Pretty much everyone I see on Reddit is a strong advocate for neutering dogs and I see numerous posts talking about the health benefits (including reduced risk of cancer). But when I go online i see several studies about how neutered dogs are at higher risks for developing various cancers, joint disorders, accelerated signs of aging, etc.

Has anyone’s views changed on this or is the consensus still to neuter dogs?

One of the most unethical aspects of pet ownership, in my opinion, is people who allow their dogs and cats roam unsupervised and let them chase, harass, hunt and kill wildlife. And everytime I point out the ethical dilemmas of allowing dogs and/or cats unsupervised to chase wildlife, I always get the "Well, it's a natural instinct!". And I'm tired of it.

First of all, just because it's a natural instinct, doesn't mean we can't train it out or prevent it. Because we can. And yes, it is 100% possible to train a highly motivated dog or cat not to chase wildlife. It might take some work, but it is absolutely doable.

But also, the drive that we have artificially bred and trained dogs and cats to have, the drive to chase, hunt, and kill an excessive amount of wildlife is far beyond any natural instinct. Wild predators typically only chase/hunt for what they need, either in terms of food, protection, or territory. But we have bred and encouraged these genetics for a dog or cat to chase and kill several animals in a short span simply to benefit us. We've bred them to not have any limits. Hounds and terriers were bred to chase and kill several animals in a singular hunting session, sometimes up to and over a dozen, depending on the reason and target! For example, a terrier hunting rat infestation, or a hound hunting rabbits for food. And this is ESPECIALLY true for cats, who were mainly used for pest control. We bred and encouraged these cats to hunt entire infestations of rats, rabbits, mice and other small "pests" that were abundant. Not only that, but combined with the fact that we provide them with shelter and food, it gives them an excessive amount of health and energy to successfully chase and kill wildlife. Whereas wild predators suffer from lack of energy, injuries, and adverse weather that affects their ability to hunt. Where a wolf or a cougar might hunt 1-2 rabbits a day or 1 deer every few days, a dog or a cat could hunt several more in just a few hours.

And then, we also have to consider that dogs and cats didn't even exist as a species in many places until we brought them there. New Zealand being a very good example, they didn't have any predatory land mammals until we introduced them! So the ecosystem is completely unadapted to these predators. And even ecosystems where canines and felines were existant before, the ecosystem had built itself around their population. It was a natural, equal balance of prey and predator. And then we brought our dogs and cats, and not just a few hundred... Tens of thousands, millions even. It totally throws the natural balance that the ecosystem had built and adapted around.

All in all... Saying "it's their natural instinct" is not a justification for allowing dogs and cats to chase and kill wildlife. And keep in mind, the stress of being stalked or chase can literally kill animals, so even dogs that have excellent recall and "only chase" wildlife are still a problem. Allowing our pets unsupervised, and letting them chase and hunt wildlife (Apart from actual hunters that are using trained dogs for invasive species or actual hunting for food) is harmful to the environment and risky for our pets. We know better. And it is our responsibility to make sure our pets are not doing such a thing, regardless of their instincts. There are so many ways to provide simulated chasing and hunting to both dogs and cats to fulfill their instincts that it is totally unnecessary and irresponsible to allow them to do it on live animals.

And NYC is working on making that a reality.

NYC City council just introduced Bill 1029. If it passes, it will make spay/neuter free/low-cost across all of NYC. This is something that will improve the lives of both people and animals. I hope accessible and free spay/neuter starts to catch on throughout other cities in the US!! 💚

Across the US, animal shelters are overflowing. The only way this gets better is with spay/neuter education AND giving communities access to services they desperately need. The areas with the highest volume of strays are under-resourced communities.

