Is your pet really miserable?

[MsAmerica]

This was a very startling radio segment with an animal ethicist.

Are our pets actually miserable?
Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd talks with Jessica Pierce, an animal ethicist, about an uncomfortable question: Are our beloved pets unhappy?
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/04/28/unhappy-pets

The case against pet ownership
Why we should aim for a world with fewer but happier pets.
By Kenny Torrella
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/4/11/23673393/pets-dogs-cats-animal-welfare-boredom

Really interesting -thanks for sharing.

Yes I agree with this. I think breeding pets should be stopped completely just like having animals in circus's has been. Dogs generally just do not get the time and exercise they need, people buy from any old breeder and vets are very expensive and cats are really destructive to local wildlife and frequently killed on roads. It might be lovely for people to have pets, but it's not often good for the pets.

Mine are pretty happy, I think. (Not cats or dogs.)

My take is that I only adopt pets from rescues and they are neutered. Nothing is bred for me, or by me. I'm just providing the best home I can to animals who already exist.

I wholeheartedly agree.
We have a dog because the DC really wanted one. I give him the best life I can but I can see that it’ll never be what he truly needs. He is my prisoner. I feel
guilty every day and he’s only 2. Unless I move to the countryside and he can roam freely with other dogs I’ll never get a dog again.

Yes, I think about this every day while I walk our family pets. Their wild cousins roam over a huge area, while ours can go only where we are prepared to follow them on the end of a lead.

I console myself with thinking how much worse their lives were before they came to us. They were born in a shelter and spent their first 18 months indoors there in a small cage, only having an hour or two a week in a larger "play cage".

Still, every day I think how much more stimulating the wilderness would be. What we do doesn't come close.

Thanks for sharing this info and starting this discussion. I thought about my pets' lives for years when I lived in an apartment. It was so hard to give them everything they needed and deserved. Now when we moved to the countryside, our dog has enough space and time to run and roam. He is happy. And I'm finally a happy pet owner.

Are you keeping in mind that as circuses disappear, as pets disappear, as people stop eating meat - animals will be allowed to trend toward extinction?

My dog is very happy. He loves to be cuddled and would not be suited to living without people. He has plenty of exercise and dogs to play with so I’m not worried ta all. But i agree that a lot of dogs, especially ones just left alone all the time, aren’t happy.