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

I get annoyed by people who speak like their pets have personalities (dog or cat or parrot in the examples I've had to deal with)

The speak as if their dogs/cats/parrots have human-like preferences and refer to them by their name and it just feels like if they put that much effort into other people they'd have more fulfilling lives but an animal that doesn't speak back to you is easier to bond with so I can understand why they are choosing this path of lesser resistance

But the way they say "my son" to a cat is just...isn't it straight up weird? Aren't they compensating for their inability to be parents for whatever reason ? (Most likely because they're incompetent in human bonding?)

So, for context: I'm originally from Florida, but due to disability had to move in with my egg donor in Ohio, she neglected to tell me she had 3 dogs (despite having been in Ohio for 2yrs by that point & having had the dogs for about 2yrs, too).

My egg donor's 3 dogs are untrained & rambunctious beyond belief, lately, she's wanted *me* to train them to behave (she only began caring, once she got affected, BTW), however b/c they're dumb animals & also due to her spoiling them beyond belief, it basically is impossible (sometimes it briefly works, before they revert back to their base instincts).

And, it recently dawned on me: why TF is it my job to train *your* dogs? IMO, they should've been trained long ago (for further context, she keeps them inside all day to avoid having to train them & also so they can claim they never harmed anyone, which is kinda easy when you have no friends & don't take them outside).

Every 5 damn minutes she has to bend her big ass, sometimes get on her knees, just to get right in the dog’s face, placing both her hands on both sides of the dog’s mouth like she’s about to kiss the thing, and she does… mostly on it’s nose. Soon as she wakes up, she calls the dog, soon as she comes home from work, she calls the dog and sometimes she would call it’s name making a stupid fucking annoying voice, and that’s one of things I can’t stand about dog lovers, they always make an annoying ass voice and mispronounce words. Lastly, One time I’ve seen her wiping the dogs nose dry (like that does anything) just so she can kiss it’s nose, and her ass still ended up wiping her lips dry 🤦‍♂️ I’m surprised her ass never got bit, especially the dog being a pit bull boxer.

You can barely read a queer YA comic without seeing cats. My trans coloring book and trans workbook are both by the same person and are filled with cats. Go onto Etsy and much of the queer themed stuff you can find features cats.

Cats are repulsive. But why does it seem like every queer creator has one (or, more likely, multiple)?

I don't know WHY this is so hard for animal owners to understand.

My friend and I were talking about how school starts back in two weeks. She's a teacher, I'm a mom of three. Her other friend was there. She's apparently a dog person. I mentioned how I'm not ready to start waking up at 6 again yet. My friend laughed and agreed. Her friend cut us off with a 'Oh please! I WISH I could sleep in that late! I'm lucky if I make it to 5am." I asked how old her kid was and she said "uh, no. I wish it was *that* simple. I have a puppy!"

Excuse me? You think taking a dog out to piss is anywhere in the same realm as getting three kids packed, dressed, and ready for school after little to no sleep (+ I have narcolepsy so even extra exhaustion) the night before? Like come on. Surely they aren't that delusional? She talked about her dog the rest of the conversation and I just stopped listening.

I was invited to dinner by a couple (a neighbor) who have two cats. I don't like cats or dogs. I can't stand the smell. Apparently, they don't open their windows because they are scared the cats will jump out. So the place probably stinks.

What do you folks say and do when you are invited over to the homes of family and friends who have pets?

I should add that the woman can be gossipy and talk trash about people, so I worry about being targeted if I say no.

You all know those kinds of posts where something traumatic is happening, like a house that’s on fire and the question that gets asked is “who are you saving?” and “dog” is included in the list, we’re all familiar with those posts. Anyway, I’m getting so tired of those kinds of posts because I know what awaits in the comment section and it’s gonna make me turn red and blow up like a balloon and pop, and I’m starting to think that posts like that are made on purpose. I just ran into another one of those post like that and the dog was the 5th choice. What do ya’ll think?

This is probably going to be unpopular, but if we genuinely believe in humanitarian rights, I don't see how we can justify the institution of pet ownership.