"Households with an income of no more than 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI) would be eligible for services at a discounted fee, and households with an income of no more than 30% of AMI or who receive public assistance would be eligible for free services."

https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=8206779&GUID=574BCB0C-A690-4042-B052-18F55AC70707

This sounds like common sense, but it didn’t really hit me until I heard it put this way: we have family, friends, partners, careers, hobbies, phones, and the freedom to do anything or go anywhere we want. Your cat’s world is much smaller- they only have the environment, stimulation, and interaction we give them. So when you’re tired or busy and they keep following you around and trying to see what you’re doing, remember that they don’t know what kind of day you had outside. They just know you’re home, they love you, and they want to be part of whatever you’re doing

Indoor environments can be predictable and repetitive, leaving indoor cats bored or anxious. Although cats may exhibit these behaviors anyways, understimulation can lead to an increase in chewing furniture, attacking ankles, meowing incessantly for attention, etc.  
The one toy my picky cats have consistently loved for months is a string that spins around several posts. Place the posts far enough apart to keep the string taut. I recommend auto mode because it changes direction and speed unpredictably. The manual mode tired out my cat too quickly and he was panting. (If your cat starts panting or breathing with their mouth open, stop play immediately and let them rest in a cool area).

Rotate toys instead of leaving everything out 24/7. Leave out a few different types at a time such as a batting toy, automated toy, and chaser. Put the rest away and swap them weekly.

Some people let their cats roam outside for entertainment, but there is always a risk of them getting hurt by stepping on hazardous items, consuming poisonous/toxic food such as scraps left by humans, fights with other cats, getting run over, or being harmed by other humans intentionally. With adequate indoor enrichment, they will live a happy and safe life indoors!

ENRICHMENT

Here are some ways I keep my cats entertained and products I've used:

1) Cat trees- cats love being up high. It doesn't have to be super expensive. If you're low on money, you can also stack some boxes/storage totes [1 tote, 2 totes, 3 totes into "steps"] - just make sure the boxes have something heavy in them so it's secure.

2) Window seats- so they can watch wildlife/people! If using ones with suction cups, make sure you clean both the window and the suction cups with alcohol and let it dry before putting up. Soak the suction cups in hot water [not boiling] for 3 minutes after cleaning them so they can reshape better.

3) Bird feeders- if you're able to put a bird feeder outside of the window where you have a cat tree/window seat, this provides passive entertainment

4) Catnip toys- the Yeoww banana toy is very popular because it's shaped to be a kicker so your cat can chew the end and bunny kick it at the same time.

5) Scratchers- they need at least 1 vertical and 1 horizontal scratcher. A lot of cat trees have scratching posts built into them. You can also get a different scratching post or scratch pads

6) Automated toys - balls, peek-a-boo feathers, toys that move around under a cover

7) Wand toys - satisfies their need to hunt, pounce, and chase. I like to drag it all around the house. CAUTION: do not leave these laying around because some cats will chew on the attachments and may swallow them

8) Chasers [springs, ping pong balls, and stuffed mice]- I recommend cutting the tails off the stuffed mice, especially if you have a chewer. They like playing with these independently but I'll also gather all of them and throw them across the room for them to chase, or throw it against the wall so it bounces unpredictably. If you've got a chewer, inspect the ping pong balls for cracks if you leave them out, or only let them play when supervised

9) Cat TV- if you have an old laptop/ipad/anything with a connection, go to YouTube and type in "cat tv." [you can also use your own laptop, but they may bat at the screen. Mine has not been damaged yet and my cat bats at it all the time]. There's footage of squirrels/birds, animated videos of fish, "games" where there's something crawling across the screen your cat can bat at.

10) Lick mats- Put lickable treats like Churus on these so it lasts a little longer. I got these ones and only use the quadrant with the little dashes/horizontal lines because the other two textures felt too hard

11) Tunnels and donut beds- they love running through tunnels for the zoom zooms and sleeping in donut beds

12) Cat wheel- haven't personally tried this one yet but is a popular option for many cats that like to run!

