people who pretend to hate cats

FortuneWookiee

I don't mind cats. I quite like them, but much prefer dogs.

The whole 'they're independent/not as needy' arguments from militant cat lovers simply reads as 'I'm too lazy or 'busy' to look after an actual companion'. And that's fair enough.

And that's what dogs are - companions. They're more than just pets.

I read a story the other day how a babysitter was abusing a baby when the parents would leave for work. Shouting and slapping her.

The dog would growl at her when she'd come in am refused to leave the baby's side. This prompted the parents to install a hidden camera...

..needless to say they caught the b!tch. More than a pet.

bockeys jollocks

Zillah wrote: »

Every cat is a dog someone doesn't have. I don't hate cats, I hate the lost opportunity they represent.

I have a cat, but the problem is not with the cat. It's with the cats father, he's the right tom cat of the estate. I had to chase him off the wall a couple of times because he was sitting there with a chubby, looking to pork his own daughter.

Filthy fecker.

Femme_Fatale

Wendolene wrote: »

There's a gloriously unthinking irony about your post whereby you quote and reply to a post you've clearly not even bothered to read :rolleyes:

You've got a certain opinion on cats. Some others have opinions on cats that differ from yours. Cope.

I'm not sure I indicated I'm not coping. I have no problem with people disliking cats (provided they aren't cruel to them obviously, and I don't want to hear or read them making vitriolic comments about what cats deserve, what they'd do to them etc) - if they dislike them, they can't help it. There's surely a reason though, or the person would at least have had some bad experience with a cat. I'm agreeing with the person who said it sometimes feels very "borrowed" when people say they hate cats - and I firmly believe, as someone else suggested, that it can be because of not having enough dealings with them. This being the case for the two people I mentioned, who said they hated cats for years, then actually got to know a cat and grew extremely fond of them. In their cases, it was totally because they didn't know what they were talking about when they said they "hated" them. Actually I've just remembered an example of a third person for whom that applies. And my gran, who is afraid of cats, grudgingly admitted she was fond of the kitten that wandered into her yard, and she fed it and built it a little shelter.

"They're manky" by itself doesn't convince me, because cats:
- Don't get mucky, like dogs do
- Don't smell horrendous, like dogs can do
- Bury their poo instinctively, which dogs don't
- Are unlikely to eat sh1t (unfortunately doggies can give this a shot)
- Clean themselves with their tongue, which has an in-built antiseptic

Dogs are waaaaaay dirtier, yet it's pretty much not allowed for people to moan about dogs the way people moan about cats (I love dogs by the way).
Some tom-cats yowl at night when mating, which is awful; and tom-cat's piss smells horrific if the cat marks its territory. In my experience these cases are in the minority though. Some dogs bark a fecking nuisance at night, but still... the minority.

It's true cats don't usually show the same degree of unconditional love which a dog shows, but some cats can be extremely affectionate; they just have to trust you first. Most of them just mind their own business and keep quiet so I think it's silly to make out that they're all a huge nuisance. Feral cats can be a nuisance, but they're not all cats.

Owners have a responsibility. They really need to neuter them early ffs. The earlier for toms the better - less chance of the poor feckers being traumatised.

But if people genuinely recoil any time a cat is near them, fair enough.

Muise...

bockeys jollocks wrote: »

I have a cat, but the problem is not with the cat. It's with the cats father, he's the right tom cat of the estate. I had to chase him off the wall a couple of times because he was sitting there with a chubby, looking to pork his own daughter.

Filthy fecker.

How do you know he's your cat's father? Even if you saw him pouncing on the cat's mother, that's no indicator as (sorry to break it to you) she will have had the nape bitten off her neck by every tom, dick and harry in the parish.

Each kitten in a litter can have a different father. I wish someone would tell the toms about superfecundation as then they might just form an orderly queue and have an oul chat, play some cards etc, instead of fighting and screeching as if one of them will actually win.

Oh, and please get them both fixed.

Gavin.

homeless student wrote: »

every second person seems to hate cats, I think they are lying because its a popular opinion to have, like why hate them, whats so bad about them? its not like they are a poisonous snake that love to attack humans, that bull about they will eat u if u die in a house they are in is a rubbish excuse as well, if i died and a cat ate me i wouldn't care, id be dead so what would it matter, im sure i would eat a dead cat if it was the other way around.

