Something to ponder about a global problem

[Sunseeker]

What do you propose? Make all of humanity less shitty?

You'd have better luck implementing Communism.

[Vash The Stampede]

So then you support the overcrowding of shelters and support animals being euthanized because pet owners surrender them because the pet owner did things or didn't do things to help the animal?

That's bad I agree but I'd like attention brought to humans who still suffer, all over the world. I wonder if we use the resources for saving our pets to save humans instead, how many humans could we save? Unfortunately some people would choose to save a pet instead of a human. Until every human is safe and healthy, I would put pets last on things to attend to.

[Thirza]

What do you propose? Make all of humanity less shitty?

You'd have better luck implementing Communism.

Lack of resources and necessity will force humanity to mature, or humanity will die.

People should do what they can, vote, volunteer, try not to be shitty. I do not think most of people will change until it becomes non optional.

+1 for calvin and hobbes
+1 for futurama

[Stelio Kontos]

I'll ponder the much larger global problems of suffering humans, thanks. I give my charity to groups that help people in need. I love animals, but priorities are priorities.

[gaymer77]

That's bad I agree but I'd like attention brought to humans who still suffer, all over the world. I wonder if we use the resources for saving our pets to save humans instead, how many humans could we save? Unfortunately some people would choose to save a pet instead of a human. Until every human is safe and healthy, I would put pets last on things to attend to.

My 2 furbabies are my family. I would do whatever it took to save either of them. I have told my boyfriend that if we were in a wreck or the house was on fire, if I could see he can help himself I'm helping our dogs first because they can't help themselves. Yes my priority is to my boyfriend (or any other family member) but my furbabies are just as important to me as they are.

[Stelio Kontos]

My 2 furbabies are my family. I would do whatever it took to save either of them. I have told my boyfriend that if we were in a wreck or the house was on fire, if I could see he can help himself I'm helping our dogs first because they can't help themselves. Yes my priority is to my boyfriend (or any other family member) but my furbabies are just as important to me as they are.

Ugh, calling animals "furbabies" is so gauche. It does a disservice to them to conflate them with humans.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

While I’m against the killing of any animal that isn’t a danger I can’t say I care about people’s mock sadness while other animals are killed at much much higher numbers.

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The problem is that many of these animals were bought/bred to be a pet. The owners got rid of them because they outgrew the "cute" phase, didn't train the pet properly & therefor got rid of the "problem animal", or neglected the pet. Shelters are overran across the nation with these former pets and most have to be put down because of the owners surrendering them. We hunt other animals to control the population and those animals are eaten. These dogs & cats that are taken to the shelter from former pet owners aren't hunted down or even used as food after they are put down. They are euthanized because of overpopulation. Puppy mills are plentiful around the nation. Many times people don't want to adopt older dogs, dogs with special needs, or dogs that aren't a certain breed. People want puppies or they want purebred breeds. I am very proud of the fact that my two dogs are both rescue dogs. One was abandoned in the country and the other was rescued from a shelter.

Most meat animals are kept on horrible conditions and live joyless life’s. If you are gonna fane sadness for one and not the other just because you find one cuter then your sadness is worthless.

[Stelio Kontos]

Most meat animals are kept on horrible conditions and live joyless life’s. If you are gonna fane sadness for one and not the other just because you find one cuter then your sadness is worthless.

This I agree with. The way food animals are treated is often pretty abysmal.

[Stardrift]

You should have to take a quick class (for free. Online maybe) in order to own a non-caged pet. The amount of stupid people that shouldn't be anywhere near an animal but owns one anyways is appalling.

Same goes for having kids too. But that's a whole other issue...

I find the worst owners are those who abuse the animals (of course), and those that claim their life is all about their dog(s)/cat(s). Equally.

When you obsess over a life and treat it like an accessory, you have a mental issue and should not be responsible for a living being, ever. When all an animal is to you is a prop for your stupid fucking instagram posts to show how much of a caring nature and animal lover you are, you're a despicable piece of shit who can't foresee anything more than two feet in front of you. You're a moron.

[gaymer77]

You should have to take a quick class (for free. Online maybe) in order to own a non-caged pet. The amount of stupid people that shouldn't be anywhere near an animal but owns one anyways is appalling.

Same goes for having kids too. But that's a whole other issue...

I find the worst owners are those who abuse the animals (of course), and those that claim their life is all about their dog(s)/cat(s). Equally.

When you obsess over a life and treat it like an accessory, you have a mental issue and should not be responsible for a living being, ever. When all an animal is to you is a prop for your stupid fucking instagram posts to show how much of a caring nature and animal lover you are, you're a despicable piece of shit who can't foresee anything more than two feet in front of you. You're a moron.

