy designer dog.

Funnily enough my old cat appears to have ethics when it comes to other animals. He does kill the odd bird or mouse, but if he finds a baby animal, he'll come fetch us and howl until we put it somewhere safe. He's weird like that.

I've an allergy to animal fur and still have the scars from being attacked by a dog as a toddler (unprovoked, it jumped the fence into our garden to try and eat me).
Animals, especially those that are frequently kept as pets and I just don't get along.

If that makes me a walking red flag, dodgy and a psychopath well okay then.

I wouldn't judge them as "cold" per se, but I would file it away as supporting evidence should any other negative aspects of their personality come to light.

The one that bugs me more than anything, though, is the old "When I come to your house, could you put your dogs away?". That's a hard "nope"...this is their home and not yours, so there's no way in hell I'm going to stress them out by confining them to another room for your comfort.

Then there's the inevitable follow-up - "They're just dogs, you've got your priorities twisted if you prioritise them over people". Nah, not prioritising them over "people", just you...

Are you fur real 😂

Rubbish.

Gross exaggeration. Hitler loved dogs as does Putin.

Although as this thread shows, they are remarkably intolerant of those that don’t like pets. Not animals, pets. It’s perfectly possible to like animals, as I do, but dislike pets. And that’s dislike, not hate! Everything has to tend to the extreme nowadays, which is remarkably childish IMO

Animal lovers generally have more tolerance to others.

You don't actually mean animal lovers here - you mean "pet owners", which you think of as the same thing.

It's nonsense, anyway. I can think of plenty of famous pet owners who were definitely not tolerant of others, Hitler (pet dog) and Mussolini (pet hen) among them. Ceausescu even promoted his pet dog to Colonel.

I dislike animals in the house, are scared of dogs due to childhood trauma and have a deep mistrust of people who would harm, taunt or injure animals. No, I don´t want to own pets. If this makes me a raging psychopath, so be it.

I don't understand the logic of the anti-pet love a fox but hate a dog, then conversely pet owners love a gerbil but hate a rat. I don't understand all the weird rules.

Surely if you love animals it shouldn't matter if they're wild or domesticated, you care about them all. That's the bit I can't get my head around with the pet haters.

Is it the actual animal you despise, or just the owner? Can someone enlighten me please.

Disliking animals as in I wouldn't want one as a pet doesn't mean I would deliberately harm an animal. I'm a long-term vegetarian, a healthcare professional, & generally consider myself a caring person. Not liking animals doesn't make someone a sociopath or psychopath.

It's entirely possible to care about the welfare of animals, but also not want them to live in your house, or sit on your lap.

What is it you don't understand?

I love animals but not domesticated animals
I would argue there are a lot of people that call themselves an animal lover but in reality they mean: I love my dog. Don't give a shit about the squirrel it chases. Or I love my cat, don't give a shit about mice and birds it kills.

The venom.

I totally understand people not wanting to share their home with pets, I respect that, but it's just the venom that they spew that I find difficult to comprehend.
Because I don't know if it is the animal that they despise or the owner.

This!

it is a red flag. Not having compassion or love for the wider world is terrible. They are usually people how don’t care about climate change too.

So is it the domesticated animal you hate or the people that own it? Because foxes kill mice and birds.... Does that mean you hate foxes? Birds of prey?

Do you also then hate everyone that drives a car? Every time we go for a walk we see squished squirrels on the road ... or is that excusable because you drive?

Pet ownership is worse for climate change than not having pets, so not quite sure how your theory fits in.

The fox thing is a natural circle of life
A pet killing a smaller animal isn't normally for food. They are also bred animals and not naturally occurring in the environment.
People get pets for selfish reasons which encourages others to breed for greed (sometimes very badly)

No I don't hate cars. Accidents happen, nobody ever means to squish a squirrel, they don't chase after them in their car in the local park.

It's very bizarre to hear someone say "I don't love domesticated animals" and jump to the assumption that they therefore 'hate' either the pets themselves or the owners. Hate is a very strong word, and is not what that poster actually said.

Equating the impact/actions of pets and humans to those of wild animals, which exist as an integrated part of the ecosystem, is also bizarre.

What about the venom spewed by pet owners, calling people who don't like/want pets "sociopaths"?

We’ve always had cats and I feel a house is not a home without pets. When my kids were little and had play dates I could always tell pretty accurately which kids had pets and I’ll get flamed for saying it but they were the kinder, less selfish kids.

I have to admit nowadays when my kids start dating new girlfriends/boyfriends I will always ask if they have pets.