I can assure you that I'm not lying about hating them. Horrible creatures.

bockeys jollocks

Muise... wrote: »

How do you know he's your cat's father? Even if you saw him pouncing on the cat's mother, that's no indicator as (sorry to break it to you) she will have had the nape bitten off her neck by every tom, dick and harry in the parish.

Each kitten in a litter can have a different father. I wish someone would tell the toms about superfecundation as then they might just form an orderly queue and have an oul chat, play some cards etc, instead of fighting and screeching as if one of them will actually win.

Oh, and please get them both fixed.

Every patch on the cat is the same as his, including the eyes and beard, it's his alright.

oldyouth

Cats clog up the thread on your tyres :mad:#

Karl Stein

FortuneWookiee wrote: »

militant cat lovers

They're terrorists really aren't they?

Muise...

bockeys jollocks wrote: »

Every patch on the cat is the same as his, including the eyes and beard, it's his alright.

Still, please get them both fixed as her heart might belong to Daddy and anyway you'll be enduring this scenario every eight-nine months if you don't.

bockeys jollocks

Muise... wrote: »

Still, please get them both fixed as her heart might belong to Daddy and anyway you'll be enduring this scenario every eight-nine months if you don't.

My cat is fixed, the mammy cat isn't. She's popping them out every other week, she's not our cat.

Bike.

COYVB

Because they don't have eyebrows

dark crystal

FortuneWookiee wrote: »

I don't mind cats. I quite like them, but much prefer dogs.

The whole 'they're independent/not as needy' arguments from militant cat lovers simply reads as 'I'm too lazy or 'busy' to look after an actual companion'. And that's fair enough.

So, if you like cats, you're a militant cat lover now? You never hear this word applied to people who like dogs, though. They're just called dog lovers.

Also, the arguments about cats being independent and not as needy has nothing to do with not being arsed to look after them at all, it's just regarding their general nature.
Just because they don't require the same level of maintenance as dogs, doesn't mean their owners don't look after them as much. The only difference being they don't need bathing or walking. Our 'companions' need plenty of care; grooming, feeding, toilet training, litter cleaning, deworming, flea proofing, veterinary visits etc.

They're not as low maintenance as people think!

Cienciano

Cat owners are a bit weird. This thread is proof of it. Always going on about how "independent" their pet is (as in the owners let them out all the time and shít in other peoples gardens) and how they're better than dogs.

dark crystal

Cienciano wrote: »

Cat owners are a bit weird. This thread is proof of it. Always going on about how "independent" their pet is (as in the owners let them out all the time and shít in other peoples gardens) and how they're better than dogs.

Lol, no weirder than going on about how loyal dogs are (as in their owners enjoy being sycophantically worshipped by an animal who shits on public greens and footpaths) and how they're way better than cats.

Works both ways

Muise...

COYVB wrote: »

Because they don't have eyebrows

yes they do - long whisker-like antennae above their eyes, all the better for tickling you in the morning.

Karl Stein

Cienciano wrote: »

Cat owners are a bit weird.

And people who own cats and dogs? Are they 'half-weird' in this black and white alternate reality in which you reside?

This thread is proof of it.

You don't understand what 'proof' means.

Always going on about how "independent" their pet is (as in the owners let them out all the time and shít in other peoples gardens)

Many cats are not allowed out of the home/garden.

and how they're better than dogs.

Some folk have expressed a preference for cats, as pets, over dogs, rather than 'ha-ha, cats are better than dogs' in some sort of black-and-white reality.

Comparing cats to dogs is like comparing custard to gravy.

Lingua Franca

I dislike cats.

I think most of the reasons have been covered in this thread - burying their **** then walking over countertops and beds and tables, licking their arses in company, burying their toxoplasmosis riddled turds in my vegetable patches (dogs can't get into my garden to poo at all), screeching in my garden at 4am for weeks on end when they're horny, scratching, shedding fur all over your clothes and soft furnishings, they glare at you through windows, they kill birds and small mammals and leave them for you to find. And then there's the fact that cat people think you're mad for not liking them and actually get incredibly upset at you just for saying so when asked.

A feral cat once gave birth to several still born kittens under a neighbours car and dragged the corpses to my doormat meaning I opened the door early one morning to find a kittypocalypse and a stench of afterbirth there for me to deal with.

