What are pets for? What are things that pet owners do that seem borderline offensive to you?

I guess it is subjective, as long as no harm or suffering is intentionally done. That dog wasn’t in pain, and he learned a lesson, so that’s a good thing to teach a dog for next time. One could also say the guy was being immature based on his mannerisms. It’s nothing new for people to do immature pranks and jokes on their pets.

No one can really say what pets are for, since we use them for so manty things.

Sorry, @Blackberry. I meant what do you think pets are for? Like if you, personally, had a pet. I’m not asking what you think pets for are in general.

Letting their dog jump on me really pisses me off. That was what first jumped into my head when I saw your question, but I was wrong in estimating what exactly you are looking for.

In terms of how an owner treats their dog, and what I think they are for. I think it varies a little from pet to pet, but mostly they are there to give us unconditional love, to let us feel good about nurturing something, to entertain us. I think all animals deserve to be treated well, reasonable shelter in a reasonable climate, fed, and shown attention, especially if they are the only pet in the house.

@wundayatta Oh. The first thing I can think of is people that treat their pets like an inconvenience. Leaving them outside for extended periods of time, for example.

My cat is because the house seems too empty if I come home from work and there is no one there to greet me. He also will come and watch TV with me, and when I get ready for bed, he sits on the bedroom windowsill, pretending to look out, until I turn out the light and get in bed. Then he waits until he thinks I am asleep before he jumps up on the bed. He feels around with his paws until he finds my feet, then he lays down on them and keeps them warm all night.

I hate it when dog owners let their dog crap on my lawn. I don’t have any dogs, but yet I have to clean poop out of my grass. Grrrrr!

To be eaten.
Except cats. Cats must be worshipped.

My dog is my running buddy. His is a therapist to my daughter and a playmate for all 3 of my children.

Sweaters. They have fur already… leave em alone!

Pets are for companionship.

Naturally it’s their right and all that but I would support a drive to encourage high pet spenders to give more to charities for human beings. Ok, easy with the tomatoes. ( ducks )

Pets are friends, but they aren’t people. They deserve to live comfortably, but they are expected to crap in the yard, not in the toilet. It’s OK to leave them in the back yard for two days while you’re gone, with plenty of food and water. It is not OK to leave a friend in your back yard for two days with plenty of food and water.

I generally don’t like dog owners. Yep, there’s a nice heaping bowl of prejudice for you. I’m ready for the assault. The thing is – I don’t care. I have had way too many experiences that have nearly resulted in physical altercations over these stupid little creatures and their owners’ complete disregard for the safety and comfort of me and my kids.

1. Don’t let your dog shit on my yard – even if you plan on picking it up. Why? I have a tiny lot that is actually used by my kids. The shit residue that is inevitably left will end up on my kid. Doesn’t sound reasonable? What if I had my kid shit on your walkway and then picked it up the best I could with a plastic bag? No problem with that?

2. Leash your dog. Just leash it. Even if you are going for a walk in a conservation area that is not posted as a leash area. Why? There might be people walking on this trail and they don’t give a shit how “good” the dog is. I don’t want them jumping on or getting in my kids’ faces. I don’t want them jumping on me. I don’t think they’re cute and you can’t control the dog, I will destroy it.

3. Don’t let your dog bark. Oh, and when you are not home, your dog barks. You’re out on the town being a complete asshole, and your dog is ruining my life.

@tom_g not all dog owners are like that; unfortunately a great many of them are, and make life more difficult for those of us who aren’t.
My pets are for companionship, fun, and because I like animals. They are part of the household, but they are not treated like little people in animal suits.

It really depends on the type of pet for me. Some pets I think are there for companionship and whatnot like dogs cats etc, others I view as a chance to study animals I wouldnt otherwise encounter like fish, spiders and some reptiles.

Im not saying you need to treat your animal like royalty but if your not prepared to give that animal just as good a life(though should be better) than it would have in the wild than you SHOULD NOT own a pet. I loathe people who get animals cause theyre “cool” but then neglect it when they get bored of it or realize they actually dont have the capacity to care for it.

Companionship.

Forgive me, but I chose to answer this question before reading the answer of others (but I will)!

Pets are animals chosen as companions by humans who by adopting them make a commitment to be responsible for safeguarding and maintaining their health and for teaching them how to behave at home and around other people. Dogs in particular are pack animals who need to know where they fit in the social order of the pack. They thrive when they know the rules that apply to them and to whom they are expected to submit.