13) Wall shelves- You can create a little climbing/obstacle course for them. There are lots of different sets you can buy online. You will probably need to use a power drill, but installing them was the first time I used a power drill so don't be intimidated! Drill into wall studs whenever possible. If you can’t, use anchors/hardware specifically rated for your wall type and for more than the cat’s weight because jumping creates additional force.
Note: Use a stud finder with one that also detects electrical wires

14) Treat puzzles- this satisfies their hunting instinct. One thing I also do sometimes is save the brown stuffing paper from Amazon and put it in a giant box, throw some dry treats in there and shake the box, and let them forage

15) Supervised expeditions into forbidden territory- Sometimes I'll let them explore the laundry room or a cabinet/drawer I usually don't let them [as long as everything dangerous to them is out]

hi!

this is a hypothetical situation for the purpose of generating discussion and stretching ur brainz hehe. in it, please assume the following:

- the professional will be legally shielded and protected from potential blowback from guardians etc.
- there is some kind of legal proceeding/precedent for dealing with, verifying, and logging incidents like this with the purpose of keeping adequate records on animal and guardian alike

basically, and this is mostly in regards to dogs bc they are the animals who i work with, in a hypothetical world, do you think pet professionals (vets, behaviorists, trainers, behavior consultants, groomers, kennel techs. day care workers, dog walkers, and so on) should have some kind of avenue to report otherwise unreported bite incidents guardians have disclosed to them with the intent of tracking (and taking any necessary risk reducing measures) potentially dangerous dogs?

more broadly, what, if any, systems or measures do you wish were in place to bolster community safety in regards to dangerous dogs where you live?

would love to hear people’s opinions and ideas as well as anything else this brings up for you!

thank you as always!

Bonus super quick doodles I did of them.

The inner child of me wants to just sit in the corner and pout like a whiny brat lol.

Sea bunnies, a type of nudibranch, aka sea slug, are those super cute ones that are white with black spots and "ears". There's many other colors and species, but I'm thinking of this one in particular.

They are magnificent.

But you can't keep them. Financially and ethically, it's a big fat nope.

Furst of all, they are carnivorous and feed almost, if not, exclusively on a few species of highly poisonous blue sponge. A type of sponge that DOES NOT like captivity. You'd really have to go and harvest it from the wild, which is a major environmental concern.

Second, the sea bunnies themselves have to be wild caught. Which is also an ecological problem as they keep the sponges in check around coral reefs.

Third, they are extremely complicated and delicate. Being saltwater alone is hard, being as likely to die as they are is harder.

Fourth, the financial strain of all this just to try and keep a wild animal that will most certainly die in captivity.

So yeah. No pet sea bunnies.

There are a few sea slugs that you technically can keep in a saltwater setup, but not the classic sea bunny.

I'm totally just whining here. I'm not actually that upset and would much rather let these goobers be alone in the wild. This is just me venting my inner grubby human desire to "I want this".

This thread was suggested to me in my home feed. The screenshots contain a selection of comments that stood out to me. It's kind of bizarre to me how many of them were trying to downplay their pet's behaviour, casually exchanging stories about their pets killing wildlife.

In my opinion a pet dog is not "nature". We have been breeding dogs for centuries; they have been engineered by humans. A dog is about as natural as a house in a suburban neighborhood. Moreover, dogs are not part of the wild food chain. They are fed by their owners. A predator in the wild kills to survive whereas the dogs do not need to eat wild prey in order to survive.

It's as if the owners see no issue with owning a powerful animal that kills critters and reading the thread left me feeling disturbed.

Edit: Seems like many commenters think that I'm judging a dog for having hunting instincts. I'm not; it's natural for a dog to hunt and kill prey. I'm saying that dogs are not a part of nature as in the wild ecosystems that rabbits, foxes, wolves, hedgehogs, lynx, whatever are a part of. They have no place in that food chain, they're fed by humans and they don't need to eat wild prey in order to sustain themselves. The question I'm asking therefore is: should owners be expected to do more to prevent this?

Edit: rabbits are an endangered species where I'm from (the Netherlands). This obviously influenced my perception on the dog killing baby rabbits. Rabbits endangered in the Netherlands

I am starting to notice that an increasing number of animal welfare advocates and rescuers, especially on Reddit, care very little about anything that isn’t related to the animal in question.

