Too many pets

And what about the wider implications? The planet’s resources. All the pet food has to be grown and packaged, the pet toys, bedding and accessories the pet outlets all have these days. It all takes energy and resources.

My next-door neighbours have 2 female setters. Their lives (and most of their money, I think) revolve around their dogs. They also foster or adopt elderly dogs whose owners have died, or gone into care homes. They sometimes mind their friends' dogs, too, if they go on holiday.
A lot of their time is taken up with dog-walking, which happens several times a day. First the young energetic ones, then the elderly dodderers. We have common land across the road, which is perfect for exercising them all.
Apart from the occasional bark, when the postman comes, I rarely hear the dogs.
It's sad that so many people casually take on pets without thinking it through.

I live in a town centre, and my young cats have never been outside except on a large balcony. They've never known any different.
I used to live backing onto open land - lovely - but then moved to somewhere backing onto a main road (house was on-site for work) and cats were terrified. Moved again to house backing onto open land, one was bitten by a fox, and as they were now quite old, they became house cats.

If people are paying all the expenses themselves then I think they should be allowed to have as many pets as they chose, as long as they are all well cared for and controlled. On the other hand, if they are living a lifestyle funded by others going out to work to pay for it, then I would think that their benefit payments were far too high if they could afford to keep a lot of pets. That applies, also, if they have a lot of children too, or can afford to smoke, drink, gamble, take drugs, have Sky tv, go on expensive holidays etc.

What I can't stand are irresponsible dog owners. Yapping dogs outside cafes in summer yap yap yap...Gordon Bennett ? and dogs fed scraps from the table and sleeping in beds and on furniture.
Imagine a visitor to your home, going to the toilet outside ( no bottom wipes) and walking outside in bare feet, then getting in your bed or sitting on your sofa. Sound good?
I think not. Ugh!

I have 2 rescue cats and a small dog. One rescue cat was thought by the vet to have been thrown out of a car, probably when the owner found she was having kittens. The vet wanted to rehome the mother cat (now my darling Clementine -yes after the song) and the remaining kitten together. My daughter has her kitten and we thought they would get on but they don't. My cats are inside animals but can run through a tunnel from my laundry to a large outside enclosure. My little dog is my companion and my protector from my son who can become verbally and physically abusive with BPD. My dog places himself between us as soon as he hears my son and won't let him touch me. I couldn't get through the day without my animals.

quizqueen I do not agree that just because you can afford do something ( in this case afford to keep pets) that you should! It feels to mecan incredibly self centred way to view life! What about a housebound person, reliant on benefit, who finds great comfort and companionship in a dog / cat?

Good to see dog and cat and other pet lovers fighting back against the anti-brigade. I understand that some pet owners are irresponsible but most love their pets and care for them.

Why pay someone to walk your dog? A bit of lateral thinking might perhaps suggest a change of circumstances; new job, different hours, family break up, and so on. These are obviously people who care about their dog and don’t want it left alone all day. So quick to criticise rather than understand.

Then there’s the ‘treads dirt into the house’ etc brigade. Oddly enough these are often the ones who look at me askance when I ask them to remove their own shoes.

Luckily GN is not representative of the population at large and I meet mainly tolerant dog-friendly people in RL.

I’ll tell you something dog-haters will never understand. Dogs (not sure about ?) give unconditional love, never judge or undermine, and their tails wag more than their mouths!

Not criticism Anja just raising legitimate questions. I have loved having pets and miss not having one now. My OP was instigated by a young family I know. They live in small space, mum , dad, 2 kids one with a chronic condition. Money always tight. Then they got a lovely dog. 'All' their friend have dogs & the boys wanted one! Pup has been ill, time off work to care for it, money for stuff not covered by insurance etc etc. I just feel having responsibility for an animal is too easy to achieve but hard to carry through!

Most of our cats have been rescue animals, we've only ever paid for two, in over 45 years of having cats. Our current pair of brothers and their predecessor are/were indoor cats.

The one we had prior to the boys was rescued from a hedge as a kitten and was later found to have a serious heart defect, which meant she was expected to live only one year. We had her for five fun-filled years before she succumbed.

The two we have now were previously indoor cats (their owners were deployed abroad and couldn't take them) and they show no interest in going outside. They don't go to the door and don't show any interest even when there are birds around. We had a mouse indoors last year and the two cats sat and watched the mouse, didn't even bother to chase it! I had to buy a humane trap to catch it.

They prefer sitting on our laps or snuggling up to each other on a chair. Though I have to admit, they are the laziest cats we've ever had!

I agree. I know of someone who has two dogs and two cats. The dogs are in large cages during their owners' working hours which I feel is not on.

We always have had cats but didn't intend to have another after our last two , brother and sister, died. However, as has happened before, our present cat chose us---he just turned up on the doorstep and moved in. We found that he had a microchip and returned him to his owner, then a week later he was back here having walked three miles to find us! If I ever did want another animal (which I won't--too old) I would get one from a rescue centre.