While I agree with you on this (and I'm a firm believer that boys should get vasectomies once they hit puberty and then get a free reversal once they are ready to have kids and prove they can but that's a whole other discussion for somewhere else), my Facebook & IG have tons of photos of my 2 little ones. They aren't props at all. They are treated very well. Hell when they go with me to the store, I leave them inside the car with the windows rolled up with the A/C blasting and the car locked (thank you remote access locking system). We have taken our older one to the beach where she loves to run and chase the seagulls and play in the water. They routinely attend family functions with us. During the summer we take them to my grandma's and swim. They get treats routinely if they do a trick or as a reward for being good when they go to the groomer to get their nails filed or whatnot. You can't judge an animal lover & animal owner based on their FB or IG feeds but by their actions when others aren't looking.

[Stardrift]

While I agree with you on this (and I'm a firm believer that boys should get vasectomies once they hit puberty and then get a free reversal once they are ready to have kids and prove they can but that's a whole other discussion for somewhere else), my Facebook & IG have tons of photos of my 2 little ones. They aren't props at all. They are treated very well. Hell when they go with me to the store, I leave them inside the car with the windows rolled up with the A/C blasting and the car locked (thank you remote access locking system). We have taken our older one to the beach where she loves to run and chase the seagulls and play in the water. They routinely attend family functions with us. During the summer we take them to my grandma's and swim. They get treats routinely if they do a trick or as a reward for being good when they go to the groomer to get their nails filed or whatnot. You can't judge an animal lover & animal owner based on their FB or IG feeds but by their actions when others aren't looking.

Oh of course. I'm talking about those that truly only use their pets as props. Meaning they neglect their pet until they need them for a picture. Worst kinds of people ever. I even see them do that to their children if they have any.

[Phon]

So you're so self-centered that you only care about Asian humans and say "fuck it" to any animals? BTW how is it racist when the truth of the matter is there are MANY Asian cultures that to this day eat dog and/or cat meat? There was a big deal made at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang because of their culture raising dogs to sell as human meat products. You want proof? HERE and HERE are your proof that it still happens in Asian countries...HERE is an article listing at least NINE countries that still eat dog or cat meat (I'll save you the reading on that one and tell you its the US in rural areas of Hawaii, Korea, China, French Polynesia which is an Asian country, rural areas of Switzerland, Taiwan, and finally Vietnam...notice how many were ASIAN countries?) In fact look up the city of Yulin in southern China and their annual festival devoted to...wait for it...EATING DOG!

As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time in an asian country, I have never encountered even one person who thought eating dog was acceptable. It's rare yet you talk like it's commonplace.

[Kharadin]

Saw this in my news feed last night and thought I'd share it on here. This is a problem that is only growing each and every day. This is not limited to just the US either. This is a global issue.

I died today. You got tired of me and took me to the shelter. They were overcrowded and I drew an unlucky number. I am in a black plastic bag in a landfill now. Some other puppy will get the barely used leash you left. My collar was dirty and too small, but the lady took it off before she sent me to the Rainbow Bridge . Would I still be at home if I hadn’t chewed your shoe? I didn’t know what it was, but it was leather, and it was on the floor. I was just playing. You forgot to get puppy toys. Would I still be at home if I had been housebroken? Rubbing my nose in what I did only made me ashamed that I had to go at all. There are books and obedience teachers that would have taught you how to teach me to go to the door. Would I still be at home if I hadn’t brought fleas into the house? Without anti-flea medicine, I couldn’t get them off of me after you left me in the yard for days. Would I still be at home if I hadn’t barked? I was only saying, “I’m scared, I’m lonely, I’m here, I’m here! I want to be your best friend.” Would I still be at home if I had made you happy? Hitting me didn’t make me learn how. Would I still be at home if you had taken the time to care for me and to teach manners to me? You didn’t pay attention to me after the first week or so, but I spent all my time waiting for you to love me. I died today. Love, Your Puppy

If you don't think this really happens....you aren't living in reality.....they die daily.....thousands.....

People are assholes, this is well documented. I question your use of emotive writing and imagery to convey the problem though, reminds of those tiresome Oxfam adverts.

Do you propose a solution?

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It would be much better if they were at least eaten so their bodies wouldn't go to waste.

Yeah, as much as I don't particularly like the idea of eating dog meat, I feel like this is such a waste of resources. Bones and meat can be used for shit, man.

[Flurryfang]

Its not a global problem. Dogs are not different from cows and we kill them in the thousands every day.