As for getting fond of them when you get to know them, one of my best friends has a cat that she treats as a furbaby and it's a nasty, mewling, scratchy piece of work and although I try to ignore it and stay well away I always leave her house bleeding. Even her husband can't stand the thing. My mother in law's cat may as well be a ghost, it's so timid that I haven't even seen it in a long time. The last time I saw it was when my partner was bringing his mum to the hospital and I was left behind. When the cat heard people leave and the door close and someone pottering about in the kitchen it came back down assuming that I was the MiL - the creature absolutely froze with terror on seeing me and I was genuinely afraid that it would drop dead of a heart attack.

So there's some reasons. Or maybe I'm just pretending because it's popular.

Reiver

Horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft (Stephen King's inspiration!) wrote an interesting essay on the cat/dog debate.

http://www.psy-q.ch/lovecraft/html/catsdogs.htm

Quite a different take on why to love/hate cats/dogs!

Dr Strange

Reiver wrote: »

Horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft (Stephen King's inspiration!) wrote an interesting essay on the cat/dog debate.

http://www.psy-q.ch/lovecraft/html/catsdogs.htm

Quite a different take on why to love/hate cats/dogs!

Love cats, don't mind dogs, love Lovecraft!

Conall Cernach

Conall Cernach wrote: »

In Maynooth? Where do you keep this predator?

On my land mostly. Wolves are a lot more social than dogs and you can not really leave them alone. So he is with at least one of us at any given time. Usually at home as at least one of my gfs is at home at any one time so he can stay there. I have on occasion had to take him to work with me.

The choice to source and purchase him came after reading a book called The Philosopher and the Wolf. I sourced pretty much the same breed of wolf as in the book from around the same area. I even named him the same as the one in the book: Brenin.

The author of the book also had the same issue of having to keep the wolf with someone at all times. But unlike me he was single. When the author moved to Ireland to teach philosophy in UCC - he had to on many occasions actually take the wolf with him to class.

I myself recall seeing him in cork at that time with wolf in toe. Though I did not know it to be a wolf at the time. I have yet to meet anyone who actually had him as a lecturer and recalls the wolf being in class with him however. I would love to meet one of them. I would hate to think that part of the book was not actually true and was added only for effect or comedy - so I am keen to meet one student to verify it.

I heartily recommend the book however. It is up there with "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance" as a philosophy for the lay man type book styled around an autobiographical structure. Very accessible - very interesting - and a great read.

Muise...

Deleted User wrote: »

The choice to source and purchase him came after reading a book called The Philosopher and the Wolf. I sourced pretty much the same breed of wolf as in the book from around the same area. I even named him the same as the one in the book: Brenin.

I heartily recommend the book however. It is up there with "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance" as a philosophy for the lay man type book styled around an autobiographical structure. Very accessible - very interesting - and a great read.

I read Pirsig; don't own a motorbike. Also read Anna Karenina, but didn't throw myself under a train.

Muise...

Muise... wrote: »

I read Pirsig; don't own a motorbike. Also read Anna Karenina, but didn't throw myself under a train.

Not sure I am seeing your point here, sorry.

Muise...

Deleted User wrote: »

Not sure I am seeing your point here, sorry.

I don't think fondness for a particular book is reason enough to emulate it - in your case to keep a wild animal.

Wendolene

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I'm not sure I indicated I'm not coping.

Well, the off-hand dismissal of people's rationale ("they're manky") as "thought-free" doesn't really indicate that you are coping with the notion that people may cogently form an opinion on cats that differs to yours.

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I have no problem with people disliking cats (provided they aren't cruel to them obviously, and I don't want to hear or read them making vitriolic comments about what cats deserve, what they'd do to them etc) - if they dislike them, they can't help it.

Fair enough, and indeed I'd agree with you.

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

There's surely a reason though, or the person would at least have had some bad experience with a cat.

Eh, perhaps they feel cats are manky ? :rolleyes:

YMMV tho.

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I'm agreeing with the person who said it sometimes feels very "borrowed" when people say they hate cats - and I firmly believe, as someone else suggested, that it can be because of not having enough dealings with them.

Well, therein lies a contradiction. On the one hand you acknowledge that a cat disliker may have had a bad experience - or little experience - with a cat, but then you immediately describe their resultant opinion as borrowed.

If experience - or lack thereof - in something colours someone's opinion, then it cannot be a borrowed opinion. Their opinion has a basis, even if it's presumption or prejudice or fear.

I would suggest that dismissing people's opinions as borrowed simply means that you haven't tried hard enough to understand their experience.

