In fact, my lovely cats are my family.
Over on h2g2 there have been a few conversation threads started lately about pet owners and their responsibilities, as a shocking number of people seem to think that de-clawing, cropping of tails & ears, specialized breeding, etc are quite okay practices. Others think that even keeping an animal ‘in captivity’ (as in pets that don’t have access to the great outdoors) constitutes cruelty to animals.
I’ve taken these questions from this h2g2 Guide Entry and thought it might be interesting to discuss them here.
- Do you have a pet? Do you consider yourself to be a good owner?
- Should children be able to buy pets without their parents being present?
- Should parents be made ultimately responsible for the welfare of animals owned by their children?
- How can we define what is cruel treatment of domestic animals and what is not?
- Should animal charities have the power to actively prevent bad treatment rather then having to wait until cruelty has taken place?
- Should the keeping of exotic pets have a licensing system?
- Is keeping dogs and cats in cities, where they might not get enough stimulation, cruel?
- Is cruelty to pets a matter for legislation or personal conscience?
What’s your opinion?
Are there any other questions you’d like to add?
casa azahar 
Okay, I’ll go first …
Yes, I think I am a good pet owner (if one can actually own cats, which I doubt) because their health and well-being is a daily priority for me. A very fair exchange for the love and trust they exhibit and also not a day goes by when they don’t make me laugh out loud at least once … as well as making me ‘remember my place’ in the grand scheme of things. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without them.
Yes, parents must be ultimately responsible for the purchase and caring of pets for their children – kind of a no-brainer, that one.
I would define cruel treatment as anything that negatively affects the emotional and physical well-being of one’s pet.
As for exotic pets – depends on what sort of animal we are talking about. I could be wrong but it seems that most people who want an exotic pet are more concerned about showing it off than anything else.
Keeping a pet in the city, especially in an apartment, requires the owner to provide enough stimulation and exercise to keep the animal healthy and happy. Many cats and small dogs adapt very well to apartment living as long as they are able to get a bit of fresh air … mine have six balconies to choose from.
I’m really not sure how animal charities could prevent bad treatment of animals.
I think cruelty to pets is a matter for legislation and personal conscience, but that legislation should take precedence if an animal is found to be living under bad conditions.
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I think Mme and I are good pet owners. Our pets are spayed and neutered and not allowed out of the house.
How to prevent animal abuse? Let’s return to full licensing for all pets: when you renew your driver’s license, you pay a fee and get tags which contain a serial number, like the TB Vets key tags. Untagged animals would be collected, held for a week, and put to sleep.
You would pay a renewable fee annually toward the cost of keeping animal control officers on your city staff.
If your animal was an annoyance, it could be reported by tag number or description. Every fifth violation would result in a fine, which the owner could dispute or pay by mail.
If your animal was involved in a serious incident then the ID tag would help track you down. You would be held fully responsible for damages and the animal destroyed.
If your animal was reported as abused, it could be taken away. And this is the great bit: you would not be permitted to own an animal again for a minimum period of three years, with the period doubling for every offence.
I’m sick and tired of people who claim the “right” to own an unnecessary animal, but won’t accept the responsibilities commensurate with ownership.
Simply picking up the dog crap would go a long way–as well as not letting the cat outdoors in quail country. Fortunately the coyotes are smarter than quail.
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>Over on h2g2…a shocking number of people seem to think<
Do you have any proof that a shocking number of people on h2g2 think at all? Frankly, given how vile most of the membership over there has become I’m not at all suprised they find casual cruelty to animals to be acceptable.
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Blues, I didn’t mean to imply that the ‘shocking number of people’ were all members of h2g2 – in fact most there seemed against those practices I mentioned. But yes, the quality of the debate threads there sure ain’t what they used to be.
What about chips instead of tags, Metro? I think a license fee is a good idea providing it’s not too steep. Years ago I could barely afford catfood and basic veterinary care for my three cats – an expensive fee would have really been difficult to come up with.
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