Pet free is about animal related issues and ideas: pet friendly, pet ownership, feral animals, alternative pets, animal rights, service animals, exotic pets, and so on.
Important to me is having respect for pets and people. This includes the pet friendly issue. I am against public places being pet friendly. Public places should be for people first. Including people who don’t like pets, people who are afraid of pets and people who are allergic to pets. It is easier to keep public places pet free than people free, especially in the case of commercial places like stores and restaurants.
This is about being pet free and giving a voice to people who choose not to keep pets and/ or don’t agree with having pets in public places.
Also, consider the option of plants instead of animals as pets.
Should you wonder… I am not pet friendly but I do like animals.
There are 77 posts filed in Pet Free (this is page 6 of 8).
For pet rock owners, makers, and seekers (vintage or rustic). From a Canadian pet rock keeper.
About:
This is an informal Canadian Pet Rock Society.
If anyone actually wants to join, let me know.
Meanwhile, I’m just going to post pet rock related things as I find them. Also, I will write about pet rocks, virtual pets and possibly compare keeping pet rocks in favour of keeping any other type of (animal) pet.
The idea that airline passengers should ask for no pet seating annoys me. Why inconvenience the people who do not want to bring, or sit with, pets? First, they are not likely to think about the flight being pet friendly when they are not traveling with livestock themselves. Second, let the pet owners make arrangements for their animals and be responsible for how they travel.
Why not leave pets at home while you travel? Save money, save stress for the animal and save yourself from being thrown off the flight when your animal proves not to be as welcome as you expected. (Not just on the plane).
If pets are not kept in cargo then buy them a seat, a full air fare seat. There should be pet friendly seating for those who buy the extra pet ticket. But, the seating must be sealed off from other passengers who have paid for a ticket and do not want to deal with asthma and allergies from pets.
Maybe there should be pet only flights and people only flights. That way the pet friendly people could poop and scoop the whole flight and everyone else could have a pet free trip. I’d prefer pet free flights.
In a recent survey, 52% of U.S. adults responded “yes” when asked if a non-service animal should be allowed in the airplane cabin on a flight. The other half said they prefer animals be kept in cargo.
Of those who said yes, 63% said in-cabin animals should be kept in designated areas away from any passengers with allergies.
The survey of more than 430 customers was conducted by GO Airport Express, a Chicago-based transportation company.
“We recommend that travelers tell their gate agents if they are allergic, or prefer to be seated away from animals if there are any scheduled on their flight,” said GO Airport Express president John McCarthy.
Airlines charge fees from $50 to more than $200 for pets, though the fee rarely goes toward any additional services. In-cabin pets must be kept in an approved carrier under the seat in front of the passenger.
Fees are often higher for transporting pets in cargo. Although accidents with pets traveling in cargo are rare, there are several short-nosed dog and cat breeds — like pugs and bulldogs, or Persians and Himalayans — that airlines refuse to transport that way. These kinds of animals tend to suffer from breathing problems that would be exacerbated by the cargo hold climate.
Several of the respondents suggested that pet owners should ask airlines for better care of animals in cargo. That sounds more than optimistic, however, considering how well human passengers are treated.
Additional comments said travelers should just leave their pet at home while traveling.
Nearly half of travelers want your pet out of airplane cabins, survey says.
Source: GenPets
Genpets are advertised online, at a faux web site, that promises allergen-free, child-safe, low-maintenance genetic pets. They look like human-animal hybrids.
“While the Genpets hang on the store shelves they are in a form of hibernation. Each Genpet package has a special nutrient feeding tube attached to it, supplying our specially formulated mix and keeping them healthy and asleep,” according to a Genpets features section.
Review (above quotes) by Treehugger.
I don’t know if pet rocks really want to be dressed up, put into costumes or decorated. Some may feel too dignified for such play. But, I did find pet rock zoo printables (if you need them).
A straight forward list but I liked what was posted about feeding the outdoor cats. I used to treat my outdoor cats to liver from the grocery store. Not too often and bring enough so they aren’t sharing (chicken livers worked best). Generally, I gave them a can of cat food each day. Sometimes there was left over meat from dinner or cooking. I never gave them bacon grease, that would probably make them sick. But, meat we boiled for soup, scraps we cut off from steaks and so on, gave the cats that little extra. They were never fat house cats but always healthy and we never had mice in the house as long as we had cats around. (I can’t say the same about skunks though. For some reason my cats became friends with the skunks. Really, not being sarcastic about that).
Since they work so hard, our barn cats deserve to be treated like other high-performing work animals. I have heard people state opinions about how you shouldn’t feed them much because then they won’t be hungry enough to chase their own dinner! Nonsense! If you want an animal to perform work for you, then you should feed it adequate nutrition so it has the energy and stamina to perform.
Cats need a diet that contains quality protein. Living outside, chasing rodents, eating rodents, running from the big dogs, all these activities require strong bodies and lots of energy. Cats are carnivores. They only eat meat. Cats do not need vegetables, sweets, or grain fillers. Cats often do not drink enough water. Feeding the canned cat food in addition to the dry, increases their water intake. In the winter, when bringing warm water to your backyard chickens and dairy goats, make sure you save some for the cats, too. I know my barn cats enjoy a warm drink of water on a freezing cold morning.
