I also get to choose their mates, and whether or not I allow them to breed or they are neutered. I pay their mates owners for the priviledge of breeding with their animals.
Try that with your adopted human, if you insist on being parent /guardian.
-There’s laws against that…
Petco is assuring the pet parents that they don’t have hot boxes or whatever those things are in their stores.
I shuddered.
I think it’s kinda slightly mean? lazy? to drop your dog off to be groomed rather than handle it yourself- but I don’t get all het up about it. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever once expressed that opinion. Because Who Cares what I think about it :lol:
Animals that are not owned, or owned by irresponsible people are the ones in trouble. The animals not owned are the ones with nobody to protect and care for them and end up as strays or in a shelter.
I believe animals , especially livestock/farm animals should have more rights than they do now, or perhaps better put that people should have more defined responsibility toward animals and penalties in place when we are not humane or responsible.
What people call their pets imo not that big a deal it’s how they treat them that count .
[QUOTE=Paks;8176157]
This seems to be an issue with some. I know when I’m talking to my cat or with my family I refer to myself as Mom or Mommie. I wouldn’t object to someone outside the family referring to me as mom when it comes to my cat but mommie would drive me straight up the wall. Guess I feel that is too silly for public us.
Guardian which they use a lot on my cat from hell seems a bit pretentious but does describe the responsibility of owning a companion animal.
Owner doesn’t really cover what I see as the relationship between me and my cat or my daughter and her puppy (she refers to herself as the puppy’s mom). I own my hairbrush and have a few more responsibilities and emotions involved in my relationship with my cat than I do the hairbrush.
I make it a habit to never name any animal after an inanimate object. I once sold a lead line pony to some people who renamed her training wheels. What do you with training wheels when you are done with them? That’s what happened to her. Fortunately a woman, I ran into later when I saw her with my old pony had answered an ad for a cheep pony. The pony, a Shetland, was rail thin with shelly hooves the trainer said the owners said to just get rid of her. The woman actually considered just calling animal control and getting her that way but paid the asking price and gave her a good forever home.
So I guess parent is my preferred reference. I have a friend who calls her adult kids dogs her grand puppies.
Opinions?[/QUOTE]
I don’t care if someone calls me a pet parent or mom to my animals. Definitely consider myself a pet owner. That is just common sense. I love my animals and come up with the craziest nicknames for them, even my chickens have many nicknames.
[QUOTE=D_BaldStockings;8178583]
I also get to choose their mates, and whether or not I allow them to breed or they are neutered. I pay their mates owners for the priviledge of breeding with their animals.
Try that with your adopted human, if you insist on being parent /guardian.
-There’s laws against that…[/QUOTE]
Depends what country you live in there are still arranged marriages in this world
[QUOTE=Paks;8178865]
Depends what country you live in there are still arranged marriages in this world[/QUOTE]
As soon as I move somewhere that arranges marriages between cats and hairbrushes, I’ll start worrying about that.
I consider myself an owner and I think the pet parent/fur baby thing is rather silly. But on my list of things to be concerned about, being called a pet parent is waay down at the bottom.
I am their parent. They are my kitties.
If I had to get formally legal with it I would say I am their owner and they are my cats.
I love them dearly but never call or refer to them as children or myself as their mother. They had mothers who gave them birth and suckled them and housebroke them and weaned them and taught them to hunt. I did not provide any of those services!
They are my pets, my companions, my small animals, my friends.
You seem particularly shocked that people adhere to the unfluffed view of life, and upset that so many seem to disagree with your ‘pet parent’ ideal.
Interesting…
BTW, you might be called upn to pick up your property…but only police I’d think, if you had the misfortune to become a victim of robbery or burglary.
[QUOTE=Alagirl;8180623]
You seem particularly shocked that people adhere to the unfluffed view of life, and upset that so many seem to disagree with your ‘pet parent’ ideal.
Interesting…
BTW, you might be called upn to pick up your property…but only police I’d think, if you had the misfortune to become a victim of robbery or burglary.[/QUOTE]
Actually it’s the vehemence of one method of address over the other that amazes me. And it appears that it’s the people who want to be addressed as owners end of discussion who are far more likely to get bent out of shape over it than those who prefer pet parent (no one seems to prefer guardian) so I was curious and exploring that side more. There is a broad spectrum of how people view pets. On one extreme you get those that use them as substitute children and dress them up like they are going to be on toddlers and tiara’s http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/my-cat-from-hell/videos/bombadil-and-his-no-good-ways/ to on the they are property and I am an owner side extreme who surrender their pets to the shelter when they redecorate and the pet no longer matches the decor. Fortunately most people are somewhere in the middle between those extremes.