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

But if people genuinely recoil any time a cat is near them, fair enough.

Genuinely ? As opposed to recoiling in a non-genuine manner ?

You do seem to be struggling with the bona fides of cat dislikers, don't you ?

Femme_Fatale

Wendolene wrote: »

Well, the off-hand dismissal of people's rationale ("they're manky") as "thought-free" doesn't really indicate that you are coping with the notion that people may cogently form an opinion on cats that differs to yours.

Simply holding the above view hardly indicates I'm "not coping".
You're the person who's getting way more worked up!

Eh, perhaps they feel cats are manky ? :rolleyes:

Why though? Same people often don't dismiss dogs as manky, even though dogs can be awfully dirty bless 'em.

YMMV tho.

Don't know what that means.

Well, therein lies a contradiction. On the one hand you acknowledge that a cat disliker may have had a bad experience - or little experience - with a cat, but then you immediately describe their resultant opinion as borrowed.

I should have been clearer - I'm referring to these as two separate groups; the people with the "borrowed" view being people who don't know what they're talking about until they actually get to know about cats.

You do seem to be struggling with the bona fides of cat dislikers, don't you ?

"Struggling"? I gave a pretty detailed outline of my rationale - to some sneers and rolleyes and hyperbolic language (e.g. accusations of "not coping" - lol) from you. But yes, I'M the one who's... "not coping".

Vito Corleone

I love cats.

wolfpawnat

I fricken love my cat.

1 - All he cares about is eating and sleeping, provide these and a bit of water and that's it, he genuinely does not give a fúck. I don't need to dedicate at least an hour a day to walking him (like a dog), I don't need to worry about him pissing on the rug (he has a litter box, but he prefers to wait to go outside) I can leave the house for the day and he will be in the exact same spot, happy as anything and he only takes up a small sliver of the bed. He is better than any man!

2 - They go around the place acting all regal, and then make the biggest of screw ups, then trying to act as though nothing happened, no dog will ever be that entertaining.



That said, I love dogs too. Ironically, for the exact opposite reasons that I love cats.

ktm

My back garden has turned into some sort of drop in center for the local cats. They just gather there, strutting around like they own the place, taking a **** here and there. I open the window and make pathetic shuuussshh noises. Im about as scary as casper, they just turn around and show me their hole, then resume the strutting.

Dont know what to do about them tbh, anyone any ideas on how to move their little gang on?

Lingua Franca

Borrow your man's wolf.

Femme_Fatale

Call the local animal shelter maybe. Feral cats are problematic - I make no bones about that.

ktm

Lingua Franca wrote: »

Borrow your man's wolf.

Hmmm, my sister has a bullmastif, he is huge, even by bullmastifs standards. I could borrow him but that would mean waking him up which might be a problem. I swear to god he is the laziest dog that ever lived, and chances are the cats would have him copped for the big lazy softie that he is.

Will have to have a think about the wolf solution.

ktm

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

Call the local animal shelter maybe. Feral cats are problematic - I make no bones about that.

Not feral, belong to people in the area, not sure who though.

Insidious

Cats should be kept on a lead if they are outside of their gardens and the same rules for picking up after them should also apply.. See how many people still have cats after that.....
They come in .. use my garden as a toilet.. and my children have literally got their hands in it too many times. Keep them indoors or take them out on a lead. You wouldnt let a pet rat out on its own... ;-P

Muise...

Muise... wrote: »

I don't think fondness for a particular book is reason enough to emulate it - in your case to keep a wild animal.

People find their inspiration from all kinds of things. It is not just a fondness for a book - but a glimpse of a life - or an aspect of a life - that I was interested in assimilating. I looked at the challanges and the benefits and the joys and the lows of it and thought that this was a challnenge for me.

This happens all the time - people read a book - see a report - watch a sport - hear of a feat or action - have a role model - and they choose some aspect of it and say "That is something I want for my life".

Not sure how my case is any different from this really.

Muise...

Deleted User wrote: »

People find their inspiration from all kinds of things. It is not just a fondness for a book - but a glimpse of a life - or an aspect of a life - that I was interested in assimilating. I looked at the challanges and the benefits and the joys and the lows of it and thought that this was a challnenge for me.

This happens all the time - people read a book - see a report - watch a sport - hear of a feat or action - have a role model - and they choose some aspect of it and say "That is something I want for my life".

Not sure how my case is any different from this really.

did the wild animal get a say in all of this?

Muise...

