What kind of treatment of animals do you disapprove of but you think others would have no problem with?

Bull fighting. Hunting, in some cases. Eating them, in some cases. Using them at all for any fluff reasons like making make up. Killing them for fur, etc.

You’re seeking grey areas, not obvious cruelty?

Well, leaving a dog tied outside overnight or all day. A lot of people do that, and I guess to most people that’s a normal thing to do, but I think a dog is an intelligent creature and that’s cruel.

I don’t own a dog because I live in an apartment in a city, but if I did own one, I’d at least want to set up a fenced in back yard so he could run free.

I see animals left in cars when I go shopping sometimes. It bothers me if it’s anything other than temperate – it can easily get too hot or too cold in a parked car. I wouldn’t do it, but clearly other people do.

Ummm…I think bestiality is pretty damn gross but I understand there are a bunch of pervs who dig it.

I know that there are people who don’t have a problem with having their cats declawed. I absolutely have a problem with it. I would never have a cat declawed, and yes, I disapprove of it. It’s not a gray area for me. Well, you asked.

Eating them.

Putting cute clothes on them and treating them like your widdle babyyy.

Where’s the dignity?!

Dogs tied outside for long periods of time, not taking care of the pets medical needs like vaccinations, flea and tick prevention, etc., not neutering or spaying your dog or cat, not taking care of their necessary grooming needs like nail cutting, ear cleaning, etc. They’re more then gray areas to me. If one can’t take care of their pet well, they shouldn’t have a pet.

I think that a lot of people don’t consider the fact that animals can be emotionally abused just as humans can be.

My stepbrother’s fiancee is certainly not fit to raise animals, but she insists on having them anyway. She discourages her pets from having any animal-like qualities and would punish them for being pets; for example, she would swat her cat for simply walking up to her or rubbing against her while she was pregnant, as if the cat could know. She would rarely interact with the pets unless they had done something “bad.” Not to mention the fact that she would also use physical force as a form a punishment (Not very hard, but hard enough that I would cringe when I saw her do it. But then again, I am personally against the use of any physical force on animals).

The result? Her pets (a dog and a cat) seemed depressed and helpless whenever she was watching/nearby. While she never stopped feeding them or taking care of them in a physical sense, the inattention to her pets took an emotional toll on them.

Luckily for her pets, she has since given them away to what I hope are much better homes.

And to think she was surprised when the cat eventually rebelled and began to defecate on her bed repeatedly…

@Fly I can’t picture someone treating their pets like that. Sad!

I totally disapprove of banishing one’s dog (by nature a pack animal) to the back yard yet thinking it is being given adequate care simply because you leave a pile of food and change the water once and awhile.

If you are not going to give your pet the attention they deserve, don’t get one in the first place.

@Fly That doesn’t seem like a gray area to me. That is cruel, to not give them attention and punish them merely for being animals.

I don’t support “sport” hunting, backyard breeding or any cruelty based animal industry and those that keep their dogs and cats strictly as outdoor animals regardless of weather conditions.

What’s the point of even having a pet if you don’t let in in the house to be a part of the family?

@lillycoyote I don’t feel that the emotional abuse that I described is a gray area in itself. However, the post that I wrote above is based on my outside observations over an extended period of time. A significant amount of emotional abuse on pets occurs gradually and subtly, as did hers, and the results can only be seen over time, making it difficult for owners/people who are constantly around the pets, as well people who rarely interact with the pets, to notice the abuse. Therefore, I think the vast majority of people tend to put the focus of animal abuse on the physical aspect, and ignore the fact that emotional abuse to animals certainly does exist and can be just as damaging. Therefore, I feel the emotional abuse as a whole is a very grey area, if an “area” at all, for a lot of people. Think about it- how many times have you heard about things like dogfights and severe physical abuse in the news? Now, how many times have you ever heard of an animal being gradually, emotionally abused over time?

Since my husband retired and we moved fulltime to our home in a retirement community in Florida something has been on my mind about dogs I see here. It confuses me in the sense that I don’t really understand why it bothers me and if there is a “right” or a “wrong” but it makes me think.

The rules require that every dog must be kept on a leash. We have really nice dog parks which are divided for small and big dogs. Everyone must pick-up their dog’s poop. I see people riding around in their golf carts with their dogs. Big and small, there is no doubt they love their pooches.

But I somehow think it is sad for the dogs to always be confined and leashed. We have yards of course. But we aren’t allowed to have fences. We bought a house for my inlaws with an underground fence but they don’t want to put the shock collar on their dog. I’ve tried to help train her so she can at least be free to run in the yard, but for some reason they are afraid she run through the fence and not come back.

