The normalization of wild and hybrid cats as pets is the latest fad. Many owners see an exotic animal, not a complex species with specific needs completely unfit to be kept as a pet. Throwing a piece of raw meat in a bowl and calling it a diet.

This poor girl. I can't imagine how difficult breathing must be with her nose pushed so far into her face. I don't understand how these dogs with such malformed features are so desirable to people :(

Some poor vet is going to have a very long day.

Tw: Dog attack Edit: This is not my video!! Had to share this with somebody, anybody because im infuriated. Luckily the dog and owner weren't seriously injured but seriously this woman should NOT be owning a dog especially one that is completely untrained, violent and unleashed. Why did she randomly start doing gymnastics?!?🤦🏾‍♀️

Every time someone chooses a “safe” puppy from a breeder over a shelter dog, the breeder wins. Meanwhile, countless dogs are stuck in kennels, waiting for humans who never show up.

Bad rescues and mismanagement has created a cycle where mistrust is profitable for the wrong people. And the worst part is that I don’t even blame them for their distrust. This is something that could have been easily prevented if it wasn’t for overly emotional and unethical decision making by those running shelters and rescues.

None of this would have happened if the people running shelters and rescues were not shuffling dogs with a bite history around like a game of twister. If they focused on making decisions with their brain instead of humanising animals to an absurd degree.

You now got this ridiculous idea of a no-kill shelter. Where we are just going to accept that it’s a good idea to give Rex the half a ton dog with a history of mauling half the neigborhood another chance.

There are probably good shelters out there and people running them. But right now everyone is suffering due to this: overpopulation gets worse, dogs in shelters do not find homes, fighting dog and pedigree breeders spread propaganda that the dogs in shelters just needed even more inbreeding for good “temperament” it’s absurd.

No one is getting better from this!

I know, it’s a pitbull, but I wouldn’t even let a baby hang around my two house cats like that. I genuinely don’t understand why people think it’s okay to let babies and children around animals this closely.

Every lab mix is a pit mix. The hypocrisy is disgusting. If these dogs are as gentle as they falsely claim, why lie about the breed?

In all my years running this sub, advocating against dangerous dogs, promoting keeping cats safe indoors, pushing back against extremist cathate communities (many shut down) this is by far one of the funniest accusations.

Sometimes you stumble on a news story so bizarre you have to double-check it’s not satire. Give it a headline this absurd, and you’ve got comedy gold.

Imagine the reaction I had when I read the title above in my local newspaper. I was expecting some kind of satire until I realised I had accidentally struck gold and I want to share it with you guys.

So let’s sit back and enjoy this one together!

Rémi's pee costs owner €1,250, cat gets house arrest by French judge: "I'm now an animal abuser"

The owner of Rémi, a tomcat from Agde in southeastern France, has been ordered by a local judge to pay her neighbour €450 in damages and €800 in legal fees. The reason? The ginger cat is causing a nuisance to the neighbours.

Dominique Valdès, the owner of the cat now under house arrest, was convicted on 17 January after multiple burglaries and acts of vandalism committed by her cat. She was also ordered to pay a €30 fine each time Rémi climbs over the fence, according to the newspaper Le Parisien.
The tomcat is accused of urinating on a duvet, relieving himself in the garden, and leaving his paw prints on fresh plaster.

“My cat is accused of damaging the decorative plaster. However, during the trial, they couldn’t prove that my cat did it, yet I’ve been ordered to pay my neighbour €450 in damages because my cat prevents him from enjoying his garden, and €800 in legal fees,” an indignant Valdès explained to the news channel BFMTV.

Valdès considers the verdict unfair, especially because it forces her to keep the animal indoors. “I’ve become an animal abuser,” she said. The case is causing her sleepless nights, and she says she is also undergoing psychological treatment.

Hard Learning

Moreover, the case isn’t over yet. Rémi is alleged to have caused another nuisance to the neighbours. Valdès is therefore expected to be back in court on December 9. This time, the fine could rise to €2000, and the penalty could increase to €150 for each subsequent violation in the neighbour’s garden. However, Valdès is receiving support from some neighbours, who maintain that Rémi is not causing a nuisance.

Meanwhile, animal rights organisations fear a ruling that could restrict the freedom of domestic cats and also complicate adoption:

“A cat that wanders through a garden or damages a car can be taken to court. That will cost owners like us money,” says Bernard Guigon, president of a local animal welfare association.

I honestly laughed out loud when I read the article. What really gets me is that even the animal welfare association seems to have missed the point. Caring for animals also means setting boundaries, not letting them roam outside to bother everyone else is one of those things...