Muise... wrote: »

did the wild animal get a say in all of this?

No more - or less - than the common house cat - dog - goldfish - terrapin - hamster - snake - or any other animal kept by people as part of their animal. Why - whats your point?

Lady Chuckles

I love my cats. All 25 of them!

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

I looked at the challanges and the benefits and the joys and the lows of it and thought that this was a challnenge for me.

Except it's not all about you. Is it?

No more - or less - than the common house cat - dog - goldfish - terrapin - hamster - snake - or any other animal kept by people as part of their animal. Why - whats your point?

Those are domesticated pets with easily met needs. Unlike a wild animal acquired to fulfill a selfish want.

Muise...

Candie wrote: »

Except it's not all about you. Is it?



Those are domesticated pets with easily met needs. Unlike a wild animal acquired to fulfill a selfish want.

Dogs were domesticated to assist with hunting, but cats chose to live near people when agriculture brought rodents to the grainstores. Even now they don't need us like dogs do.

Muise...

Muise... wrote: »

Dogs were domesticated to assist with hunting, but cats chose to live near people when agriculture brought rodents to the grainstores. Even now they don't need us like dogs do.

I like my pets obligated.

kylith

I spent the morning with the downstairs curtains at the back of the house shut and the windows barricaded off from the dogs because the local moggies were having some sort of turf war on the roof of the property behind my house. Every time they stopped and I opened the curtains they'd come back after a couple of minutes and set the dogs off again, so I had to block everything again. Of course the dogs could still hear them so they were desperate to get out, and very anxious and whiney. Eventually the black cat got tossed onto my shed roof, bringing both combatants into range of a super-soaker blast from my upstairs window.

THAT is why I dislike cats: I have to sit in darkness and have my pets upset and unable to enjoy my garden because someone else wanted a pet without the hassle of having to actually be responsible for the bloody thing. Toss it out the back door and make it someone else's problem.

ash23

I have an intense dislike of cats. It all may be in their nature and not their fault but I don't like their nature, simple as.
I'm not trying to be cool or trendy and I can appreciate that kittens are cute. But having had a childhood where feral cats were the norm and jumped out from the shed onto you or where you couldn't leave a window open for fear of them getting in, their "nature" to me is an irritant.
I liken cats being free to roam the streets as no less an irritant as a problem with mice or cockroaches. I'm sure I'd feel the same if I lived somewhere where loose, wild dogs were an issue but it tends not to be the case to the same extent as cats.

BeerWolf

Got cats - don't like them in the house though. Feckers, without fail, if you let them in or they sneak in they'd eat whatever's on the table or counter when not noticed.

kylith

BeerWolf wrote: »

Got cats - don't like them in the house though. Feckers, without fail, if you let them in or they sneak in they'd eat whatever's on the table or counter when not noticed.

Why do you have them if you don't even like them?

Magenta

Sleepy wrote: »

You have to pity the poor unfortunates who are so starved for human affection that they end up believing that their cat purring or rubbing off their legs etc is a sign of affection rather than simply cat for "feed me now b!tch!"

You have to pity the poor unfortunates who are so starved for an ego boost that they rely on a dog to love them because they know that they'd have to be WORTH loving to get affection from a cat.

Candie

Candie wrote: »

Except it's not all about you. Is it?

I nowhere recall suggesting it was. People too - for example - read and learn about the challanges of parenthood and everything it entails. They then make the decision to have children and accept that challange into their lives. They do so realising that "it is not all about them" too - just like I did. The realisation that it is not just about you is not extra to the challanges I describe. It is core to them.

Candie wrote: »

Those are domesticated pets with easily met needs. Unlike a wild animal acquired to fulfill a selfish want.

You can put your judgementalism back in your pocket. I do not have to justify myself - or my motivations - to you. Nor can you comment on them given you do not know them - or me. If you want to ride your high horse somewhere then take it to the zoo where it may be more warranted. Or to people who acquire dogs in this world and then leave them on the end of a 4 foot rope - tied to a stake - hammered into the middle of their back yard for hours and hours on end.

Muise...

Deleted User wrote: »

I nowhere recall suggesting it was. People too - for example - read and learn about the challanges of parenthood and everything it entails. They then make the decision to have children and accept that challange into their lives. They do so realising that "it is not all about them" too - just like I did. The realisation that it is not just about you is not extra to the challanges I describe. It is core to them.