Try to give the cats a place to eat where they won’t be chased off by livestock entering the barn, or in our case the dog trying to “share” the dinner. We put shelves up in the barn that the cats can access, and we feed the cats on the shelves.
Source: Countryside Daily – How to Raise a Barn Cat Right
What’s wrong with pets? The problem is that, you know, we bring these creatures into existence that are perpetually dependent on us. They’re dependent on us for when they eat, when they drink, when they go out, they’re really not animals, in the sense that they cannot take care of themselves, but they’re certainly, obviously, not human, so they’re just basically subject to our whims. Now, understand something: our pets, my pets, your pets, everybody’s pets, are property, whether it’s in the United States, or Canada, or any place else, they’re property. They have no intrinsic value, they only have the extrinsic or external value that we accord to them. So, I love my dogs, and I choose to value them highly, I choose to value those pieces of property that I own highly. But the law doesn’t require me to do so. The law allows me to value my animal property very low, and so as long as I give my dogs food, water, and shelter, I’m not violating the law. I don’t have to show them affection, I don’t have to have them living in the house, I don’t have to treat them as members of my family. And indeed, if I want, I can drive them to a kill shelter today. and say: “Here: I don’t want my dogs anymore, if you can’t find a home for them, you can kill them.” Or I can take them to a veterinarian who is willing to kill them, or I can basically kill them myself, as long as I do it humanely.
So they are property. And I object to that. I don’t think we can justify treating non-humans, whether for food, or for clothing, or as pets, I don’t think we can justify treating them as property. So, I’m just trying to be clear on what you’re suggesting here. I don’t believe you’re arguing that we should be treating cattle and codfish more like dogs and cats, and I’m sure you’re not arguing that we treat dogs and cats more like cattle and codfish, so what are you arguing? I’m arguing that we ought to get rid of domestication altogether. I’m arguing that, if animals matter morally, we ought to stop bringing them into existence and using them as resources. That we ought to take care of the animals that exist here now, but we ought to stop bringing domesticated animals into existence, and you know what, it would not only be a good moral thing to do, it would be good for our health, because I think the evidence that animal products are detrimental to health is increasing, and the reality is animal agriculture is an ecological disaster.
Source: Believe in animal rights? Be prepared to go pet-free – Home | The 180 with Jim Brown | CBC Radio
There are more points about not keeping animals domesticated, from the vegan point of view, on the site – Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach
I don’t agree with not eating animals or animal products. But, I do think we have misplaced ourselves on the food chain. Actually, we have pretty much entirely removed ourselves from the food chain and eliminated most of the predatory animals which could have kept us as part of that chain. Our population has exploded due to putting ourselves on the top of the food chain. Our demands on the food sources of the planet have increased due to increased population. This is the real problem with domesticated animals and animal agriculture. We have warped the food chain to suit ourselves. Ironic that the very agriculture we created to make ourselves head of the food chain is now harming us.
I don’t think pet owners consider the fact that animals have been killed to make pet food. So, how can they be animal lovers knowing other animals were possibly mistreated (often kept restrained in small spaces, etc.) and then killed and butchered in order to make the food they feed their pet? How is all of that okay with them. Most likely it is just something easier to ignore than consider at all. Do vegetarians, animal rights people, and even the vegans, consider what comes out of that can of pet food.
Fish make quiet pets. Fake fish, or jellyfish, make even better pets. A friend posted this to Facebook today. No one guessed they were fake until she said so. How often does anyone see jellyfish to know better. But, she said they do move. A great fake pet. All you have to do is keep the tank and water clean, but without pet food and poo that won’t be such a big job.
Take a look at Aquaficial for more ideas in fake pets for fish tanks.
Should pets be for (responsible) adults only? I know pets from animal shelters are particular about who takes home a pet. Pet stores are not. People giving away puppies, kittens and other young animals are not always concerned about where they wind up either. If people really are animal lovers how can they risk giving away that animal without some hope it will be taken care of and not end up feral, neglected or dead?
Source: Flickr – Allison Giguere
The Huffington Post says you can have a pet even if you’re allergic to them. It’s just a matter of:
None of these are great options. Likely a list developed by someone who does not have much, or any, allergies. A pet-free zone in your house does not help when you usually share the house and facilities like laundry. Clean more often… pretty much the same issue. Pet hair has little fine, pin hairs which get into everything. As for taking more drugs… NO! Thank you.
Allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the U.S. and approximately half of all Americans test positive for at least one of the 10 most common allergens, including cat allergies, according to a profile from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) reports that about 15-30 percent of people with allergies have allergic reactions to cats and dogs. With more than 100 million pets in the United States this leads to high allergy morbidity as people are exposed to animal allergens when visiting friends and family or even in public spaces like schools and offices.
Source: How to Live With a Pet Allergy Without Getting Rid of Your Pet
There is another option which the people at the Huffington Post missed. Maybe they’ve been taking too many allergy pills.
There are even fluffy pet options.
If even the hypoallergenic pets give you allergies consider an unusual pet, less fluffy. Snakes, lizards, turtles and fish are not for everyone so consider a pet which won’t cause allergies and needs very little care, like a pet rock. Just a little dusting or a run through the dishwasher… what other pet can you do that with?