With some thought I think I may have figured out the vehemence of the they are property and I am an owner side who go so far as to imply they would boycott a place that referred to them as a pet parent. I think it might be religion that whole judeo-christian God has given man dominion over animals thing. At least I think that might be the root of it. I was raised in that framework but that is not my current religion. My religion teaches that we have stewardship of animals, that we should treat them as we would wish to be treated (which is not the same as treating them as humans) and yes they most definitely have souls. So I think I ended up hitting on a religious thing which would explain the vehemence.
[QUOTE=Paks;8180669]
Actually it’s the vehemence of one method of address over the other that amazes me. And it appears that it’s the people who want to be addressed as owners end of discussion who are far more likely to get bent out of shape over it than those who prefer pet parent (no one seems to prefer guardian) so I was curious and exploring that side more. There is a broad spectrum of how people view pets. On one extreme you get those that use them as substitute children and dress them up like they are going to be on toddlers and tiara’s http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/my-cat-from-hell/videos/bombadil-and-his-no-good-ways/ to on the they are property and I am an owner side extreme who surrender their pets to the shelter when they redecorate and the pet no longer matches the decor. Fortunately most people are somewhere in the middle between those extremes.
With some thought I think I may have figured out the vehemence of the they are property and I am an owner side who go so far as to imply they would boycott a place that referred to them as a pet parent. I think it might be religion that whole judeo-christian God has given man dominion over animals thing. At least I think that might be the root of it. I was raised in that framework but that is not my current religion. My religion teaches that we have stewardship of animals, that we should treat them as we would wish to be treated (which is not the same as treating them as humans) and yes they most definitely have souls. So I think I ended up hitting on a religious thing which would explain the vehemence.[/QUOTE]
Then, some animal owners just have a finer sense of what is sensible.
They know what the legal implications of animals being property are.
Why some then assume those animal owners then must care less for their animals than those that think of their animals as surrogate human friends?
My guess, either kind of animal caretaker can be good or bad for their animals, no matter what they call that relationship.
I think being called my dog’s mother could be questioned as being a veiled insult.
I entirely agree with Bluey. I am not a religious person in the slightest. I am just grounded in the reality that legally, those animals ARE my property. They are also fully my responsibility.
Haven’t we all heard about the hoarders who love their ‘babies’ while the fur-babies (cats, dogs, etc) are matted, filthy, wormy, sick, and living in a hovel alongside ‘mommy?’
“they’re my babies”
http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/confessions-animal-hoarding/videos/confessions-how-it-started/
I don’t think it’s ‘vehemence’ so much as plain old ‘offense’ in my response to being called a dog’s ‘mom’. It’s not cutesy or loving or endearing to be called my dog’s mommy. I’m her owner, thanks. I own the horses, the cats, the dogs, and the chickens. The bible has squat doodle to do with that. The law and common sense has everything to do with it. It’s just what it is.
Religion influences culture you don’t have to go to church to be influenced by it.
On legal implications I’m usually the first one to point out slippery slopes. Just don’t see how an employee of petco calling someone a pet parent is the start of a slippery slope any more than someone calling me an owner means I’m going to throw my cat away if I redecorate.
You can take about hoarders how about talking about people who abandon pets when they move or just get a dog for their kids at the summer home and leave it to defend for itself in the fall.
I don’t find any of the posts vehement, imo people are exchanging viewpoints civilly. I think it’s just an annoyance that irks some people re silly words …I would bet everyone here on the board is a responsible pet parent (or pet owner oops)
One of my first introductions to the animal rights movement was when I was in high school and our local animal control officer, who in partners with a new local vet who had been basically run off the track, came up with some idiotic local ordinances.
I am vehement on the subject. Walking through PetSmart almost turns my stomach. I literally got chills when I realized that one display wasn’t kids clothes, it was dog clothes. From a distance it looked like people clothes. It completely creeped me out. For that reason I rarely shop at any of the big box pet supply stores.
