This is your first and last points from me.

You said: "It's impossible to communicate with them and I feel that to think otherwise is a clear sign of insanity". Impossible? Far from the truth. Humans can and do communicate with all manner of other animals. I communicate with our cats every day, several times a day. When I work in the bush, far from the house, they keep me company, even though they'd normally be inside out of the sun. They give us love, rid the place of rodents (their sole job), and remind us of our similarities and differences -- the later is slim, the former is wide.

They are dirty? Bub, cats bury their poop. Can you say the same? No, you flush it away, mindless of what quagmire of ooze it contributes to. Our cats are considerably cleaner than I am. Okay, so the occasional hairball gets hawked up outside, big deal. Something for the soldier crabs to munch on. yeah, I know, disgusting, but everything has to eat, and everything here, except bugs and rodents, gets fed.

I can't imagine the sphere of life that you live in that you actually consider your thesis to be accurate. You can learn from animals; you don't OWN them, you share with them. I think you probably need a hug. Good luck with that.

People can be smelly and filthy too but that doesnt mean they dint deserve love or it is insane to love them. I wish there were anti-stars on here, too

edit to add:

Argentus- that video made me cry- he looked like a little kid seeing his mommy after being apart. And, you know, since I was crying my cat jumped in my lap to comfort me.

[edit on 8-7-2008 by raven bombshell]

[edit on 8-7-2008 by raven bombshell]

Originally posted by kitken01
Don't know if you can grasp this concept, but I know for a fact that animals will always love you regardless of your own true nature.

Interesting idea, but it doesn't really hold up. Why are there so many documented cases of pets physically assaulting their loving owners? You can't anthropomorphise beasts. Quite simply, it clouds your judgment. All they want from you is food and shelter. They are using you. And if you love animals so much, here's some advice: set them free. They were born to rely on their instincts in the wild and shouldn't be kept as pleasure slaves for some lonely human who can't make any real friends.

Originally posted by Techsnow
I think you have never owned a pet ... but really that was pretty negative, life isn't about owning things.

[edit on 8-7-2008 by Techsnow]

Your post doesn't make sense to me. I didn't say anything about owning things, other than my opinion that it's illogical to want to own an animal that doesn't provide a practical service.

Originally posted by Matt.Trakker
It very well could be that the "old cat lady" started off as just another animal loving person until she bought a cat then, boom! 'Toxoplasma gondii' infected her brain and influenced her to buy more and more cats to help infect more people with the parasite. As far fetched and jokey as that may seem the cat parasite is known to have behavioral changing effects on infected rats. Infected rats become attracted to cat urine & become less fearful in general making then easier targets for cats. When the cat eats the infected rat the parasite is able to spread. Scientists are actually putting the effects of this cat parisites effect on humans down to culteral change in societys

I'm not sure how to respond to this post because it doesn't make much sense, but I gave you a star because you entertained me.

Originally posted by Ceara
Can you explain the nature of God to me? Nope. Can you explain how an orange tastes to someone who's never even seen any citrus fruit? That would be difficult.

Some things just can't be learned until they are experienced.

You call it insanity, I call it sanity, for my animal companions keep me grounded.

I don't really know how to respond to all the other hippie nonsense in your post, but I'll take a crack at this bit. The nature of god: human delusion, arrogance and desperation. The taste of an orange: Mostly sweet, very juicy, and a little bitter.

Originally posted by Sikmike620
HOW DARE you call handicapped people perverts who find trust in a trained animal's guidance.

I'm pretty sure you mis-read my original post. I didn't say anything about handicapped people being perverts, but I did say that the only instances of pet ownership that I understand are when the animal in question serves a practical purpose. This includes, of course, trained animals like seeing-eye dogs and the like. I also said that I understand why perverted beastophiles would want to own an animal. But I did not call handicapped pet users perverts.

Originally posted by Breifne
So, what do we do? Let untrained animals run around in the streets feeding off our waste and die shamelessly in the streets in front of our kids, or even attack them because they are untrained?

I've got a better idea. Why don't we stop breeding domesticated animals? Obviously, we breed too many of them because several thousands of them are put to death due to a lack of interested owners. They provide little to nothing to society and I don't see the point in making more of them.

[edit on 8-7-2008 by EverythingYouDespise]

Originally posted by EverythingYouDespise
- these perverts are just about the only segment of the pet ownership community that I feel have a justifiable reason for keeping an animal.
[edit on 8-7-2008 by EverythingYouDespise]

Oh and I suppose if animals "use" us then so do our own children.

Bye.

Originally posted by mr-lizard
Actually i'm thinking that the OP is either:

A) - insane

B) - A troll

C) - having a joke

D) - A serial killer

E) - Any combination of the above...

Jesus, where were did you get brough up? In a box on mars or something?

I've never heard anything like it in my life...

My sentiments exactly Awesome reply

I'ma go with A ... considering the question posed is if pet owners are insane and dude feels this way.

i like cats, i like the ones that are playfull aggresive. haveing a pet might be a sign of insanity my neighbor just bought a puppy and yesterday he was in his backyard rolling around on the ground like it was funny.