Is is cruel to keep dogs on leashes and never give them a chance to be dogs? My last dog was an Australian shepherd. My property was vast. I trained him to know his perimeters and he had acres to roam and (almost) never left our property.

I want a dog so bad it hurts. I know I want a little dog this time and it must by hypoallergenic, but is it cruel to not have a place bigger than a dog park to let a dog roam and run and well, be a dog?

@bkcunningham I get it. I just got my first dog, about six months ago, she’s about 8 months now after having had cats all my life. When I first got her I didn’t have a fence for her and had her on a tie, just long enough for her to do her business but not longer. About 4 months ago I had the back yard fenced in and it has been wonderful to have to the fence so she can at least run free in the backyard and she loves it. It’s not a big back yard, the whole property is only about a ¼ acre, but it makes a really big difference. If I didn’t have the yard she would either have to be on a leash all the time because of the leash laws in the area or just be able to run around in the dog park. The one closest to me is the same as yours: one fenced in area for the little dogs and one for the big dogs.

I am okay with medical experimentation to develop vaccines or say, insulin. I try to think of the greater good to be done. But I’m sure not okay with experimentation for makeups or hairsprays, etc.

My neighbors have a cat, but only in the sense that they occasionally let her in the house. We feed her, we put water out for her, we pet her. She’s not fixed, and she runs around the neighborhood pretty much constantly. She has a litter of kittens every now and then, they take the kittens in for awhile (sometimes), then throw them all back outside again so that the cycle continues. I’m trying to befriend the last batch of kittens so we can take them to the humane society, and I want to get the cat herself fixed but it’s so expensive, and she’s not even my cat.

@lillycoyote

“I know that there are people who don’t have a problem with having their cats declawed. I absolutely have a problem with it. I would never have a cat declawed, and yes, I disapprove of it.”

Same here.

Perhaps this article will interest you: http://www.care2.com/causes/israel-bans-cat-declawing-will-u-s-follow.html

@Brian1946 Your link doesn’t work. At least not for me. Can you post it again?

@Brian1946 Thanks. It works now. :-) Yay Israel! And Europe! And Australia! America, wake up!

I think pretty much everyone who buys non free range critters to eat falls into that catagory. I am not vegetarian and I believe humans are at the top of the food chain. Animals are not vegetarian, they eat each other so I have no problem with that but I hate factory farms or any intensive farming practices, not good for the animals or the humans who consume them.

I dislike the average pet owner using some of Cesar Milan’s methods to train their dogs. I think Cesar has his place and is knowledgable about dogs but whenever you watch his programmes it is always mentioned that some of these techniques shouldn’t be tried at home without the help of a trained behavourist. I have seen dogs that have been left very fearful (which can sometimes cause agression) due to people trying these techniques to train their dogs and getting it wrong. I like Cesar and I enjoy his programme but I wish people would take the advice not to attempt what they see on the programme without professional help.

I also despise backyard breeding.

I have a read problem with ‘animal botherers’. Those people on the nature programs that chase wild animals and then pick them up. WHY oh WHY do they have to bother these animals? Take video and pictures of them, but don’t scare the shit out of them and then pick them up. Leave them alone! grrr…. I don’t feel sorry for those people when they get bit or stung, really.

The use of animals for entertainment purposes lies somewhere near the soft margins of what I find acceptable. I’m not talking about being entertained by the natural behaviors of animals; many animals love to play, and we find those play behaviors entertaining because we can relate to the fun of playing. But play is its own reward. If you have to reward or coerce an animal to elicit a certain behavior, I don’t think it’s play anymore. I can’t enjoy that kind of spectacle; it’s too demeaning.

@cazzie I agree.

I have always felt that it was cruel to keep a large dog in the city, fenced or chained and I refused to have large dogs. Well, now we have a large dog. A German Shepherd. But she was a rescue dog. Fortunately we have quite a large back yard…corner lot, but it makes me feel bad that she has to be confined at all. I love to watch the dogs run and explore when we go to the lake or to our property and cut them loose.

@Dutchess_III, me too.

I will give my side of the story on dogs off lead, my dogs are never off lead. I know people who have dogs with advanced obedience degrees and felt it was safe to let them go. But they didn’t count on the cat appearing out of nowhere and running across a street in front of oncoming cars. It could be a squirrel or a kid they want to play with. Even in the bush wehre there are no cars, they could take off on a scent. My dogs are trained well but I do not delude myself into thinking I have a fool proof recall, there just is no such thing. We were almost attacked by a pit bull type dog running loose on the beach last Sunday. Luckily my husband’s command voice caused it to hesitate (mine failed) and the owner came puffing up and said he never runs off like that. Yeah right! No, I personally believe the kindest thing you can do for your dog is to always be in control of the situation and for me that means being on lead unless in a fenced in area.