It might be a local problem if your shelter can take care of them, but its not a problem for all of us. Some people in South East Asia proberly sees it as a growing food supply.

[VanishingAct]

Yeah man lots of bad shit happens hey.
Everything has a cause and effect, life and death are the two extremes of it.
Lesser countries they usually rely on killing cats and dogs and less for food. In superior countries they are killed for being inconveniences but the outcome is the same regardless. For us in the superior nations, we can only try to educate each other on the responsibility of pet ownership being a long term commitment and the importance of de-sexing.

[Lodpaul]

You just have to do what you can do, you can’t control what other people do with animals no matter how much it affects you. This is something I learnt a long time ago.

I hate animal cruelty, in any sense of the word, I think generally animals come with much less problems and are generally kinder than humans. I was vegan for about 5 years, vegetarian for probably about 10, this was way before it became ‘cool’ and I’ll use that word lightly.

I grew up with animals, a dog, rabbits, a few cats, hamster etc. A family friend had ducks and I lived not too far from a farm and I used to chill with the cows etc.

It’s an extremely hard problem to solve because how can you give a penalty to someone who has mistreat or abandoned a dog/cat whilst the same country literally slaughters millions of cows, chickens and pigs every single day and for anyone to say those animals are different they are wrong, they are as different as dogs are to cats but they just the same when it comes to understanding love and emotions etc.

I literally used to take my dog to the farm and sat with a cow most weeks and the cow literally acted just like my dog, same temperament, to me they were just the same.

I sent myself crazy to some extent with how the world works. I openly sourced out information about animal cruelty and watched and witnessed what happened, especially to cows. It’s mainly inhumane, especially the milk industry.

I got tired of caring, honestly it’s draining so I now choose to ignore it, I am neither vegan or vegetarian and I eat most meats. I often feel hypocritical and conflicted about myself because I simply do care about animals but I just can’t be bothered caring enough about it anymore, it’s really shitty these dogs were put down because people were shit but that’s life, the majority of the world has shitty people doing shitty things every single day.

Regarding the poster who said he would strangle kids to have a moment with his dog, whilst he was obviously being sarcastic which was undeniably easy to figure out I understand his sarcastic post with a hint of truth, obviously he wouldn’t do that but to him his dog meant more to him than some random person, I have a cat, I love her, she’s my little buddy who chills with me because my world is my world she is important to me because she has a personality and I love her, she means more to me than anyone of you on this forum. I don’t mean it harshly but I don’t know any of you and my cat is my cat, it’s just obvious isn’t it?

[Kumorii]

Ugh, calling animals "furbabies" is so gauche. It does a disservice to them to conflate them with humans.

It always seems off when I hear people calling the pet owners dad or mom and them calling their pet kid or baby...
So weird to me...

[OopsReality]

That is a very fallacious argument.

By this logic, all humans should only care about the most pressing problem. Good thing for you and I humans don't think like this. I rather like that someone invented cough syrup for when I'm sick, Advil for when I hurt, and jeans that are more comfortable than their predecessors.

All of these were trivial in the global sense but because one or some human(s) championed a cause cool shit got done for the globe.

Let others champion their causes, you yours. No reason to ignore a problem just because there is a bigger one. (By that logic we better start working on the sun going Nova in a few billion....)

Cough syrup for sick people. Advil for hurt people. And jeans for human comfort. Thank you for proving my point that humankind is first and foremost the most important thing worth worrying about.

And when you work your way down many many hierarchies\tiers you get to animals. And of all the "pressing" animal issues, the one this thread is about, isn't even at the top.

TLDR; I pity the person that explains why my argument is correct, by presenting their mentally deficint argument. SMH.

[Galactis]

Saw this in my news feed last night and thought I'd share it on here. This is a problem that is only growing each and every day. This is not limited to just the US either. This is a global issue.

I died today. You got tired of me and took me to the shelter. They were overcrowded and I drew an unlucky number. I am in a black plastic bag in a landfill now. Some other puppy will get the barely used leash you left. My collar was dirty and too small, but the lady took it off before she sent me to the Rainbow Bridge . Would I still be at home if I hadn’t chewed your shoe? I didn’t know what it was, but it was leather, and it was on the floor. I was just playing. You forgot to get puppy toys. Would I still be at home if I had been housebroken? Rubbing my nose in what I did only made me ashamed that I had to go at all. There are books and obedience teachers that would have taught you how to teach me to go to the door. Would I still be at home if I hadn’t brought fleas into the house? Without anti-flea medicine, I couldn’t get them off of me after you left me in the yard for days. Would I still be at home if I hadn’t barked? I was only saying, “I’m scared, I’m lonely, I’m here, I’m here! I want to be your best friend.” Would I still be at home if I had made you happy? Hitting me didn’t make me learn how. Would I still be at home if you had taken the time to care for me and to teach manners to me? You didn’t pay attention to me after the first week or so, but I spent all my time waiting for you to love me. I died today. Love, Your Puppy

If you don't think this really happens....you aren't living in reality.....they die daily.....thousands.....