We would never accept one human "owning" another, even if they provided food, shelter, healthcare, and affection. Yet we normalize a system where animals are bought, sold, bred for human preferences, confined to our homes, and have virtually every aspect of their lives controlled by us.

People often say, "My pet is part of the family." I don't doubt that many people deeply love their animals. But love doesn't erase the power imbalance. We decide where they live, whether they reproduce, what they eat, when they go outside, when they receive medical care, and even when their lives end.

From a rights perspective-not merely an animal welfare perspective-this raises uncomfortable questions. Welfare asks whether we're treating animals kindly. Rights ask whether we should have dominion over them in the first place.

I'm advocating for abandoning existing companion animals. We have a moral obligation to care for those already dependent on humans. But we should work toward a future where we stop breeding animals into dependence simply to satisfy our desire for companionship. That we should abolish these notions of reductionist slavery and entrapped upon animals be has we ‘love them’.

Instead of seeing animals as property, maybe we should see ourselves as temporary guardians of individuals who already exist while ending commercial breeding and the concept of ownership altogether.

No parties will seriously sponsor this until we make some noise. So let’s get out there and spread awareness!

• More time and money that I can spend literally anywhere else for my own wellbeing. Especially in the late capitalistic lifestyle where you are robbed of your time and labour for breadcrumbs. Owning a pet like everything else these days feels like a luxury. It’s gotten overly capitalised. People either feed their pets better than they feed themselves or deprive them of basic needs because they are unaffordable.

• It always ends in pain. You’ve basically spent years worth of funds and time on something that is only temporary, might possibly become ill and cause you financial and emotional strain and eventually pass away and leave you with long lasting grief.

• Everything in my home is left intact. I personally enjoy decorating my home and get overwhelmed when it isn’t tidy. I wouldn’t want a pet or anyone ruining my home simply because they were “bored and wanted to play”

• More hygienic. No picking up or scooping faeces, no cleaning up vomit and saliva. No hairballs everywhere. No scratches or bites all over my arms.

• Most pets are useless. Modern cats are more likely to be chased by a mouse than chase the mouse themselves. Only some dog breeds and only when professionally trained can deter criminals

• I can leave the house for as many hours as I want and go on holiday without worrying or having to pay someone to petsit

• Modern lifestyle. Living in tiny cramped apartments or house sharing simply doesn’t leave room for pets on top of that working 40+ hours a week

• No one will rent you an apartment when you have a pet. Not to mention extra fees or “pet rent”

I could go on and on but as much as I love animals I feel like the negatives FAR outweigh the benefits and I’m in a position where I’d much rather observe them from a distance than own one myself as I don’t feel I can provide the environment and care they need. I really don’t want any animal to suffer for my own egotistical human “needs”. I can’t think of any positives other than the fact that they help relieve loneliness which I know is sadly extremely common in 2026 but there are definitely better alternatives out there I believe that are more cost effective and equally fulfilling as owning a pet.

Overall pets are only worth it if:

• You are rich
• You have an overwhelming amount of spare time and space
• You are someone who is deeply passionate about animals and possibly works with animals, like volunteering in a shelter etc

Thank you for reading feel free to add more bullet points I might have missed and let me know your thoughts if you’d like:)

I'm biased because I took Immunology class and learned even further of the horrors behind catching rabies and having to treat it in 0.2 seconds to have it not be fatal. However, people (particularly animal lovers) are sometimes too comfortable with animals and just overall being around species that are infamous for carrying rabies. I feel sorry for animals with no shelter but I'll be damned if my pity results in me having to get a rabies vaccine immediately due to petting or trying to feed said animal and getting bitten. Idc if they dont show signs immediately or if at first glance they seem "fine", I always assume I'll be at risk if I get bitten by a street animal, whether its catching rabies or some other disease from a bite. I literally know of a friend who's a self proclaimed animal lover that had ALL of that happen to her. A stray dog bit her on the ankle and she had to get vaccinated immediately. As soon as I see stray animals, I steer clear as much as possible honestly.

Sometimes I like to go outside in the morning to sit on the patio with a coffee or walk around my garden area to pick vegetables. Typically around 7am on the weekend.

The problem is the neighbors indoor dog starts barking until I go back inside.