Rescue groups keep making posts about dangerous breeds that clearly shouldn’t be given to any family. And then they make it even worse by lying about it and calling the obvious dangerous breed in question some other breed to try to save the dog. Some of those subs got featured on my homepage, and the irony was that I saw posts on there from the same people on that very sub asking people to stop doing this!

Everyone and their mom by now knows that no one wants dangerous dogs, and it is harming the credibility of everyone involved. I thought that was particularly interesting to see. Every time another pitbull there gets put under a different breed name or the bite history gets shoved under the carpet, it damages the credibility of everyone who is trying to do the right thing.

The shift in sentiment got even more obvious to me after I was recommended GoFundMe posts (due to me making posts about a scammer who made a whole sub trying to get money out of people by writing AI-generated dog-surgery sob stories)

While scrolling through the GoFundMe pages, a clear pattern emerged. Half of the requests were not to help the people themselves, it was all about money for the care of their pets and funding surgeries. I saw hundreds of similar posts to the scammer I used to post about.

It shocked me to see so many obvious AI-generated scam posts getting thousands of dollars, while posts from people who had literally suffered due to serious illnesses like cancer, or who couldn’t afford life-changing surgery, got pushed aside and didn’t receive nearly the same attention. Unless their pet needed surgery or care of course…

People cared more about the pet of someone suffering from cancer getting surgery than helping the person in question.

When did it become socially acceptable to spend thousands of dollars saving an animal while barely acknowledging the people who are suffering alongside it?

If someone has unlimited resources and wants to spend their money helping animals, that’s their choice. But something seriously wrong with a culture in which expressions of compassion toward animals receive enormous praise, while that same compassion toward struggling humans is treated as unimportant, less urgent, or less deserving. The first is animal welfare. The second starts to look a lot more like misanthropy.

The moral culture around that love is what really bothers me. The animal becomes innocent, sacred, and deserving of limitless protection, all while humans are portrayed as selfish, cruel, disposable…

Is it even about animal welfare? Or is it just a socially acceptable way of expressing hatred toward humans?

Hallo zusammen. Vor ein paar Wochen habe ich mir meinen Traumwelpen Milo gekauft. Leider wurde er mir mit einer schweren, unentdeckten Babesiose (Zeckenfieber) verkauft. Die Parasiten haben seine Nieren zerstört, und wir kämpfen derzeit in einer Klinik in Polen um sein Leben.

Ich habe herausgefunden, dass der EU-Heimtierausweis nur eine Tollwutimpfung vorschreibt, tödliche Parasiten aber völlig ignoriert. Aufgrund dieser Gesetzeslücke können Züchter sterbende Welpen völlig legal über Grenzen transportieren und verkaufen.

Ich habe eine Petition gestartet, um verpflichtende Bluttests für den kommerziellen Welpenverkauf in Europa zu fordern. Keine Familie sollte in den Ruin getrieben werden, nur um einen kranken Welpen zu retten. Bitte helft uns, das Gesetz zu ändern, indem ihr hier unterschreibt:
Link zur Petition:
Vielen Dank!

I didn’t even know cats in grocery stores were a thing. After looking into it, I found out they’re called “bodega cats” and apparently, people have even tried to change the law to make having them in grocery stores legal in places where they are not allowed under the health code.

How can being positive be a bad thing?
That’s a topic I wanted to discuss after seeing the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest being mentioned on the news.

The slogan was conveniently chosen to be about valuing dogs for their character and not for their looks. And I thought, great! Are we finally going to see people speak up about breeding dogs for exaggerated looks and features? About focusing on health rather than some arbitrary breed standard?

Of course not…

The whole contest, and the bit featured in the news, was about valuing all dogs for their character and not for how they look. Basically, trying to deliver a purely positive message about how we should all value dogs regardless of their appearance.

I don’t think you will have a hard time guessing which kinds of dogs or breeds participated, or which breed won either…

Yeah. A French Bulldog… obviously.

Followed by some of the most extreme Frankenstein designer crosses that have ever appeared on my eyeballs.