I also believe that if it comes down to declawing a destructive cat or surrendering it to a shelter, then go ahead and declaw. I have adopted numerous declawed cats over the years and they had no ill effects and lived to a ripe old age. Unfortunately my cats were always indoor outdoor cats because they learned how to use the dog door. The 6’ chain link fence contained the dogs but the cats laughed at it.

@rooeytoo

I was at a local park today and there was a man doing walking laps with his off leash australian shepherd that was perfectly in synch with him, he told me the puppy was only 10 months old!
I have never seen such a well trained puppy of that age!
Anyway, my point is, it was a safe environment, but, I agree, being a horse person over the years as well it is like people advertising perfectly bomb proof 2–4 yr. old horses, uh no, sorry, NO horse is EVER 100% “bomb proof” and especially a young, green animal that has limited experience.

@Coloma – that is the way I feel. My dog is 4 and has passed all phases of her obedience training up to off lead. She could pass easily but the school she goes to does not have a secure area for testing. Until I find one, she will be the best trained dog without her certificate! There is always the one temptation they cannot resist, I love her too much to take the chance.

We live opposite a beach and it is a HUGE area that would be prefect to have a dog run about in. I am seriously considering getting a dog soon, because I am hellaciously lonely these days and it only seems to be getting worse. (and my husband hates dogs.) I could never have a dog that was not trained. Years ago, when I was single and in NZ, I took in a rescue dog once and it ended up being far too much work. I got him straight off the street and he had been abused and had mange and a bloody wound from an ingrown rope or chain around his neck. I couldn’t tell what colour he was and his paws were so raw, they were bleeding. The vet reckoned he was about 7 months old and some sort of huntaway cross. But he was an escape artist and garbage digger and any chance it got to take off, he did and he loved to chase things, especially sheep. Not a good thing in New Zealand. I surrendered him to a farmer with very energetic kids when I left NZ.

I’ve had dogs knock down my son at parks and that really ticks me off. One knocked him down and took off with his hat. The owner thought it was hilarious. My husband (who,remember, Hates dogs) gave the owner a real ear full. I thought he was going to punch the dog and then the owner. These same parks that are meant for families, are over run with dogs let off leads and the poo from said dogs that the owners don’t pick up. BLAHACK!

Get this! MY MOTHER told me if anything happens to her she wants her cat put down. HOW SELFISH AND CRUEL. WELL GUESS WHAT?? I’M NOT DOING IT!

And zoos.

@Countrybumkin – unless you can find a home for the cat where it will be treated as well as your mother treats it, then euthanasia is a good choice. I would rather my dogs be put to sleep upon my death than placed in a situation where they would be tied in the back yard. Having an animal put to sleep is often the best result. There are already so many unwanted animals in this world, finding quality homes is not an easy task and taking them to the pound is often either simply delaying the euthanasia or if a no kill shelter, dooming them to life in a cell.

@Countrybumkin that is an amazingly ‘me’ centric stance on so many levels. There are PLENTY of people out there capable and willing to take in animals and caring for them. To say, ‘Kill them because NO ONE will be as good to my animals as I am.’ is immature, ignorant and narcassistic. The responsible answer would be to organise, just like for your children, people ahead of time, that you think you would feel OK leaving your animals with.

‘As good as’ is a ridiculous term in this instance.

@Countrybumkin – if there are PLENTY of people out there willing to take in animals, then why oh why are dogs and cats being euthanized at the rate of approximately 3 to 4 million each year in the USA alone. So nope, arranging to have animals euthanized upon your death is often the kindest thing to do especially if they are older and sickly themselves. Senior animals are the most difficult to place.

Sometimes Euthanasia is the only alternative but that is so disturbing to me. I look for other avenues and have been lucky so far. Rescued 14 kitties, found them homes. Have a senior to senior program in our area that’s wonderful for my pets when my time comes. SPCA in Ithaca does not euthanize. So, so far so good!

@comity – that is a wonderful contribution. When I had my kennel, I did the same thing, but I also unfortunately had to have many put down. I held all their little paws and bawled while it was happening but it was the best thing to do at that point in time. And I still cannot go past a loose animal roaming the streets. But it really doesn’t help much in view of the numbers. Why the hell don’t people desex their pets!!!

I agree…..in town a dog should always be on a leash if they aren’t in the back yard. In the country though, it’s a different story.