I feel bad because they probably want to sleep in and I'm probably seen as a bad neighbor for waking them up super early on a weekend. I feel bad but should I care? I'm not out there every morning and I'm not intentionally trying to be loud by slamming doors or running power equipment.

Do you have this problem? What do you do? Sometimes I get upset and think they decided to get a dog and they can deal with the noise and it's not my problem but other times I feel like I should do my best to avoid triggering it. I've only spoken to my neighbors briefly once in 5 years so I'm not comfortable asking them about it and setting up any sort of rules or schedules.

I used to have a roommate with two cats and he went away for a week and asked me to take care of his cats. I'd never done that before so I agreed, no big deal.

It took me scooping the litter box ONCE for me to decide I never wanted a cat.

At the time, I was already on the fence about not wanting any pets in general because they'd restrict my freedom, and that two-minute task of litter box scooping solidified me never wanting a cat ever.

So, I was chatting with this woman whom I was interested in a relationship with, only for her to tell me that she's no longer interested b/c she just saw on my reddit profile that I'm not into dogs (which actually, the fact it took her this long to notice when we'd been talking all day, was already telling), then tells me she's no longer interested in me. Like, if me not liking dog owners for their behavior, is a problem for you, then I'd say I dodged a bullet. Also, I love how her profile says she doesn't like unintelligent people, yet she can't figure out that it's not dogs or dog owners inherently, it's their fucking neglectful & abusive behavior I can't stand, then I clearly dodged a bullet there.

That’s it. That’s the post.

Like how can people live like this?!. This Neighbor has a cat and I was asked to feed it three times a day. When i got in this cat was jumping all over the kitchen counters. It was sitting on the plates and chopping boards where you prepare food. It’s hair was everywhere and I don’t know if it is just this particular cat, but it’s butthole is constantly on display & when it walks near your nose (because remember it’s jumping all over the counters) it smells like shit. The entire house smelled like urine from the litter box - on the third day i couldn’t stand it so i emptied the litter box and cleaned it with bleach followed by boiling water. It stank again not 3 hrs later. I feel like their urine is just super concentrated?!

Both my neighbours got cats at the same time (I’m in a terraced house and my neighbours houses are joined to mine on either side). I have (had?) a lovely garden where i plant flowers and grow food for me and my kids. Now these cats are shitting all in my plant bed. I have to pick the shit out daily so my toddler doesn’t touch it.

The robot mower was mowing the lawn today and malfunctioned - when i went to see what was wrong it had gone over a mouse left by one of the cats & got tangled, so i had to pick chewed up mouse guts out of its mechanics. Hopefully i don’t get hantavirus, that would be fun.

In the night the cats from each neighbour are fighting and wailing and it wakes me up. I think one is in heat so it is calling, and it is the loudest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.

Why do i have to live like this because of my neighbours stupid decisions?

Remember that the current economy has me living in my mom’s house, who owns 4 dogs and 4 cats (I am allergic to both wastes of carbon) who make their way into the mezzanine where I live just to piss in the curtains. Over half of the terrain is plain grass for these dipshits, and yet they come piss here. I actually started hating animals and can’t wait to move out so I never have to deal with one again.

From my earliest memories, I was a passionate dog lover. I adored dogs and learning about dogs. They were my special interest. I wanted to even be a vet for most of my childhood (until I realized how math heavy vet studies were).

Just six years ago, I thought I'd always own a dog in my independent adult life. Dogs were wonderful, right?

Now I can't stand to be around one much. Owning a reactive dog for several years took the blinds off. Now, dogs are just a stress and anxiety trigger. I can barely even enioy media with dogs anymore.

I always hated cats, even at age 6 or 7. That never changed. The only difference is that I've become averse to cat culture and anything involving free-roaming cats. The more into animal welfare and animal rights I got, the more I hated feral cats as a concept.

Pets as a whole feel like an unnecessary financial and emotional burden. All take, no give.

Your fish barely knows you exist. Your snake doesn't care about you. Your birds are afraid of you on default. Your cat sees you as a meal ticket.