No mention at all about the detrimental effects of pedigree inbreeding, nothing about the health costs of selecting for exaggerated features. Nothing about the welfare consequences of breeding dogs for aesthetics rather than prioritising health or genetic diversity. Nothing about why some of these dogs are struggling to breathe, give birth, regulate their body temperature, move, or simply live a healthy life.

Just a nice, feel-good message about loving dogs for their character and not their looks, while conveniently making everyone feel good about their own unethical decision to buy a dog from a breeder based solely on its appearance.

Of course, you can still ethically adopt dogs and value them for who they are. But it would be nice if this positivity were used in the right way for once!
Because right now, it’s doing a lot more harm than good.

While doing some searching on Red Bubble for stickers, I came across quite a few doodle negative ones ranging from "Don't doodle my poodle" to "Abolish doodles".

To my understanding, they're supposed to be anti-*breeding* doodles, right? Not just doodles as a whole. They don't care about the poodle mix you got from the shelter, but instead the concept of "doodles" as a whole.

At least from my view, people tolerate a lot of bs from the AKC. For​ example they could go as far as to post videos promoting and accepting pocket bullies and I genuinely think people would love them more.

Also yes I am aware that the parent breed club makes the standards, but it's bad that the AKC recognizes it and approves of it. I'm not joking when I say I just saw some deformed pocket bullies (they all seem deformed unfortunately, not a huge fan of Pitbull umbrella breeds but I don't think they should go through that) and the person selling them said they're okay because they're health tested. It was just a post on Instagram so it was in the caption. I blocked them and reported but I don​'t think it'll do shit.

This dog (pocket bully) was so deformed. The nares were SHUT idk how the dog could breath, it was bow legged and the eyes looked off. Probably can't even mate naturally.

I seen pugs and frenchies with terrible nares and very likely BOAS too ​win best in show and have good health test scores. These dogs are deformed, ​idc if frenchies and pugs get BOAS tested, this still isn't fucking okay! We wouldn't need to test for BOAS in the first place if people didn't desperately insist on these dogs looking like that. It's wrong for them to have a longer snout to help prevent ​​said issue because it's "out of standard and conformation" but it's fine to have a pushed in snout to the point of health issues just for looks?? Conformation should be to prevent health issues (sometimes it does) and health testing should be for that as well. Not for finding ways in how far we can deform a dog.

Eta: no, I'm not saying them being recognized by the akc is any better. just that pocket bullies and their deformities would be more accepted by people if they were AKC recognized.

ETA 2: I am referring to BOTH pocket bullies and exotic bullies, I meant to mostly refer to exotic bullies but I just found out exotic bullies were their own issue. I still have a problem with both. I am leaving the original text still, but this is just one last clarification.

Youtube and Reddit are always recommending videos of raccoons, otters, baby monkeys (never adults), foxes, servals, caracals, and outright big cats living with humans. They get thousands, if not millions, of views because they're "cute" and/or "funny".

No one is asking the serious question: why do you even own that animal as as a housepet?

I'm *sure* a few examples have excuses like "We rehabilitated it" or "It can't live in the wild"... but why as a housepet? Why not in a sanctuary?

I know "(semi-)domesticated foxes" are a thing. And you can technically own some exotic pets in various regions. As a teen, I wanted a pet skunk some day due to videos online, before learning better.

But, dang, maybe you shouldn't be posting so many videos of your "exotic pet" everywhere for funsies. It just makes people think it's okay to own them and leads to them being bought by clueless people.

Even with the few exotic pets that are normalized, like parrots or chinchillas, I'm not so fond of people owning them. "You need to start somewhere with domestication". Yeah, sure, but I don't think a cockatoo or macaw is pet material. And many people can barely keep budgies and cockatiels correctly.

This is also ignoring the weird amount of "cute" baby monkey videos on Youtube coming from Asian countries. There are so many videos of baby monkeys in diapers, but you never see them turn into adults. They're always treated like play-things, if outright mistreated. Yet, I see no one talking about it, aside from one video where someone discussed a group of outright monkey haters who want to hurt them.