Our last two dogs have been rescues. Why oh why don't people look into what having a dog entails. Our first rescue was a youngster thrown out of a car on Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham in the industrial fortnight lucky to survive hadn't been house-trained or fed properly. I gave upmarket full-time job to have her. We had her for 16 years and she was the best dog we have ever had, loved everyone and everything would even lick and wag nee tail when the vets had to put needles in her. We've had our latest a year she has been passed from one family to the next ended up being bitten on the face by two dogs in a previous home. A young couple who lived in an apartment bought her and within three weeks decided they couldn't cope! You can tell she has been hit in the past but she adores us and really helps my husband who has mental health problems as she gives unconditional love and gets him out and talking to people. Designer dogs seem to be everywhere and they are treated as fashion accessories not animals with feelings.x

I had a dog and cats as a child which was back in the 1940s and as far as I remember they didn't have special food. Oddly enough last night I was watching adverts of beautiful cats and their special food then starving children "advert" asking for donations. It just seemed a but odd

Yes Milly it is,shocking when we see what is spent on pets. Might go a very long way to prevent children starving. but so would reducing all kinds of expenditure. The world is really off kilter.

I would love a dog, I had one years ago when I lived in the country and was home most of the day. Now our lifestyle wouldn't be fair to a dog. Do no pets in this house.

do we really need to worry about this each person has a choice and we need not have control over their choices.

Being an ex boarding cattery owner, I have strong feelings on this and prefer to keep them to myself.

There are so many unwanted cats and dogs, I wish they were only available from rescue centres, and not for sale on facebook etc. I don't like to think of people paying hundreds of £ to get a specific type from a breeder. Some (not all) breeders do not have the animals' best interest at heart.

A pet can give a lot to a family. Sadly some people just dispose of the pet when it becomes inconvenient, or they can't afford it, or they subsequently have children.

Obviously not everyone has a crystal ball and don't necessarily factor in all the "what if's" of dog ownership but as long as there are people to pick up the pieces and give the dogs a good life does it really matter. People make mistake in every walk of life we could say the same about parenthood. I have 5 dogs 4 of which are pedigrees and no doubt cost a fortune originally, I only bought one of my current lot as a pup and she cost an arm and a leg but the rest are rehomes and are valued just the same. They've been rehomed to me for a variety of reasons, one came at 2 years old because her owner died, one came at 9 months because he wanted to fight everything in sight and his owners couldn't cope. I'm good with stroppy dogs and wasn't remotely fazed, You wouldn't think he was the same dog today. I train my dogs throughout their lives and give them as much as they give me. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, they don't love and care for them I do, and if I choose to spend my money on my dogs so be it.

My daughter would agree with you. People’s jaws tend to drop when I say that my daughter has 8 dogs (or is it 9 now?, I forget) but it’s her choice. And that of her husband although it was a while before she plucked up courage to tell him that she’d gone ahead and put her name down for the last new puppy!

Her family consists of her children and the dogs who also act as living adverts for her dog based businesses.

We have two dogs,and have always had at least one pet all our married life.Nearly all rescued.They are an enormous part of our lives and I walk miles with them.And there's no food waste in this house !I also work with animals.Honestly I prefer them to most people!I do recently think more and more about our carbon footprint as a family,and use of resources and have made loads of tweaks to our lifestyle.However unlike some of our friends who pop on a plane several times a year,drive thousands of miles and spend on clothes and go shopping as a hobby we lead a pretty simple life.Our garden and our dogs take up loads of our time,and keep me fit and definitely reduce stress .I totally respect not everyone wants pets,or children for that matter,what I detest is people who have them and don't care for them kindly or adequately -and don't me started on puppy farming and designer dog breeds bought on a whim.

Culag

And what about the wider implications? The planet’s resources. All the pet food has to be grown and packaged, the pet toys, bedding and accessories the pet outlets all have these days. It all takes energy and resources.

A very, very good point.

I've always been an animal lover but I currently don't have a pet and likely won't be having any more going forward....at least in the foreseeable future. The last one was my son's cat who is with us no longer, but to whom I became very attached.

Having said that, if people want to own a dog (or cat, fish, bird, horse etc.) or several, that is their choice. As long as the animals are healthy, happy and otherwise well looked after, it shouldn't be anyone else's business.

MamaCaz,

To your point, a pet probably doesn't need half the stuff that's out there. There are even sustainable diets that can be prepared at home and are nutritionally sound. Toys can be home made and an old pillow and a blanket always made a suitable dog or cat bed when I was growing up.

The pet industry has grown no doubt and like all other industries there are a few bad actors who manufacture harmful products....but that is true of most industries. To be fair, there are also many good products out there and the industry has created many new jobs. More jobs fuel economies. As far as the environment goes, there are 'planet friendly' ways to sustain both humans and animals......, but's that a whole other topic.