I think pets are overrated

Agreed, except about the cat owners part. Although yeah some of them can be crazy losers, most are nice and hate when their cat kills animals. Dogs are overrated as hell and I've found that a lot of their owners are just narcissists / manipulators, which explains why they get along better with dogs than people.

One of the things I can't stand are irresponsible pet owners. The people in my town get dogs, cats, or chickens and just leave them outside all day in the hot sun, pouring rain, or snow. Some will go into other people's yards and mess the yards up, or worse, the animals will fight each other and then all the owners involved are yelling and threatening each other like they actually give a crap about the animals. It's super annoying.

I don't see the appeal of them personally, but if someone's life is improved by having a cat, they should have a cat. Just don't value your pet more than human life and don't get mad at me for saying I don't see the point of me getting a pet.

I think you need to stop over-analyzing the hell out of something so completely innocuous (pet ownership) and devoting so much time and energy into hating what other people do with their lives. Seriously. It's lame. Live your own life.

I agree to an extent, the phrase “I get on better with dogs than people” suggests to me that someone is self-centred and difficult. I also hate poorly trained dogs and their delusional owners, I’ve had a big stocky black dog run at me in the park snapping and snarling completely unprovoked, I screamed FUUUUUUCK terror and it’s idiot owner just mumbled “sorry” didn’t even put it on a lead. If an animal can’t control itself it shouldn’t be out without a muzzle on yet alone off the lead.

I also find it sad how much some cat owners emotionally invest in a cat that obviously doesn’t give two shits about them.

That being said some dogs are fun and especially older cats do sometimes seem genuinely attached to their owners.

I see your point, and agree with you that companion animals, like your dog, can enjoy healthy lives interacting with a positive active family. There are people, though, that depend on animals in a different way. Many folks at IIN have personality disorders, or feeble mindedness, and lack the stability to live a grounded meaningful life without help. In these cases, the animals will often have the mindset of keeping its owner as a pet, out of concern for her well being. Animals are especially helpful to people with Borderline Personality Disorder. I won't name any names at this time.

You seem normal. Also, yeah, a lot of cat owners don't seem to care about their pets exterminating native species and wild birds. Cats are basically just an invasive species in most places, as far as I'm concerned.

I, of course, wholeheartedly disagree with you. My current feline friend is a strictly indoor cat, that love deeply, and pamper as much as I can. I'm personally not fond of allowing cats to go outside unattended, because they kill birds, and other small animals. I don't think it's safe for the cat either as a cat can get stolen, hit by a car, or attacked by a larger animal. Not all cat owners behave the way you have described!

Who the fuck are you to judge what helps relieve a person of loneliness? Of course there are good and bad sides to pet ownership and the type of people who have/love/abuse pets. But everything can be overrated if you pick it apart. Everything can be underrated too. But it is not for you to judge effectiveness of someone's pet. At least it is a connection.

I can see your point. A lot of people anthropomorphize their animals and get too carried away with spoiling their pets.

I have horses, cats, and dogs. I frequent public horse facilities, show grounds, and trails often. What I see and hate most are:

A) The horse people who think they have a magical unicorn bond with their horses and so that enables them to do very stupid and dangerous things with them, and they also think any methods of discipline and even the simplest tack and artificial aids (bits, spurs, whips) are abusive no matter how they are used (even when such people have ZERO education about how these things work and are designed to be used, or about how to properly use them), and they allow their horses to be pushy, disrespectful, and dangerous. I could write a novel about this nonsense.

B) This kind of ties in with A, but self-proclaimed "trainers" (YouTube is full of these types, and unfortunately children and beginners worship them and take their dangerous advice seriously) who have maybe a rudimentary knowledge of horses at best and now think they're world class trainers and God's gift to horses because they watched a few clinician DVDs, who promote the kind of shit I listed in A. Never discipline your horse or correct bad behavior because it's mean and dangerous behavior is cute, if you have a bond with your horse and trust them you have a free pass to do dangerous and stupid shit or forego basic safety measures because "bond", bits/whips/spurs/blankets/horseshoes/etc. and anything that isn't "natural" is cruel (although there's nothing even remotely natural about a predator sitting on a prey animal's back), etc. These people usually have pretty much only worked with their own horse(s), which are usually poorly trained and behaved and a good indicator of their true abilities as a "trainer", and their knowledge about training wouldn't make a pimple on a real horse trainer's ass.

C) Kind of ties in with A and B. People who think domesticated horses should be treated like wild ones and anything that isn't natural or found in the wild is bad and unnecessary. There is a HUGE difference between wild and domesticated horses. Our horses would not survive in the wild. Wild horses also have much shorter lifespans and those with even minor health issues end up dying. For example, blanketing an old horse that can't grow a thick winter coat, or a hard keeper (hard to keep weight on) to keep him from burning excess calories trying to stay warm is not a bad thing because "horses don't need blankets in the wild". Our horses are selectively bred for our purposes and therefore aren't built for survival in the wild the way wild horses are, and the wild horses who would benefit from a blanket if they were domesticated usually just die. There are no 20-30+ year-old horses in the wild.

D) People who think it's cute when their poorly trained dogs chase and nip at horses' heels, jump on people, jump on their cars, etc., and make no effort to correct the behavior. I've seen dogs bitten and kicked by horses, and still have no idea why these irresponsible idiots think it's cute to let their dogs terrorize them or that it's a good idea to have high strung dogs around large and flighty prey animals in the first place. I've also had a friend's dog jump on and scratch my car, and they ENCOURAGED the dog to jump on it by knocking on the window and teasing it when they got inside! Not to mention the countless times I've had dogs jump on me, tear my clothes with their nails, hit me in the face with theirs, lunge at me, etc., and the owners didn't think anything of it. I've NEVER allowed my dogs to do any of this.

I haven't really been around many annoying or irresponsible cat people that I can think of.

Sorry for the novel!

Why should humans care if some hyper specific species go extinct? Generalist species on the other hand are flourishing in the power vacuum leading to not a lot of environmental damage for human habitation.

Idk any cat owner who’s said that but okay. I like learning about animals but I’m not so crazy about it to the point of putting owners down for having a type of pet. Tf kinda troll post you looking to do? Offend someone with some weird ass mind thoughts.

I dont really see how its pathetic and delusional to feel lonely and seek solace in animals. Its the human condition and if youve never felt it you will one day. I think your view is extremely negative. Pets are a wonderful thing for healing such conditions especially for the elderly who are more vulnerable and prone to it.
This is why I love animals because they arent judgemental arseholes like humans. They will be there for you no matter what.

Okay, yes! A lot of people become overly attached to thier pets out of loneliness. Animals are rather simple creatures. They are less evolved and operate on simple instict. I think to a degree all people understand this. Why no one bats an eye if a puppy or even a full grown dog humps your leg or a pillow for that matter. This is also why a lot of times they can garner a lot more sympathy. Animals do have emotions even if you don't think so. In fact most creatures have a basic set of emotions. Some which are shared with most other living creatures. Now unlike animals people can choose to betray instict and even indulge it in the most underhanded way. Humans can be very devious were as even the most vicous predetor could not be described as such. Also even if you think pets are dumb and a waste of time why does it bother you a lonely person found a genuine freind? As well as save a poor creature from being euthanized in a shelter?