Pet owners derive much joy and companionship from their pets and have responsibilities to other people when they have pets in their homes or on their properties.

They must prevent their dogs from soiling or otherwise damaging other people’s property or disturbing their neighbours with excessive noise, especially during hours when we all expect not to be disturbed by noise in the neighbourhood.

I can’t stand when people neglect any of these responsibilities.

@Dr_Lawrence This is a fine question to answer without reading any other answer because it is about you, personally, and no one else could give an answer that you could duplicate. Unless maybe you have a twin that you live with all the time.

It’s interesting to me that no one has mentioned that pets can work or might be expected to work or serve in any more utilitarian function than companionship. I think this is really a huge change from not so many decades ago.

Yes, plenty of pets are working animals @wundayatta. I don’t think anyone is arguing or debating that fact, or saying it’s wrong. I think the concerns are over how pets are treated whether they’re working animals or not. I’m having the damnedest time getting my cat to herd sheep though…any suggestions?

Milocalled; Gail is here to tend to my every whim, open cans, empty litter, iron my dress shirts, do my nails, brush my hair and generally protect and serve. She seems content in a sniveling and subservient sort of way.

That’s what’s so amazing to me. So many people really love serving their pets as if they were royalty. It seems to give their lives meaning. They think pets are better creatures than humans are. Who knows? Maybe they are right. But right or wrong, that seems terribly sad to me. Lonely. I’ve been lonely. So lonely I couldn’t stand it. I don’t know if a pet could ever serve that role for me, but I suppose it is a good thing that it would work for others.

As to getting cats to herd sheep… as far as I know, only dogs have the chops to do that… so to speak ;-)

My mother fell on hard times once, so we moved in with one of her single friends that lived alone. She had a cat that was standoffish, but I started petting her. Then, I gave the cat a half a can of tuna, and the cat became my life partner lol. She wouldn’t leave me alone, and although I knew it was because I gave her food, I liked the attention. :/

@Blackberry: Forget the tuna; just a T of the juice works beautifully. When Milo is sitting outside in a huff, I wave a small bowl of water and tuna juice under his nose and he comes running inside.

Then I guess I went over the top. More tuna equals more love. : )

@wundayatta I agree. I too think that some people are WAAAY over the top when it comes to their pets, especially their dogs. I have a sister who has never had kids. But she had this dog for 8 years, and the dog died. She freaked out. When I offered my condolences (I had recently lost a dog that I’d had for 15 years) she screamed that I had no idea what she was going through. She said it would be like me losing one of my children. I think not.

@Dutchess_III I can see other people relating to their pets as they would to children. I just don’t think I could do it. I feel sad that people are so lonely they have to resort to using pets, and yet I am glad that pets are there to serve that function.

But it worries me when people start treating their pets as children, and start thinking all pets should be treated that way. I think pets serve in different roles in different people’s lives, but that once they serve a certain role, sometimes people start feeling like all pets should have that role. It’s as if they have to advocate for pets in order to validate their own relationship with their own pet. I think that can get unhealthy for both the individual and for society at large.

Pets are pure love, they make us happy, they fulfill our nurturing side, and they are delightful little friends to have. They need us and we need them. I am pretty non-neurotic, yes I talk to my pets, I sing to my pets, I provide the best I can afford for my pets, but I am not a nutcase. I think the balance is good in my little barnyard of cats and geese.

@wundayatta I don’t think everyone that has pets are lonely, I’ve loved animals all my life and while they are great companions I like people too. haha
It’s been proven that having a pet is good for elderly people and pets are very theraputic.
Like I said, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement, I don’t think anyone could argue with that. I do draw the line though at those that dress up their dogs and are over the top neurotic.

I used to see canine nail polish for sale at the pet stores where I worked. Dog sweaters I understand, even dog boots. But dog NAIL POLISH? What’s worse was that people bought it. I don’t know how they made it non-toxic, though. But it was. I to this day do not understand dog nail polish.

I think that people who have never had children, or whose children have left, use pets to fill that void. Those who have had children know the void hasn’t quite been filled, but it helps. If they’ve never had children they think it’s full….ergo, ALL pets should be treated with the same TLC as children.

OMG! @Dutchess_III for the second time tonight, I agree with you!

