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Comment by exasperaited | Hacker News Reader

There is a solution to this, though, and it is the solution that generations -- generations -- of people have chosen.

1) don't have a pet that you will have to leave alone for too long because it is cruel to do this just so you have a pet to keep you company when you have time to enjoy it

2) there is no 2)

I have plenty of grace for people in my life -- much, much more than you might imagine. I have no patience for people who treat the happiness of their pet as transactional and have created a service economy to support it.

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Life is change. Many people get pets when they can take care of them. Then their job changes. I think you and I may differ on the meaning of grace and patience.

And pets can be a twenty year commitment. If the possibility of a dog having to end up in doggie daycare is so heinous a thought that one shouldn't ever allow it, then the answer is no one should have pets, because no one can effectively plan for that time. People move, accidents happen, partners leave, life conditions change, it is totally unavoidable.

> then the answer is no one should have pets

That is definitely the more ethical answer, then.

I do not have a pet because despite having the space and working from home, I would be asking an animal to be lonely with me when it could be happier elsewhere, I would have to leave that animal in kennels if I needed to travel, and as a non-driver there are too many ways I have to travel where it is IMO inappropriate to take a pet.

This is not a thing that makes me personally happy. But it's the more ethical answer.

> Accidents happen, partners leave, life conditions change, it is totally unavoidable.

And pets can be found new homes in those rare situations.

> And pets can be found new homes in those rare situations.

The average lifespan of a dog is 10-13 years.

The average lifespan of a cat is 13-17 years.

The average tenure for a job in the US is 4 years.

It isn't rare. Can I guess you'd give up your child too if your job changed?

[flagged]

Could you please stop posting inflammatory/abusive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for.

If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

Just trying to think of how much change my dog has seen. She's been with us through college, two children being born, getting married, moving a few times, different jobs, a pandemic, more.

I still haven't needed doggy day care, but I fully understand how it would happen. There have been periods we've probably been lucky she hasn't developed behaviours (or bit me in my butt to remind me she still existed).

But luckily for you are sure your definition is the correct one and therefore you sling it around in accusations.

A couple years ago I got a puppy. At the time I worked from home. A few months ago I got a new job and now I have to go into the office. She spent the first two years of her life with me being used to me almost always being around. It would be cruel to suddenly leave her alone all day five days a week. What are you suggesting people should do in similar situations? Should I only work remote for the rest of her life? Should I have taken her from the only home she knows and given her to someone else who works from home?

The solution is to find her a new home, yes. Sorry.

Why is that a better solution than paying someone to take care of her while I'm at work?

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