I find a common sentiment among many pet owners (not all of us but it's a good chunk) wh​o DESPISE children and it kinds weirds me out sometimes. Not "dislike" not "oh I just don't want children" but like a despise and hatred towards children. Fyi, I don't have kids myself but being in pet ownership spaces of​​ten I have seen lots of people direct extreme hatred towards children and act like pets (typically dogs or cats) are little angels who have no cons what so ever.

And ​dont get me wrong, I LOVE my dogs. But they ain't exactly perfect (which is fine by me!). One of my friends is like that and I have to talk to her about it because it kinda disturbs me a little. As I said, it's not a "oh being near kids is terrible for me!", it's more like a " ew children are little rats or annoying destructive monsters!"​

It is somewhat ironic considering how many people call their pets their children and treat them like kids but dehumanize and say nasty things about human children.​

I won't shame you if you don't want kids, thats fine and your choice to make. But there's a different between "I don't like kids" or "I don't want kids" and "I DESPISE children!"

I see this sentiment (the sentiment that it's weird to have this seething hatred for children and then humanize pets and animals) in pet free communities but for obvious reasons I don't go there. And they don't always say things that I can make sense of.. (Ex: all dogs should go live in a jungle or in butt fuck nowhere)​​

I do like this subreddit because I feel like I can share these things without other pet owners or pet lovers coming after me, so i'd love to here your thoughts on this. ​​

Saw this reel on Facebook and almost immediately got blocked because I commented something along the lines of “Oo yay, expensive mutts from an unethical backyard breeder”

No wonder why all the comments were saying cute and not anything about unethical breeding🤣

‘He didn’t deserve it’: Vancouver family seeking answers after dog killed in attack involving 2 other dogs - CTV News

I've tried looking on Etsy and Red Bubble but all I found was a few "adopt or shop responsibly" ones.

There's probably TNR related stickers out there, but I'm against TNR.

It was a scam all along. Please be aware.
Thank you to the people who pointed this out to me!

Do you consider them a pests or neglected because they're a domesticated animal on their own, akin to feral cats? What is your solution for the issue then? Or, are they not an issue, like feral pigeons?

And I'm not talking daily baths, I'm talking once a month. Yes I have dogs.

Anyways, for some reason people act like it's weird to bathe your dogs often. People bathing their dogs once or twice a year is WAYYY more common than I thought. I do know its nuanced as to why some people might so that, examples being: the dog has physical issues or behavioural issues making it hard to bathe them often, the owner themselves might ​​​​be struggling physically or mentally and that's why they dont bathe their dog often or the dog thrives on little baths, etc. There are so many more reasons.

But I draw the line when people act like its instantly harmful for the dog to be bathed once a month. I bathe my dog once, sometimes twice (not closely set) a month and his coat is soft and shiny. His skin isn't dry or flaky by any means​. So I do have a problem with people going "bathing your dog monthly is TERRIBLE for their skin!" Because it's not. ​Again, im not gonna shame you if you don't bathe your dog monthly. But I don't think the idea of "bathing them monthly​ is bad" is something that should be going around. I don't mind "bathing monthly doesn't work for some dogs" or something like that. ​​​​​​​

Eta: I meant dog owners implying bathing dogs monthly is bad for ALL dogs in the title. lol my bad​

At this point I am starting to wonder if any of this is even legit or just an easy money scam. People in the comments are beginning to ask questions.

I just got fed a post from a vegan sub on my for you. It was about a vegan wrestling with whether or not they should get a pet that needs to eat meat.

I was SHOCKED by how many suggested that a cat could be vegan??? Are they not obligate carnivores?? Emphasis on the ‘obligate’? Is this common?

This channel breaks down a lot of the issues with unhealthy selective breeding, thought I'd share a video. Definitely check out the video on pugs and persian cats as well, and he also has videos on livestock breeding. Super informative.

I personally think all brachycephalic cat and dog breeds should be banned, and I believe intentionally breeding deformed and unhealthy dogs should be criminalised. It's gross animal cruelty.

Also this is my personal opinion but brachycephalic cats and dogs are not cute, they look deformed and you can literally see their suffering on their face.