Please don’t tell me we’re at the end of days!

Pets are companions without expectation. Nothing offends me about peoples’ relationships with pets unless they subject the animal to pain or fear.

@Dutchess_III Your last statement was an “ah-ha!” moment for me. It would explain my brother and SIL’s behavior. They both have children from previous marriages that have long ago flown the nest. As a new couple with no children of their own, the newly adopted dog has become their child.

@wundayatta My brother and SIL married a few years ago. They both have grown children from previous marriages. They adopted a dog (not a puppy). Here is some of the things that have occurred:
* After a visit, the brother called to inquire if the dog’s stuffed animal was left behind. He said that the dog was having difficulty sleeping without it.
* They carry a large baby bag filled with the dog’s supplies.
* Both use baby talk when speaking to the dog.
* They arranged to have the dog baptized by their church.

I get the first three. The last one though was just over the top in my book.

@Pied_Pfeffer Hahaha..LMAO!
Baptised?
Does the dog go to confession too? lol

@wundayatta No, but I should for all of the vile thoughts about my brother when I have to clean up after his dog.

I really do like my dogs better than most people. I am not lonely, I am not maladjusted, I have human friends too, I am just pretty selective about them. I have met a lot of humans I didn’t like, but not very many dogs.

I hate to see animals abused. I don’t care if you treat your critter like a kid, it is NONE OF MY BUSINESS or yours actually. I don’t like barking dogs either, but if they were properly taken care of, they would not bark. Kind of like if kids are properly parented they theoretically will not be obnoxious. The kids next door to where I live now are thoughtless and no one corrects them and their dog barks all the time too. Probably because they have it locked in the garage so it can’t run away when they are away during the day. They used to have it tied in the yard but it got loose and they had to pay money at the pound to get it back so now they lock it in the garage. I think they shouldn’t have a dog, but the mother told me they got it for the kids. Dogs are not toys, you don’t get one for the kids, you get one to be a member of the family. Train the dog to behave and then allow it to sleep in the house while you are gone and problem solved, no more barking, no more running away! Course the kids will still be thoughtless and kick the damned soccer ball against the tin fence for hours on end!

And Wundy, what you say about pets is also true of children as far as I can see. The rule used to be children should be seen and not heard, now they rule the roost and the world. I guess times just change.

So as long as you take care of your dog, I don’t care if you treat it like your kid or not. I might judge you for having pink hair but not because you love your dog.

@Pied_Pfeffer That’s over the top! I love my dogs, but they ARE “just” dogs. I think my husband feels they’re more like “people.” But…my husband is an honest to goodness dog whisperer. We were delivering a mower to a farm one time. Dog came charging out, took an agressive stance in front of the driver’s door. My husband didn’t hesitate. Just got out and said, “What do you think you’re doing?” in a really friendly, conversational kind of way. Dog dropped his head and started wagging his tail. Rick scratched him behind the ears saying, “Thaaat’s better!” The dog licked his hand.
Rick went up to the door and knocked. Dog followed him. Rick had his hand on his head when the owner came out. He about fell over!
He said, “He didn’t bark??”
Rick said, “Nooo.”
Guy said “He’s NEVER done that before! This is crazy!”
Dog was 5 or 6 years old.

Whilst I often joke that my dogs are my babies, I never forget that they are not humans. People that put human emotions and expectations on their animals really annoying to me. I work with a lot of people and their dogs and the amount of times I hear owners of overweight dogs say things like “but he loves crisps so much, he’d be heartbroken if I stopped giving them to him”. He would not be heartbroken if you cut crisps out of his diet and allow him to lose some weight!!!

I believe that pet owners owe it to their animals (who have had no choice what home they ended up in) to ensure that they have everything they need to be happy and healthy (mentally and physically) and I wish more people would realise that just because they enjoy something, doesn’t mean that it good for their animals.

I also wish that more people would learn what certain animal body language means. Another thing I hear all too often is “I thought the dog was friendly because he was wagging his tail but then he bit me!” Sometimes, when a dog is wagging it’s tail, it actually can mean fear or a warning.

My dogs are my companions and a constant source of joy for me and I try to repay that by respecting them as dogs, not as humans in little fur coats.

