Pet Free

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 8 of 8).

It’s Too Easy to Own a Tiger in America

I don’t think wild animals should be kept as exotic pets. If we can’t find the space to let them be then we can at least give them a suitable man-mad space where they can live on their own terms (more or less). Caging them and treating them like a pet is disrespectful. Let them live and die as part of some kind of natural world rather than trying to fit them into a cosmetic version of it.

Lions and tigers don’t belong in North America. Save a stray cat instead, get it spayed or neutered and let it live like an exotic pet instead. Or, save one of the North American wild cats: cougars, lynx, etc. Use your resources to benefit the animals still out there competing for habitat (and losing). Prevent the wild animals from ending up in zoos, nature reserves or… exotic pets.

The American Bar Association is urging the federal, local, and state governments to enact laws banning the possession of exotic animals.

Source: www.yahoo.com

Should you Help Stray Animals Over Winter?

First the cold hard facts: There are roughly 70 million stray dogs and cats in the U.S. at any given time.

With cold weather and storms on the way, here’s what you can do to help homeless dogs and cats.

Curated from How to Help Stray Animals Survive the Winter

This post recommends catching the animal. I don’t think that is a good idea. A stray animal is likely scared or hurt and far more likely to bite people who attempt to get close. I`ve looked out for a few stray cats but I did not attempt to catch them.

Why cause the animal even more stress and then leave it to the chance of being adopted at the shelter. Instead it can live as any other animal outdoors and have a natural life just as the other animals do and have always done. If tiny birds can live through the winter then the stray predators will have to do the same. It`s the cycle of life and people should interfere less.

Images of Abused Pets Make me Angry for Different Reasons

Capture

I don’ think I post any but I do see them pop up from others. They make me angry for different reasons. I don’t like them being used to create emotion in people, to solicit donations. What also makes me quite angry about them is the fact that there are people in dire straits who don’t get the same sympathy which dogs and cats do. Still, both dogs, cats and people are heavily over populated so some logical and practical part of me cares a lot more about the wild animals, native animals, who have no habitat because there are too many people with their pets who hog it all and continue to do so. Making it seem the wild non-pet animals are the ones who are in the way. Rant over, go back to fawning over your pets.

Make a Choice to be Pet Friendly or Pet Free and Stick to It!

I posted this tonight on the site for my town of Barrie, public suggestions. Pet people, before you rant off, this is not about your rights to have pets with you every hour of the day – this is about my right not to have your pets around me. I don’t see why I should tolerate your pets making me sick. Why can’t people just keep pets at home they way we used to do? Why do they need to carry animals (almost always dogs) around with them like a stuffed animal?

I do not dislike animals I just prefer them to be kept at an allergy and asthma free distance and not be a surprise I don’t want each time I go shopping, out for coffee, etc. If people can not leave pets at home then public places and stores can clearly let people know if they are safe for people or cater to pets.

Mountain Lion Kittens in Santa Monica Mountains

Researchers Find 2 Mountain Lion Kittens in Santa Monica Mountains.

While researchers are happy that the mountain lions are populating the area, the Sierra Nevada Mountains are located in a highly urbanized area. This means the mountain lions may someday find themselves in highways or developments, which could be problematic.

The Santa Monica National Recreation area, however, is suitable for hunting and setting up dens. With these kittens, the count is up to 24 in the habitat.

I can understand why people keep exotic pets, I’d love to keep a mountain lion kitten if it could stay that way and not eat me out of house and home and probably destroy my home pretty much. In the end, keeping wild animals as pets just doesn’t work. They need to be left to roam, grow and be wild. But, this means we need to give them some space. It doesn’t seem people are too willing to do this. All the pet friendly types can only think about keeping them as pets.

Anger Towards Spiders

I never understand the anger management issues with spiders. I’ve got one living on the ceiling of my bedroom. He/ she has been there all winter. I’ll catch him/her and dump them outside now that it’s spring.

I know people don’t like spiders. But to feel all this anger towards them is a bit creepy and very unjustified.

No, I don’t pick them up and I don’t choose to keep them around as pets. But, I’m not out to get them either.

Are you having some sort of predator moment? Fearing you will have to share food sources with the spider? They eat bugs, if you’ve sunk that low… reconsider.

Are you afraid of a venomous spider? There are few of them in North America. Relax, the spider isn’t out to eat you. It would be happy to avoid you entirely. You’re not nearly crunchy enough.

Freeing Exotic Fish is Hazardous

In the US the snakehead fish is a big problem. Any of them caught are to be kept out of the water, killed, eaten, turned into compost, etc. However, you can now buy them in pet stores and, of course, on the Internet. Take them home, set them up in a tank. Then, when they get too big for your tank, or when you’re just seen enough of them – what happens then? Want to take a guess? They go back into the water, not the water of the fish tank. Not the toilet tank (they’re too big to flush). They go back into the ecosystem, the very place we are trying to keep them out of.

How stupid are people to know this fish is a hazard (to buy it for that reason) and then dump it out to grow and breed in the lakes, rivers and other waters where it does not belong.

From the Invading Species website:

The release of aquarium pets into Ontario waters is illegal. You can help prevent the spread of non-native (exotic) aquatic species by doing the following:

Never release or flush unwanted aquarium pets or aquarium water into natural waters, drainage ditches or sewers.
Drain aquarium water on dry land.
Return or donate unwanted aquarium fish, reptiles, snails and plants to a pet store or a school.