It happens all the time, just look at how humans treat each other. The same way. I feel nothing anymore. NOTHING!

[OopsReality]

Yeah and if you want to get technical, we are just animals too. The type of animal we happen to be is a human. These dogs & cats are animals yes. Doesn't change the fact that WE are too.



Pet rabbits are another problem too. There are thousands of them bought each spring to give to kids as Easter presents that a few months later are dumped in the country or taken to shelters because the kid "outgrew" the cute bunny and is sick of the responsibility of taking care of an adult rabbit. My sister & her family live in the country and they get dumped dogs and cats at least once a month from pet owners who would rather dump them out in the country to get eaten by coyotes than to actually take care of them or rehome them. She also is a kitten foster house. She takes in kittens all the time that are abandoned or taken to kill shelters that have too many kittens & they would be immediately put down. She's taken in many newborn kittens & premies that she has had to bottle feed every 2 hours for several weeks. She just released 6 of the 8 she is currently fostering to their new forever homes over the weekend and will start the process all over again later this week when more kittens are in need...and there will be kittens in need guaranteed.



Just because an issue isn't life-threatening to humans doesn't mean that its not a global problem. The death of the Great Barrier Reef isn't a life-threatening issue to humans but it is a major issue for those in the area. The deforestation of the Rain Forest isn't life-threatening to humans but to the wildlife there it is a major problem. Also you can care about more than one issue at a time. There's no limit to how many things to care/advocate for.



So you're so self-centered that you only care about Asian humans and say "fuck it" to any animals? BTW how is it racist when the truth of the matter is there are MANY Asian cultures that to this day eat dog and/or cat meat? There was a big deal made at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang because of their culture raising dogs to sell as human meat products. You want proof? HERE and HERE are your proof that it still happens in Asian countries...HERE is an article listing at least NINE countries that still eat dog or cat meat (I'll save you the reading on that one and tell you its the US in rural areas of Hawaii, Korea, China, French Polynesia which is an Asian country, rural areas of Switzerland, Taiwan, and finally Vietnam...notice how many were ASIAN countries?) In fact look up the city of Yulin in southern China and their annual festival devoted to...wait for it...EATING DOG!



I will never buy a dog or cat from a breeder for the rest of my life. As a kid, we got our animals from shelters or from family/friends who had an animal that had a litter. I happen to live in a state (California) that has banned puppy/kitten mills and any other breeder from selling their animals in pet shops. All pet shops must sell rescue animals. I wish they would ban ALL puppy/kitty mills in the state and across the nation.



The thing is, if you turn a dog or cat in to a shelter saying that it was abandoned, feral, or whatever reason OTHER THAN saying it was yours, they don't charge you to take the animal in. Those non-surrendered animals are also second on the chopping block when it comes to being put down (only second behind aggressive animals). Still though, people will dump animals out in the country so they don't even have to deal with going to the shelters in the first place. As I was saying above, my sister lives out in the country and at least once a month there is a dog or cat dropped off in front of her house. Keep in mind, that's just one location out of literally square miles of country that people dump them out in.

No. It is not a problem. You say it is, because you think it is, and you are wrong. It's ok to be wrong; it's not ok to realize you're wrong, and not change. They are animals, they are, without question, by nature, of less import than a large number of other issues because of what they are.

It's a value system, a simple one, and your problem is that you're assigning incorrect values to things.

PS: You are indeed a racist fuck for going after Asians because they eat dogs\cats. You're using your emotional bias to demonize something. There is zero difference between a cat\dog, and any other animal we consume, other than we (humans) have selectively bred them genetically to display properties we value in pets, as opposed to properties we value for food. You're entire basis is standing on your emotions, not facts.

My fiance who is Vietnamese, and my fiance's sibling never have, nor will eat dog meat, even though their parent(s) love dog meat. Their only inhibition is that they think dogs are cute, and are for pets, not eating. That's simply elevating something on the basis of emotions. My first trip to Vietnam I am most definitely feasting on some roasted doggo, as I enjoy both new foods and all kinds of meat.