Good post @Leanne1986.
My husband once tried to lecture me that we should only give the dogs 1 word commands. I only disagreed because I think they can handle up to 3 words….but I was also shaking my head because he’s the one who tends to talk in full sentences to the dogs and expects them to understand!
I was in the process of trying to teach the dogs to “sit” when we’re out walking and come up to an intersection. Not two days after that conversation Rick and I were walking the dogs, coming up on an intersection and he said (True story!!) “OK, Dakota. You need to get ready to sit. Are you getting ready to sit? You’re going to have to sit when we get up there.” OH BROTHER!!!

Brings to mind that Farside cartoon the owner going on and on and the dog only hearing ” blah, blah, blah, GINGER, blah, blah, blah, blah, GINGER.” lol

Hey though, I must say my geese would be very upset if I stopped giving them their 10,000 grain bread and gourmet greens. Marwyn comes up the stairs onto the deck or my garage landing and honks until I open the door and tell him ” well come on IN..” then, he goes straight to the bread bowl on a wicker shelf in my kitchen and starts tugging at the bag.

Yep, if he doesn’t get his bread he’ll just poop all over the landing and honk for hours sounding sad and pathetic…little whiney mewling honks.
The ritual mantra is ” bread before bed unless you are dead. ” lolol

I think I’ll have goose for Thanksgiving this year. 10,000 grain bread and gourmet green fed goose. Licking chops. Mmmmmmmm!

Ooooo. @Dutchess_III You are so evil!

@Dutchess_III Don’t get me wrong I can often be found having a “conversation” with my dogs, I’m not talking to myself honest!!!! I am fully aware that my dogs can’t understand much of what I say but they always look interested!!!

@tom_g You sound like me – I hate dogs! And for mostly the same reasons. Dog crap in my yard, at the park, on the walking trails – ugh! Now they are opening dog parks – what a great idea. Then all of the dog owners can go there and smell shit together.

Other reason is that you can’t ever fully trust a dog not to bite. Two of my children have been attacked by dogs – not at the same time and not the same dog. My own parents had a totally gentle dog that turned and bit my nephew in the face one day, with no warning.

And even though dog lovers will no doubt deny it, dogs smell like dog. If you have a dog, your house smells doggy, you car smells doggy. If you pet a dog, your hand smells doggy. Cats don’t have a smell. I had this argument with the dog lovers at work before and I know what you will say. I am not talking about the cat box – I am talking about the actual cat.

That being said, I have owned dogs before. My sons had two Australian shephards that were wonderful, intelligent animals. I had a pomeranian that was such a mean little cuss that he was funny. As long as your dog isn’t crapping or peeing on my property or where I am likely to step, and you don’t let them off leash to run at me and jump on me, I am okay with dogs. I just would rather not own one again.

I talk to the dogs too, @Leanne1986 but I know they can’t understand but one word in a thousand. My husband though…He lectures the hell out of them!

@Dutchess_III Now careful there missy, or Marywn the Chinese goose might ship your dogs to a remote village in China where they will go to a night market for stew. lololol

Oh, me thinks not ”)

@Dutchess_III haha…scary doggy, no chop suey. lol

I have never really been a lonely type of person. I get along fine by myself. I do not have pets because I am, or was, lonely. I love my dog as I would love my own child and/or best friend. He is my companion. Yes, a pet ..but his role is companion. He has been in my life for almost 16 years; how can I not love him as part of the family? I have cats and some aquarium beasties as well. I’m not as close to them as I am to Gus, my dog. I generally like animals more than I like humans. It’s not that I don’t like humans or the positive interactions with them. I just tend to enjoy non-human animals more – I always have.

This question has me pondering how it is any different from sharing your life with another human (companionship-wise I mean).

I am against dressing up your dog to look like a Bratz doll. I’m against carrying your tiny dog around in a purse. I really hate when a dog is chained up. There are other ways to deal with this. I really don’t like it when people do not pick up after their dogs on walks (it’s actually a by-law here, to pick up after them, but we still have irresponsible people). I believe pets, when out in public, should be leashed (unless in a dog park) – it is for others’ and their own safety. I am against people making their tiny dog live outside (especially in cold regions). I am against de-clawing. Not a big fan of breeding either – there are just too many animals in shelters for this to be justified. And, of course, I am against people abusing their animal companions.