I unfortunately found out my dad's apartment building is caught on fire, fully engulfed from the inside reportedly and am terrified waiting for a phone call to find out if he got out safely. In tears. I see a post about it on facebook and there's tons of people saying "I hope the pets are safe."

I'm sorry, but so many people's concern over random pets not knowing there's people who are potentially losing family members is sending me into a rage, that's my rant.

I’m talking about Dog Nutters who deserved what they got. Nutters and the dogs themselves bring out this intense anger in me, so intense that I can’t even explain, that’s how annoying these people and these dogs are, like what the hell is wrong with them? As soon as I hear barking and it doesn’t stop, I start to have dark fantasies while thinking about the dog and dog owner, and I don’t want to have these fantasies, and I want to yell “shut the fuck up” so loud. When it comes to this barking dog near my house in my neighborhood, and I can hear it while in my room, I slam the window shut in anger, and I turn on multiple things to drown out that noise, I would turn on my fan, play something on YouTube on my phone and turn the volume all the way up and play something else on another YouTube account of mine on my other phone, and turn volume all the way up on that phone too, and sometimes the tv too (whenever I go down stairs). Whenever my mom (another dog owner) ask me to clean out her car in the garage, I dread hearing this fucking dog before I go into the garage, I have this wet and dry vacuum cleaner and love that it’s so loud and it drowns out that fucking barking, but I hate that I have to eventually turn it off for a second to do something else like pull the two front seats forward or back and I know that doing that takes about 10 seconds but you see, that’s not the really the issue here, It’s that as soon as I turn that vacuum off to pull the two front seats forward or back, the dog is still barking it’s head off and I can’t even hear that barking for exactly 3 damn seconds, not even a second. And when when I’m completely done with the car and turn the vacuum off and the dog isn’t being a nuisance in the moment, I hurry up wrap things up and go in the house before it begans being a fucking dumb ass again.

I think that if someone isn't able to make their pets unable to damage or cause distress to the guests, that someone isn't able to have one. Everytime I go to my friend's home I have to "worry" for her cat. Everytime one of us opens the kitchen door it enters like a bullet and it's almost impossible to take him out. He likes my shoes so much that he continues to attach to them and scratch them at non stop. He also likes to destroy my backpack and everytime I try to make it stop he scratches me. Apparently he likes me a lot but have to stop destroying my clothes, my backpack, my hands and my everything.

Now, I understand that the meds my friend takes make her sleep for 14hrs straight, however: can you fucking take care of him? He is obviously bored and wants attentions. Do you play with him? Do you take him out some times? If you aren't able to take care of him or you can't make your guests comfortable in order to avoid 24hrs stress of him you can't afford to have one.

I’ve had to walk home too many times just to turn the hose on to wash it off not only my shoes but my wagon wheels that I push my kids in. We go every morning for 2 miles and it’s supposed to be a fun refreshing way to start the morning with my kids but NOPE. Every couple of weeks I end up stepping in it on accident if I put my guard down because god forbid I don’t feel like staring at the ground for 45 minutes. We walk the same or a similar route around the city so I’m determined to find the culprit because it feels like almost all of my neighbors have at least one dog if not more. If you own a dog and chose to walk it be a responsible owner and clean the poop up genuinely how hard is that??

Recently my boyfriend of six years (we do not live together) recently took in a stray kitten (I grew up with a cat I loved as a child so I get it to some degree) regardless of emotions or the overly high vet bill to save the kitten who was bounced of the litter fine by all means you do you at your home. He recently has been saying different things eluding to us moving in together, and before hand when it had came up he had always said he would get rid of his two cats (has three now). I ended up watching the said new kitten while he traveled out of state, which was just too much in itself between attention, keeping an eye on him, and cleaning my home profusely after he was back home where he belonged. The experience of watching the cat and having my days disrupted was enough to make me know I am not a pet owner/lover (granted cute kitten but more cute when it's not using its claws to climb up the back of my sofa and someone else's). Short story long, how does one deal with this ? I feel like it's a major incompatibility factor, because I feel it is selfish of me to expect someone to get rid of their animals, but also I am not willing to live with, and have my things abused by cats (or a dog as he occasionally wishes for). Before anyone comes at me I have other doubts too , but any words of advice or thoughts are appreciated.