To think that people who genuinely dislike pets are weird?

[Kittenmumma]

I understand not wanting them in your own home because you don’t want to deal with mess/smell/looking after them etc. but to dislike pets as a concept… I think is very weird, animals are so amazing and anyone who has or has had a pet will be able to acknowledge that, I am sure.
Mainly referring to cats and dogs here btw, not “strange” (by our standards) animals like reptiles, rats etc

Some animals are just not that great. Like some people.

I have a mate who had a cat it would come back 2x a day for food and then you would never see it, be able to stroke it play with it etc. No doubt it came with hefty vets bills as well.

It had it's own agenda which didn't involve humans fair enough but to call it "amazing" was a bit of a stretch.

If it were a man people on here would be asking what it brought to the table and saying it was a cocklodger.

That's one of the things with pets. You may get a fantastic pet that is a lot of fun. but you may also get something that barely wants to interact with you and takes the bare minimum it needs and then legs it.

And some people might prefer not to bother with taking on something that has that risk and a lot of expensive/hefty consequences.

I think it's weirder to care so much what other people's thoughts and feelings about pets are, really.

Trump is the first President in a long time to not have a dog.

Just saying...

I don't really like pets. I don't like cats at all, was indifferent to my DC's guinea pigs. I wasn't too bad with dogs and was reluctantly persuaded to get one by DH and DC and as I didn't mind them said yes. I said ' Im not a pet person, so this is all on you. I love him to death. I can't read anything about dogs dying because I know he will not be around someday ( he's now 8 and we've had him 7 years). I spend hours fretting about his welfare, weeks researching kennels and daycare when we are away, I am the one who brushes his teeth, buys him toys and coats, grooms him, buys him supplements for his coat, joints anything that may possibly be wrong with him. I like other dogs but only ones like him! My DC say he's my favourite child!

Yabu. I think keeping pets is creepy. Also people who call themselves animal lovers, just because they keep pets, are weird. Especially if they eat meat.

I have had cats and dogs for over 50 year but I can understand people not wanting a pet.

I don't understand people that dislike animals though. I have only ever known a couple of people who said they did not like animals and they were pretty strange to be honest

This reads like a modern version of the Famous Five.
Dick: he can’t help disliking Tim. After all, there was a famous man called Lord Roberts who couldn’t bear cats.
George: Cats are different. If some dislikes dogs, especially a dog like our Tim, there must be something wrong with him.

Same as people who show cruelty to people

Im not a pet person i dont hate them i just dont like them they are not important to me same as kids.

What is it with this forum with people not being able to accept that people are different ?

perhaps they think animals belong on their natural state ? I don’t know but I can at least imagine that people feel differently

I went off pets hugely after having children. Didn't have any time for them. I found them annoying, messy, unhygienic and needy. To put it in context, we don't have any of our own because of work and time, but family do. My sister got a lovely, cute dog and I had real trouble pasting on a smile and pretending to like it. I did, because I love my sister, but it was hard.

I've now "recovered" a bit from that, if you like, and I genuinely like the dog, alongside most other dogs and cats I come across. I wince a bit when it is referred to as my "dog nephew", but I enjoy its company and taking it for walks and scratching its ears. But I can easily imagine that there are some people who feel the way I felt about pets post-DC, only it's not a passing thing for them.

Jeffrey Dahmer the serial killer and cannibal, adored his dog & took great care of his pet fish . Nothing weird about that at all.

Myra Hindley wept when her dog died by accident, said her heart had been ripped out of some such. Absolutely not weird, after all, she loved her dog.

I’m a massive animal lover and have always owned pets but no I don’t think that people who dislike pets are weird…they just think and feel differently to me and that’s fine.

As long as somebody isn’t trying to harm animals then they’re entitled to their views 🤷🏽‍♀️

You’re basically saying you cant understand people who don’t have the same view as you, which I find pretty weird!

Judging people on only one dimension of their life is a little bit strange really.

if you think about the people you like in your life, maybe your friendly hairdresser, or a doctor that has gone above and beyond for you, or the shop manager that always has what you want in stock, you have actually no idea whether they have a pet at home or not. If you then found that they did not like pets, would that then change your view? You see how silly it is?

I love animals and would have lots of pets if I could but your attitude is really peculiar. Different people want different things.

For me, the most unreasonable thing about your post is that you somehow think this only applies to specific animals that you approve of and not to others that you consider ‘strange’. I’d much, much rather own rats than cats any day of the week. I don’t dislike cats but I’d never choose one as a pet, ever. I do, however, adore rats which make lovely, gentle, affectionate and entertaining companions.

Basically you just seem to think that anyone who isn’t exactly like you must be ‘weird’, which is incredibly egocentric and narrow minded.

I agree, the idea of isolating a creature from the rest of their species, rendering them infertile and feeding them an entirely processed unnatural diet is a little off. However I do understand not everyone thinks this way.

You are every bit as unreasonable as the OP.

This is why I don't agree with people keeping pets:

Since 2008, the UK pet care market value has increased, reaching 8.2 billion British pounds in 2023, the highest market value during this time period.

People are spending billions of pounds annually on coats for their dogs or cat spas when 4.5m children in the UK are living under the poverty line. That's completely fucked up, and something that we should all be thoroughly ashamed of.

Sources cited below:

UK Poverty 2025: The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK | Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Pet care market value in the UK 2023| Statista

I think forcibly breeding animals and purchasing them for large amounts of money, purely so you can keep them for your own entertainment, is weird.

lol, I have always had pets in my adult life but I still think people who say shit like "I wouldn't trust a person who didn't like animals" or that "dogs are great judges of characters" are being a bit silly, your post above is a prime example 😂 Dogs like people who feed them and rub their belly, he doesn't care if you've just murdered 1000 people

I find it baffling to keep an animal in a container or on the end of a bit of string for personal amusement.

Like the sort of thing future generations will look back on and consider incredibly strange.

When you've grown up in a home where the animals were given more love and affection than you were, then you'll understand why some people don't like pets! Seriously, I used to think that if it was a choice between me staying or the cats and dogs, I'd have been the first to go.

I find it weird how some people can prioritise animals over people, but there you go!

It’s more weird to think other people are weird to dislike something just because you like it…

I think keeping pets is unethical. I like animals in general -- I'm interested in wildlife, tend my garden to be a good wildlife habitat, and am a vegetarian. But I'm not sentimental about them, I think pet owners anthropomorphising them is often unhealthy for the animals in question, and I think the idea that some pets are nice (cats, dogs) and some are 'weird' (snakes, reptiles) a bit strange. They're all just animals. OK, dogs have evolved to live close to people as guard dogs etc, but cats are no more natural pet material than snakes.