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Comment by imgabe | Hacker News Reader

I have what I'm sure is a very unpopular opinion that most people probably shouldn't own dogs.

Dogs evolved alongside humans and were bred to help us with specific tasks like hunting, herding, etc. When you take an animal with a genetic drive to perform certain activities and turn it into a fashion accessory or have it sit alone in a house most of the day, I think the dog tends to go a little crazy. I don't think it's a good life for them. If you can't realistically be with your dog most of the time, or if you don't have a purpose for the dog (like herding sheep) you probably shouldn't have a dog.

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Seconded. My wife has a dog who ends up being alone most of the time. My wife and I go out for dinner, we go on vacation, and of course we both go to work, and the poor dog has absolutely nothing to do. I can tell she’s sad, miserable and lonely, but my wife wanted a dog. I do my best to at least be nice to her (the dog, that is) when I’m around.

Can you afford a walker? Of course spending more time with the dog would be good but just a suggestion. I have a friends who use a walker. They actually do spend time with their dogs quite often but they didn't want the dog to be totally alone while they are at work.

There is an easy solution to this, rescuing abandoned dogs. We have had two dogs (down to one now after a cancer battle), and both would have had not home, or been parked in a volunteer run shelter left alone most of the time.

I think they are surely better of with us, and I don't think we increase demand in any way.

I do agree with you that breeding dogs for a life in captivity might not be a morally good thing. Hard to say.

Also in agreement, breeding pets so they can be lifestyle accessories is probably wrong.

Both my pets are rescues, I have no difficulty with falling in love with rescued animals.

There is a book that goes into the ambiguous ethics of pet ownership written by a Bioethicist (who owns some pets)

https://www.amazon.com/Run-Spot-Ethics-Keeping-Pets-ebook/dp...

From a review "no matter how well loved they are, our pets are essentially being held captives…. She reminds us that the animals we love and treat as companions ‘are denied nearly all of their natural behaviors, not to mention their freedom"

How is this true in the case of indoor + outdoor cats? Particularly if you have a cat-door, or if you keep the garage door open a crack, so that the cat is free to come and go as they please: is this not freedom?

Agreed. Just to add to your point, snipping off the reproductive organs of said pets also feels cruel to me. Almost to the point of owning a living toy for your amusement.

The planet already has too many pet animals that go unwanted and euthanized in shelters, and those are the lucky ones.

You want to encourage this outcome even more?

IMO, it’s better that the animal lives a good happy life with their human(s) and doesn’t contribute to pet overpopulation.

And if the human(s) in question need more companion pets, then they can go back to the shelter again and rescue the next one(s).

Out of curiosity, how does your opinion extend to rescuing dogs?

I mean, I wouldn't go full PETA and say we should start killing dogs that are already alive. It's probably better to give them as good of a life as we can.

I think at this point lots of breeds have also been bred to simply be house pets. How do you see that playing into the equation?

I think it's probably still not great if they're alone all the time. I think dogs and people both need something to strive for / work at / however you want to put it.

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