You can put your judgementalism back in your pocket. I do not have to justify myself - or my motivations - to you. Nor can you comment on them given you do not know them - or me. If you want to ride your high horse somewhere then take it to the zoo where it may be more warranted. Or to people who acquire dogs in this world and then leave them on the end of a 4 foot rope - tied to a stake - hammered into the middle of their back yard for hours and hours on end.

Candie wouldn't ride a high horse; she'd give it apples and brush its tail!

We both got the sense that your wolf is an accessory to your self-image, I'm afraid - more about your lifestyle than his life. Which is probably why you're taking it personally when people comment that they think it is wrong to keep a wild animal.

Muise...

Muise... wrote: »

We both got the sense that your wolf is an accessory to your self-image, I'm afraid - more about your lifestyle than his life.

An impression formed based off a few words by me - combined with not knowing me or anything about me at all. And this has resulted in an erroneous conclusion.

I can assure you his presence in my home is that of a family member - every bit as much as my daugther and second child to be in many ways - and with no more selfishness - or implications or desires about my lifestyle - that can similarly be ascribed to a person who has children.

Muise... wrote: »

which is probably why you're taking it personally

Yet give I do not know either of you - I am not only not taking it personally - I do not believe I even could. But when I see errors - or blatant and unwarranted displays of judgementalism by people on self erected pedastals - I often do feel compelled to correct such things.

But to take it "personally" I would have to actually care what you or the other poster think - which I do not.

As I said I simply find the concern misdirected. Direct it instead at the horrific treatment of animals evident in some of our zoos. Or at the people who obtain dogs or cats or other pets - before embarking on what can only be described as a campaign of neglect and laziness with regards the well being of said creature.

Muise...

Deleted User wrote: »

An impression formed based off a few words by me - combined with not knowing me or anything about me at all. And this has resulted in an erroneous conclusion.

I can assure you his presence in my home is that of a family member - every bit as much as my daugther and second child to be in many ways - and with no more selfishness - or implications or desires about my lifestyle - that can similarly be ascribed to a person who has children.

Yet give I do not know either of you - I am not only not taking it personally - I do not believe I even could. But when I see errors - or blatant and unwarranted displays of judgementalism by people on self erected pedastals - I often do feel compelled to correct such things.

But to take it "personally" I would have to actually care what you or the other poster think - which I do not.

As I said I simply find the concern misdirected. Direct it instead at the horrific treatment of animals evident in some of our zoos. Or at the people who obtain dogs or cats or other pets - before embarking on what can only be described as a campaign of neglect and laziness with regards the well being of said creature.

Sending us off to the zoo on our high horses is a bit of a red herring when you still haven't addressed the question of the fairness of keeping a wild animal. (Saying you feel he's part of the family isn't exactly putting yourself in his wild paws now, is it?) Your few words were that you read a book and were so impressed you copied the writer by obtaining a wolf. That sounds shallow to me, whether you care about my opinion or not.

Muise...

Muise... wrote: »

Sending us off to the zoo on our high horses is a bit of a red herring when you still haven't addressed the question of the fairness of keeping a wild animal.

I see nothing unfair about it - even in and of itself - let alone held relative to the holding of wild animals in zoos - or the horrific mistreatment through sheer neglect suffered by many domestic animals around the world.

And as I said I do not have to justify myself to anyone here. Certainly not you.

If I had even the smallest inkling that Brenin was undergoing even the smallest ounce of unease, unhappiness, misfortune, suffering or depression I would re-evaluate instantly and entirely. And it would not take all that much of an inkling to raise such doubts. I would be hyper sensitive to such data.

But such data simply is not there. So your concerns - while undoubtedly well meant with heart firmly holding a foundation in exactly the right place - I can assure you is misplaced and misdirected. Walk down instead a path from which you can see into the back yards of houses and take your well meaning campaign to parents who have staked their dogs alone in the back yard where they are left for hours if not days on end - to occasionally be trotted out by people who like to have some company when they go for their twice weekly evening jog.

Muise... wrote: »

Your few words were that you read a book and were so impressed you copied the writer by obtaining a wolf. That sounds shallow to me, whether you care about my opinion or not.

If you reduce my entire decision to just that then indeed it would appear shallow. But as I said my motivations and basis for decisions went deeper than that - and you do not know them - or me - at all. To expand upon all of them would take a novel probably as long as the one I read - and would derail this thread more than it already has been - a derail I can only apologise for to the other readers of it.