The people who complain about dogs ..you are complaining about the lack of responsibilities their owners display. It is not the dogs. It doesn’t makes sense to me how you can hate dogs because they crap on your lawn. The dog doesn’t understand this, especially if the owner has not trained it properly. I always… always… pick up after my dog (I don’t let him relieve himself on people’s lawns if I can help it – which is about 99% of the time). In public, he is always on a leash. He does not bark.
Under this logic, one should hate cats and other creatures as well. Goodness, in our neighbourhood, cats defecate on peoples’ lawns often. The wild rabbits have pellets everywhere. Oh, and the birds…jeez, there’s bird gunk all on our tree, side-walks, house, fence and lawn (our vehicle too, when parked outside).
Note: The worst dogs for your lawn are the female ones. Their urine kills grass easily. This is even more on the owners’ shoulders because it is much easier to keep a female dog off of peoples’ lawns than it is for a male dog.
————————————————————————————————————————
This is going off on a tangent, so feel free to skip it. The problem with dogs, currently, is the relationship between us and them. Throughout history, dogs were kept to work for or a long side us. They were used for hunting, policing, war, etc. Our relationship with the dog worked well. It was a working loyal friendship/relationship. In modern times, we still use them for hunting, policing and such (just not nearly as often as we used to). Now, we also use them for medical purposes (seeing eye dogs, dogs who detect seizures and cancer, human psychology, etc).
The biggest issue is the over-breeding ..more so, over-selective-breeding. We started breeding dogs for aesthetic purposes rather than what they can do for/with us. We’ve screwed the dog up so much that many of these so-called breeds can’t breath properly, have bone, cartilage, heart, skin and eye issues. The reason for the over-breeding? People were doing well, especially the rich elite. Times weren’t as hard ..in short, people got bored and started having dog shows. The more outrageous the dog, the better. Hence, we started seeing different breeds pop up over time. The bulldog is an excellent example. The bulldog of old is a very very different dog than what we see now (whether it’s English, American or French). Back then, the bulldog was naturally built as strong working dog with a stamina to match. Now? The bulldog can hardly get up steps without huffing and puffing ..but, no matter, it is the standard for the breed. The bulldog is the most morphed and mutated version of a dog of any other breed. Even its skeleton has changed from what an average dog should be.
My point is we now have all these messed up versions of dogs that we call champion breeds and such. And we have humans that have lost touch with what a real dog is. So many people get a dog and do not treat it like a dog or don’t even know how to take care of them properly (especially with the small lap dogs). The dog ends up so emotionally screwed. This is how you get aggressive, anxious, excess urination, noisy/yappy, compulsive and timid dogs. The list can go on. It is because we have lost the working relationship with the dog. We need to find them their niche again. We need to treat them like dogs again – not little people. I think, at some point, it will get better. We will find how useful our relationships with dogs can still be ..just as they once were. The medical/scientific field is opening doors we could never have imagined. In saying all that, I’m not saying all of us are like this. But there are an incredible amount of people who have lost touch with the natural instincts of dogs – these people forget that these animals are just that, dogs.

End tangent. If you’re still reading, thank you for doing so.

@Plucky Will you be my friend?!?!

@Plucky Yes, some people are just so ignorant it drives me insane! I let go of a “friend” last year, for many reasons, but one not so minor issue was how she treated her dogs. The woman was an idiot. Screamed, yelled, was clueless about dog behavior and didn’t want to learn. They were well cared for in the physical sense but…she also wanted to breed them…one of the several final straws that broke down the relationship. I don’t miss her at all, and hope she didn’t breed the pair of them. :-(

@Plucky Not a tangent. Actually, the most direct answer to the question. “What are pets for” requires that kind of historical and philosophical investigation.

I do think it’s interesting how pets are making that transition from working animals to companionship and aesthetic animals. As they become companions, people are increasingly likely to see them as having inherent rights, the way humans do. They are becoming projections of our ids, I think. Little humans. Like kids. Pet owners put more and more of themselves into their pets, as if transferring humanity. Emotional appendages, in a way.

It disturbs me. But I’m not sure how to articulate my unease at this trend.

@wundayatta – please try to articulate, I don’t understand why this is disturbing to you or to anyone. I find it much preferable to someone who is cruel to animals or gets a dog and ties it in the back yard.

Well..pets are like children, lots of joy and lots of frustration. Tonight my monster cat has managed to completely crush the dryer vent tube pouncing on a lizard behind the dryer. My goose goosed the neighbor and gave him a nice little raspberry on his thigh.
2 more weeks til the mobile groomer shows up for the summer shave job sooo, we now have nightly slug checks before bed.

