If you live in an apartment, just don’t get one
Reasoning edit: pets, especially cats, will leave a smell all over furniture. Cleaning becomes an even worse chore due to the fur. They also require “house training” in order to not chew/claw/destroy most stuff that’s lying around the house.
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Per rule #6, please defend your UO position with reasoning.
Edited
Cats ESPECIALLY belong inside because they decimate the local wildlife.
This is an ignorant take in that it doesn’t in any way address the emotional benefits of having animals in your living space, or offer any justification for why the costs that are asserted could be worth accepting, or the fact that plenty of animals adapt well to smaller spaces. Don’t like cleaning fur? Get short haired animals. Kids need training too, and plenty of human adults have no idea how to properly clean up after themselves. If you don’t like animals that’s fine, but don’t try to perscribe your needs onto others based solely on these grounds, you can just say I don’t like pets and that’s acceptable.
I agree - I think it’s mean that people keep dogs, for instance, when they’re leaving them unattended for most of the day. Personally I wouldn’t get a dog unless I had family, a house and a garden for it. Cats have a bit more leeway but I would still want them to have a nice neighbourhood or gardens to explore.
Of course a dog should be activated physically and have attention, but it’d also be cruelty to keep it awake and active all day long.
Dogs sleep a lot. They need 12-14 hours every day, and even up to 20 hours for puppies or old dogs.
This fits very well with being left unattended while the kids are at school for instance.
It’s better to leave it unattended for one long stretch than several shorter ones daily, because dogs do keep track of time based on routines. Coming in and out several times, or taking the dog along randomly is more stressful for it, because it breaks the routine.
They’re very adaptable and teachable, so many things are possible, but it should definitely be taught to chill out by itself, so it’s capable of this when you actually need it to be alone for some reason.
Thats the main argument for me. I keep hearing neighbors dogs barking alone all day, it seems so sad to me…
And I can’t tell if its a historical norm or if we’ve essentially seen a huge increase in the number of lonely pets. I get the feeling that having a family pet is part of the american ‘white picket fence’ package, but that was conceived in a time when married women were usually SAHM - in which case dogs at home are constantly kept company.
I’ve often said to people that pets should be shared with neighbours, so they can stay as active as poasible and not be too much of a time drain on one family (E.G some dogs need to walk twice a day, or run once a day) but people don’t generally seem interested in a pet’s happiness.
I don’t think I’ve ever been to a cat owners house who’s furniture smells like cat, I would love to know what a cat even smells like.
Maybe if those owners don’t clean their cats litter properly or often enough, that causes a smell, and yeah, lots of shitty cat parents who don’t clean after them well enough.
Or maybe this is about un neutered cats that piss on stuff? That’s unfortunately somehow also a thing.
Cats also don’t require any training to do any of those things? Just pay attention to your cat, ensure you play with it and give it enough toys and attention and it won’t do shit to your stuff.
Your statements have me more confused than anything else.
Dogs smell, they have a weird metallic smell to them and they leave that smell on surfaces, maybe you got confused?
Is this unpopular opinion or just objectively wrong opinion?
I can assure you I can tell when I enter a house that has cats by smell alone, much like a smoker’s car has a distinctive smell
Soooooo. You’re gatekeeping other people’s apartments?
Here’s your upvote.
Pets deserve better than to live in shitty cramped spaces like we are forced to
Dumps fish tank outside
Sorry, but pets do not belong inside homes.
Terribly unpopular and stupid opinion. Have an upvote
Cats are healthier and live longer when kept indoors.
Local wildlife are healthier and live longer when cats are kept indoors, too.
There’s no evidence that domestic cats put pressure on local wildlife. Most domesticated cats live near urban and suburban humans and can keep household rodent populations down. They also have no impact on urban birds like pigeons, sparrows or crows.
If by domestic, you mean cats that live indoors, agreed. Otherwise there’s an extensive amount of evidence:
That Wikipedia article contains incorrect info if it applies to habitats outside of Australia or isolated islands. The math doesn’t add up for the vast majority of domesticated cat habitats. Once away from humans, cats have plenty of predators in the wild that would check their population against bird destruction. Also note that some birds prey on cats in the wild.
Many urban and suburban places in Australia have precious native bird life. They do have a measurable impact on the native population.
Upvoted for the opinion being unpopular.
Cats don’t belong outside. They will kill local wildlife and have contributed to the extinction of dozens of species.
I don’t think fish care either way as long as they get the space and care they need. That is, a tiny pond outside isn’t any better than a tank of the same volume indoors, all other things being equal.
Rodents definitely belong inside, if having a rodent as a pet is allowed at all in this scenario. I feel like this doesn’t require further explanation.
I could see rabbits liking being outside, as long as they’re adequately protected from predators. They do well inside, too. I’d call this one 50:50.
If reptiles and amphibians should be kept as pets at all, indoors is way better.
I imagine almost all invertebrate pets would have to be indoors.
Pets that are livestock species go outside, yeah. No argument here.
Some animals shouldn’t be pets at all. Some belong inside. Some belong outside. Some go in and out. It’s a mixed bag.
Upvoted and upvoted. It’s weird that in c/UO, a truly extremely unpopular opinion gets downvoted!
It should be in the top few of all time!It’s tempting, it’s really tempting. It’s easy not to downvote an unpopular opinion, but when it’s a really fucking stupid opinion as well… Ooooh I really wanna push that button.
Pets that are livestock species go outside, yeah. No argument here.
Well, they should have a cozy barn if they’re pets. If they’re really pets, with HVAC and all.
Agreed. I generally think of “Indoors” as meaning “within the home” in this case.
I do too, but I’ve seen where some people keep their horses and would gladly move in!
I could see rabbits liking being outside, as long as they’re adequately protected from predators.
Depends on the type of rabbit. Someone had the same thought as you and abandoned their pet rabbit outside where it starved to death. It was really cute, floppy and big.
Other times it is successful, eats all of the vegetation and create burrows in so many places it threatens the structural integrity of all the buildings in the area.
Wow that is an unpopular opinion
Right? I’m trying to imagine a similar but even less popular one.
Maybe, “People should have to earn a PhD in Veterinary Medicine and have published post doctoral work in the particular species they keep as pets.”
Your reasoning simply seems to reflect the need for additional training and effort on the part of the pet owner. That’s not “reasoning” so much as bitching. Pets do perfectly well in human dwellings, so long as care and effort are taken to make it so. It kind of sounds like you shouldn’t own an indoor pet. That’s fine for you. Stop telling other people what to do when they may well be more caring and/or less lazy than you.
Upvoted because unpopular but I personally think youre a boring person. Sure, animals smell but thats why you clean them and your house. Id rather clean my house 5 times a week than not have my dogs.
I’d rather visit someone who’s given a loving home to a cat/dog/whatever than someone who lives in a boring, sterile, orderless, pristine home. Children are smelly and messy and destructive too, but people have always managed with them! Clean after your pet regularly, and live life rather than perfection. They’re worth it…
That exact same reasoning applies to humans as well, but we still let them into the house. However, though from a very weird direction, you have certainly landed on an unpopular opinion.
At some point in your life, you also required training to make sure you didn’t destroy the furniture or shit on the floor
Cleaning is part of the care. I guess that’s just what the deal is though
Some people think animals shouldn’t live indoors. It’s worth reminding those people that humans are animals
We should spend a lot more time outside, too
well then the outside should be nicer
Outside would be nicer if we stopped hating the unhoused.
Yes, we absolutely should.