Hopefully you are not in a position to use this 'pet owners are insane' theory to undermine those pet owners in some way.......(I'd hate to think my doctor or banker might be asking about my pets to determine whether I was 'credible' or 'worthy'!! )

The arguments you have about them being messy, smelly, bringing in dirt......would also apply to children, possibly even to yourself when you were one.....

My dog has 'paid' for any inconvenience he's caused .........he alerted us to the presence of a large snake that had gotten into the house ( by way of plumbing holes?) and was hidden under the dining room table!! He's also averted a possible burglar or two........I'd be crazy to get rid of him!!

Actually, it is a sign some one is mature enough to have a mature relationship and mature enough to take care of others.

I once argued with a poster that (his words) pets are not people and should not be treated well.

I countered and still do that if someone cannot love a pet (whatever it may be) they cannot love another person, much less a child.

Does that mean that you must have a pet to be a loving person, no.

BUT!!!!, it is an excellent test of caring/patience and living with others.

I think this post and (OP) "MAY" be an example of Western culture VS another.

Does it make one right and the other wrong, not necessarily.

HOWEVER If we are supposed to respect other cultures seeing pets as bad/dirty/evil, it seems to me they need to respect that in Western culture we love our pets.

Yes, often pets are cared for/loved by their owners more than most humans.

Perhaps it is because our pets act more loving and caring to us than other humans???

(OP), you are certainly entitled to your opinion, but remember, so is everyone else, even those who completely disagree with you.

BTW, I have an old cat.

It is brought in and feed first thing as soon as I wake up, then I get the paper and go take a shower.

Now lets here it for the ATS Dancers who love their pets:









[edit on 7/9/2008 by mrmonsoon]

Not to be rude but this thread is ranked in my top 10 most ignorant threads on ATS.

I can't believe what I read. I've had many pets in my life and all of them have been amazing.

I got my first cat when I was about 3 or 4, I even remember choosing which cat I wanted from the RSPCA. Obviously I didn't get her, my parents did. The day she died, I never knew it was possible to cry as much as I did. It was heartbreaking. I had grown up around her and loved her probably as much as I would love a friend.

I have four cats now, two of them are sisters and the other two are their son's. I've known all of them since they were kittens and I had the misfortune of watching the two younger ones being born. It's abit hectic, but each of them has their own personality.

I love cats, they're so arrogant, don't care for authority and think they're, ironically, the dogs bollocks yet they're so loving and caring.

I just hope your post was in jest.

Yes, insanity, absolutely.

For example.
I am crazy about my dogs.
and I am nuts about my cats..

so insanity it is.

Thanks to everyone for responding to my thread, even to those of you who just stopped by to insult me rather than debate the topic at hand. At least I got a laugh out of you.

Anyway, several recent posts have made the claim that taking care of pets is somehow the same as the relationship between parents and their children. I find this idea to be, well, pretty hollow and almost laughable.

Children - as filthy, ignorant, rambunctious, burdensome and maybe even beast-like as they can be - have the potential to grow into self-sufficient, intelligent adults who are valuable contributors to our society. The best you can hope to gain from pretty much every animal is a good meal, or maybe some leather or ivory (besides those like riding horses and police dogs, which provide practical services and were excluded from my theory in the original post).

Taking care of animals is a financial burden, dangerous, a time strain, often an annoyance (especially to those who don't own any pets yet are kept up at night by barking and howling dogs and have to stare at the ground when they're walking to make sure they don't step in excrement) and thus completely impractical.

And if you disagree with me about the inherently inferior nature of all other animals to human beings, why don't you look at pet "ownership" like a form of slavery? As a pet owner, you're subjugating the natural instincts and desires of these beasts and keeping them - in some cases, clearly against their will - constrained outside of the environment they are intended to inhabit. You spay and neuter them. You declaw them. You chain them up in your yard (or worse, keep them in tiny cages). You feed them processed slop when they'd rather hunt for their meals. I could go on forever, but the point's been made.

So if you believe humans are superior to other animals, "raising" pets is inane. If you believe those animals to be our equals and worthy of the same rights, you ought to look at pet owners as slaveholders.



[edit on 9-7-2008 by EverythingYouDespise]

While I don't consider myself anti-social or in any way deficient in having a human relationship there are quite a few people that I like my dog and cat more then.

Originally posted by EverythingYouDespise

Taking care of animals is a financial burden, dangerous, a time strain, often an annoyance (especially to those who don't own any pets yet are kept up at night by barking and howling dogs and have to stare at the ground when they're walking to make sure they don't step in excrement) and thus completely impractical.

[edit on 9-7-2008 by EverythingYouDespise]

how do you know this, if you have never owned a pet.

1. my dog dosent bark unless a car is pulling into my yard. oddly enough he didnt start doing this until after a car wrecked into my house and burned it down. that dosent sound dangous to me. he is a hunting dog and trained not to bark i might add

2. 20usd a month is hardly for food is hardly a financial bruden. and as my dog is a ducks unlimited lab i have akc health insurance on him. and his vet said he is the healthist dog he has ever seen. thus i rarly take him to the vet except for a check up which is free.

3. my dog has warned me of countless snakes i would have other wise not known was there. and that is completly praticial.

4. my dog does not poop in the yard he goes to the woods.

[edit on 15pmu102007 by DaleGribble]