Keeping Pets Is Reprehensible

modest · 07-21-2008

Thank you feezy for looking that up. Damn this having to "spread it around" thing :\

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeztar

Quote:

Also, we’ve got pleasure trips in planes and, you know, a thousand other things people do that end up killing whole bunches of people that no one considers reprehensible. So… there’s that.

Do you mean accidents?

Yes, accidental crashes. Usually the passengers are the victims, but people on the ground also can be injured or killed through no fault of their own:

Iranian plane hits apartment building | Deseret News (Salt Lake City) | Find Articles at BNET

I'm not sure if planes are the best example. Automobiles are also very dangerous to pedestrians. My point really is that saying people die as a result of X doesn't in and of itself make X a terrible thing. People like to say "Falling coconuts kill more people than shark attacks" which I don't believe is true or at least I couldn't find statistics backing it up - but the point of the saying is true. Sharks, like pets, aren't that dangerous and there are things widely held as benign that do much greater damage.

~modest

freeztar · 07-21-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by modest

My point really is that saying people die as a result of X doesn't in and of itself make X a terrible thing.

It's subjective. The person that is saved by a pet will most likely have a very different viewpoint from a family that has lost a child to a pet's violent reactions.

I'm still interested in estimating the "societal cost of pets", but that will require some time...

Turtle · 07-22-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeztar

I'm still interested in estimating the "societal cost of pets", but that will require some time...

Time is all we have. Shall we hasten slowly? ......

On the matter of pets carrying & spreading disease to folks other than the owner(s):

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorraine Shelton

...Ringworm is probably the most common zoonosis of cats. It was quite common when I was working in the veterinary hospital to see a kitten come in covered in ringworm lesions, and to find that the owner was also vigorously scratching at suspicious-looking red scaly patches of skin! The ringworm fungus was cultured from 4-35% of asymptomatic cats at four different cat shows and studies of catteries suggest that as many as 40% of all cats may be asymptomatic carriers of ringworm. If you have EVER had ringworm in your cattery, chances are it will pop up again. I advise all cattery owners to inspect their kitten sales contracts carefully and consider putting in a warning about the possibility of ringworm infection. Otherwise, you may see yourself in court someday trying to defend yourself against a demand for reimbursement for the costs of medical treatment for a six year old and all the children in his first grade class. I have not yet heard of a situation where a cattery owner was held liable for severe fungal infection in an AIDS patient, but that is probably only a matter of time. ...

Can You Catch A Disease From Your Cat? - CatStation

C1ay · 07-22-2008

Food for thought.....

I spend $10-$15 a month keeping a few spiders, a dragon and a snake. I spend $40 a month for internet access and countless hours on the web, many right here at Hypography. If the pittance I spend on the few critters I have is reprehensible does that mean my internet access and my participation here is even more reprehensible?

Turtle · 07-22-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by C1ay

Food for thought.....

I spend $10-$15 a month keeping a few spiders, a dragon and a snake. I spend $40 a month for internet access and countless hours on the web, many right here at Hypography. If the pittance I spend on the few critters I have is reprehensible does that mean my internet access and my participation here is even more reprehensible?

No C1ay. You are exempt from reprehension on account of you earlier justifying your keepage. I did have you in mind when I earlier lauded, and so exempted from reprehension, those of you who keep pets responsibly and have so testified. Don't tell anyone, but of the 2 dogs I have owned, one was a rescue and I photographed my cats when I had them to who-laid-the-chunk.

Now would be the time to share those, but I dematerialized 99.9% of my photographs & slides.

So are you going to start the "Posting At Hypography Is Reprehensible" thread, or shall I?

There's holes in that premise big enough to sling a cat through.

freeztar · 07-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by C1ay

Food for thought.....

I spend $10-$15 a month keeping a few spiders, a dragon and a snake. I spend $40 a month for internet access and countless hours on the web, many right here at Hypography. If the pittance I spend on the few critters I have is reprehensible does that mean my internet access and my participation here is even more reprehensible?

I agree with Turtle's response.

I'd also like to add a couple questions though:
Does posting on Hypography cause physical harm to anyone, Clay? Does it cost tax payers money?

goku · 07-25-2008

i wonder if the same people who scream animal rights keep pets locked inside their house?

Moontanman · 07-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turtle

What I am proposing, is taking a closer look at our behaviors in an effort to see the real costs and whether or not these behaviors qualify as excesses.

My mantra is waste-not-want-not. Oooooooommmmmmmmm .....

Oh boy turtle, I have been thinking of this post for a couple of days now, I was going to assume you are doing this pets thing tongue in cheek until I saw the waste not want not thing. so lets see how serious you are about waste not want not. Lets start at a totally waste less existence. naked in the wilderness, maybe an animal skin as a wrap (as long as you ate the animal) a rock over hang as a shelter, a few stone chips as tools and a fire starter. Yes that is about as basic as you can get for a human. Do you really need a house, clothes, transportation, entertainment, a computer, money, baths, medicine, hmmm. It sounds like you are not living up to your waste not want not mantra......... If all humans lived totally waste free there would be a lot less humans...... Can I assume your waste not want not existence is more than a little idealized? On mans waste is another mans existence, our entire civilization is based on producing far more than we need so we can get far more than we need. It's true, face it

TheBigDog · 07-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeztar

I agree with Turtle's response.

I'd also like to add a couple questions though:
Does posting on Hypography cause physical harm to anyone, Clay? Does it cost tax payers money?

Up until the beginning of this year I think it is safe to say that Hypography was at least partially subsidized by the NSA.

Bill