I hate that people value animal lives over people. I hate that human life has been devalued to mean less than that of a dog. It bothers me that there likely would have been news coverage of my friend’s buggy wreck if the pony had been killed. He was nearly killed & it was not news. I feel sorry for people who use their dog (cats tend not to tolerate that crap) as a surrogate for a child. One of these days I will get a bumper sticker made that says “Children Don’t Have Paws”.
My feelings are rooted in religion. I really don’t like the implication that I’m some sort of religious nut because I don’t think animals should not be treated as people. The OP has implied that, though I’m sure she’ll say “Oh, no I didn’t mean to do that” BS.
[QUOTE=red mares;8181251]
My feelings are rooted in religion. I really don’t like the implication that I’m some sort of religious nut because I don’t think animals should not be treated as people. The OP has implied that, though I’m sure she’ll say “Oh, no I didn’t mean to do that” BS.[/QUOTE]
I’m trying to figure out where I said animals should be treated as humans. This is about why do people object to being called a pet parent or guardian. And all I said was the vehemence could be because the feelings based on religious beliefs. Which you say you feelings are and which if you read my post you would realize that religion (though different from yours) is the root of my feelings. So how could I imply that you are a religious nut without implying I am one.
[QUOTE=red mares;8181251]
One of my first introductions to the animal rights movement was when I was in high school and our local animal control officer, who in partners with a new local vet who had been basically run off the track, came up with some idiotic local ordinances.
I am vehement on the subject. Walking through PetSmart almost turns my stomach. I literally got chills when I realized that one display wasn’t kids clothes, it was dog clothes. From a distance it looked like people clothes. It completely creeped me out. For that reason I rarely shop at any of the big box pet supply stores.
I hate that people value animal lives over people. I hate that human life has been devalued to mean less than that of a dog. It bothers me that there likely would have been news coverage of my friend’s buggy wreck if the pony had been killed. He was nearly killed & it was not news. I feel sorry for people who use their dog (cats tend not to tolerate that crap) as a surrogate for a child. One of these days I will get a bumper sticker made that says “Children Don’t Have Paws”.
My feelings are rooted in religion. I really don’t like the implication that I’m some sort of religious nut because I don’t think animals should not be treated as people. The OP has implied that, though I’m sure she’ll say “Oh, no I didn’t mean to do that” BS.[/QUOTE]
I know a lot of people whose lives I value a lot less than my animals’ lives. There are a lot of evil scumbags out there who deserve to be removed from this earth. I would certainly save one of my dogs or cats before I’d save one of them.
I am a lot of things to my animals: guardian, advocate and owner.
I do own them, just like I own many other non-living things. But, even some non-living things need care and maintenance (like cars, horse trailers, etc), so to say that ownership over something is just without those aspects is not necessarily completely accurate.
You can absolutely own something that requires to maintenance, like a rock, but you can also own something that has needs, like a car.
I think of my housepets as pets and companions. Their existence is purely to keep me company and for my amusement (cats do some really funny stuff, so do dogs). I see my horse more as a partner and companion since when I go riding, I like to think that we’re working as a team. He is more than just a pet because he works - he doesn’t just meander around and eat and tolerate me fussing over him.
I call all of my animals my babies and refer to myself as their momma. They are my loved ones and just happen to be non-human animals.
[QUOTE=wireweiners;8181366]
I know a lot of people whose lives I value a lot less than my animals’ lives. There are a lot of evil scumbags out there who deserve to be removed from this earth. I would certainly save one of my dogs or cats before I’d save one of them.[/QUOTE]
In my mind that makes you one mighty small person. There are many evil people out there, but to say you would save a dog before a person is reprehensible.
[QUOTE=Paks;8181337]
I’m trying to figure out where I said animals should be treated as humans. This is about why do people object to being called a pet parent or guardian. And all I said was the vehemence could be because the feelings based on religious beliefs. Which you say you feelings are and which if you read my post you would realize that religion (though different from yours) is the root of my feelings. So how could I imply that you are a religious nut without implying I am one.[/QUOTE]
I see you deliberately overlook the obvious.
Placing terms like ‘parent’ on the relationship between human and animals is a small step into that direction, the chain stores reflect that in turn with their merchandize (and high prices). Heck, even Walmart has ads out targeting ‘pet parents’.
As in regard to religion, you brought it up.
Aside from cows being regarded as a reincarnated person, all other religions, as I understand them, give instructions on how to eat the animals, not how to treat them as surrogate family.
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