Yep, the slugs come in on little cat feet. lol

@wundayatta Love is love;
Love is not compartmentalized based on species. The love of an animal is every bit as viable as the love for a human.
No separation.
How can we possibly box up love into a more/less viable dichotomy?
Animals offer the most unconditional love there is, its not hard to understand how people bond with such purity is it? Human love is fraught with ego, animal love is pure, simple, perfect.

^^ (Except for the slugs.)

@gailcalled You have a point there. haha

Animals may appear to be loving, but their love is different from a child’s love. Love does not turn them into people.

Now I have no problem with people constructing involved narratives with their pets. I don’t mind if they spend tens of thousands on health care for their pets and build huge memorials to them when they (the pets) die, or leave their estates to them when then (the owners) die.

That is, so long as they don’t expect others to share their reverence for their pet. The pet has no legal standing. It cannot own property. And it is not a person.

I see us heading this way. Already there are many people who are advocating for (human) rights for pets.

Pets have emotions. They should not be given pain just because a human wants to hurt them, and neither should they be given pain because a human mistreats them or doesn’t know how to be a proper owner. But it makes me very uncomfortable to find people advocating for pet’s rights. I don’t know what they are advocating for, exactly. Do they think pets have a right to life? Should shelters no longer put any animals down?

We use animals for our own purposes. Whether it’s for meat or work or love, we are using them and while they get care or love back from us, there is no telling what they really want, if anything. We do not share a language. I’m not sure it is relevant what they want. Yet I think when we love animals, people start thinking that animals are like humans and that we owe them what they want. Since they can not tell us in words, we read their body language and then we think we are having a complete conversation with them. Complete enough to say we are talking to them as if they were human.

Then we ask them questions and fantasize that we know what they are saying and what they want, and this feeds into the idea that they are humans, which, I think, is what many people want them to be. They are more loyal and do many things we wish humans would do. But humans betray and animals almost never do (unless we mistreat them).

I think this is leading to this idea that we are not using pets, but that they and we are in some kind of equal relationship. I think that idea is a fantasy and I worry that we are heading along towards some point where people will try to grant pets human rights, and I just don’t think that could work. But even before that, I think there will be other side effects that I can’t imagine, and those side effects will cause problems, because people misunderstand the true relationship they have with their pets. It is not equal.

@wundayatta I agree, to a degree, but…if ultimate “love” means being a steward of all life, well…I’m on that boat. Much of what we consider mainstream is an illusion. The illusion of “ownership”. We really “own” nothing, it’s all a story in this mad, mad world. ;-)

@wundayatta – I think there are crazy people in this world, the PETA advocates are completely mad in mho. I disagree with @Coloma – in a legal and moral sense I do own my dogs and it is my responsibility to provide for them, body and spirit (and there is no doubt in my mind they have a spirit of sorts) and to protect them from themselves and the rest of the world. I don’t know about rights, that really never enters my mind I guess, their rights are what I decide they are. They are more loyal and dependable than most humans but they are not human. I remember a question about who would you save and unknown human or your dog, I said my dog and that is __probably__ true, but I don’t know for sure and hopefully will never have to find out.

Anyhow to a degree I agree with you, but seems as if everyone has a lot of “rights” these days. Kids have the right to divorce their parents, misbehave in school, be disrespectful to authority figures, all rights I didn’t have as a kid. Does that worry you too? It does worry me when an ill mannered child runs me off the sidewalk with a skateboard or bike. But, truth be known, it is not really a big thing or my worry about list, the kid or the dog part.

Interesting question though!

<= slug defender

@rooeytoo I always express my distaste in militant anything, I’m not sure what you’re disagreeing with? I’m simply speaking from a big picture perspective that love is love, I’m not saying that one should neglect their childs needs in favor of a dog, just that “love” has no boundaries.
My statement has nothing to do with promoting extremist rights whether they be for an animal or a person.

@tranquilsea I have a cure for slugs. Natty Lite. Serious as a train wreck.

@Coloma – you said you don’t “own” anything. I disagree with that, I feel like I do own my dogs in that everything they do is my responsibility and I too am responsible for their well being. I also think parents should own their kids in that same respect. No, I have never seen you as a PETA freak, heheheh! I certainly didn’t mean to imply that.