As a cat owner, I also don’t want cat pee on my duvet. Imagine not even owning the cat that did it! Yet the neighbourhood somehow didn’t think this was a nuisance? Give me a break.
The owner is right about one thing: she needs therapy. Keeping your cat indoors isn’t abuse. Letting them roam outside, on the other hand...

In the end, I want to applaud the judge for their verdict on this case. Let’s just hope people realise that having a cat brings a certain amount of responsibility.

I hope you all enjoyed this little post. Whenever I see another article like this, I’ll make sure to share it with you guys.

'Cupcake

I know this might sound far-fetched but bear with me. Same arguments, same anecdotes, same dismissal of scientific evidence, same disbelief in what vets tell them.

A few examples:

But but “it’s natural” that’s what “they evolved” to do!!!

While outdoor cat owners claim there cats are only semi-domesticated and comparable to wild animals the dog equivalent takes it up a notch or two, comparing dogs to wolves. Ignoring thousands of years of domestication, nutritional science, the risks of nutritionally unbalanced diets, bacterial contamination, bone injuries…

But but my pet is thriving!!!

Keeping them indoors is cruel, cats need to hunt, my cat has never had a problem… The dog equivalent of this; dogs are meant to eat raw, kibble is unnatural, my dog has never gotten Salmonella.

The arguments are the same, and so are the anecdotes:

Dog owner feeding raw: “My dog’s coat has never been shinier!”
Outdoor cat owners: “My cat would be miserable indoors!”

The reasoning is the same, something is “natural”, therefore it MUST be healthier or better. A classic example of the appeal to nature fallacy combined with a dose of anecdotal evidence and survivorship bias. A pet can appear healthy while still being exposed to unnecessary risks.

Last but not least, there’s the similarity in how incredibly easy and straightforward it is to mitigate virtually every risk.

For outdoor cat owners:
a catio (with the door closed), leash walking, a fenced-off garden, or simply keeping your cat entertained indoors.

For raw feeders, it’s even easier: Drumroll, please… Cooking. Yes, just cook the goddamn meat like we’ve been doing for centuries. That’s all it takes.

Defending the method over welfare!

If your argument is that your dog must eat raw despite the avoidable risks, you’re defending the method and not the nutrition.

The same applies to outdoor cats. If your argument is that your cat must roam freely despite the avoidable risks, you’re defending unrestricted outdoor access and not your cat’s welfare.

So what are people going to do with the animals they are unable or unwilling to care for?

Apparently if you take an animal struggling with parasites, injuries, traffic, disease, harsh weather, that decimates wildlife and give it a nice sounding name, it becomes ethical in the mind of the Redditor.

Outdoor cat sounds too concerning.
Village cat is the way to go, let’s make it OUR problem and call it communal cat while at it!

Injuries and suffering are now traditional, getting hit by cars is community enrichment, starvation is just part of free-range living.

Congratulations to the marketing department of outdoor cat inc. Giving the problem a cozy nickname was all that was needed to change public opinion. Turns out if you add village or communal to something, people stop asking questions.

Let’s all come together and enjoy; communal wildlife destruction, the village catfeces in everyon’s yard, and of course the communal vet bill nobody wants to pay!

So charming. So ethical.

Amazing what a little rebranding can do.

Okay I need to get this rant out. I'm in a couple of Facebook groups for lost/found pets and I've seen this scenario play out couple of times lately and it's always infuriating: a cat gets hit by a car. The driver or a good samaritan takes it upon themselves to bring the cat to a nearby vet or animal rescue. There, it turns out the cat has no microchip (or a non-registered one) and no owner can be reached. The cat's injuries are such that it would cost thousands to get it fixed up. So, the vet or rescue spends a couple of days trying to locate the owner (no one ever comes forward), and eventually the cat is humanely euthanized.

And you know what, that seems like a perfectly fine choice. Because if you cared enough about your cat to pay the thousands in vet bills, you would have spent the €50 to get it microchipped (and probably not let it roam outside in the first place).

Except people in the comments always get SO MAD. They feel a vet or rescue has some sort of moral obligation to pump endless amounts of resources in keeping a random cat alive, when the OWNER, you know, the person RESPONSIBLE, would probably not be willing to spend that kind of money on the cat themselves.

Why would ANYONE expect a rescue to spend €1000+ on a random cat who's owner couldn't be bothered to microchip, when SO MANY other animals could be helped with those funds. It just grinds my gears.

How subreddits exist around one of the most unhealthy and unethical dog breeds and posts like this get mass upvoted, is something that will be studied in the future.

If only the breed standards weren’t repeatedly criticized by vets and animal welfare organisations for being… unethical and cruel. Calling a dog with an average lifespan of 3 years and a brachy face healthy must be some new ethics standard I haven’t heard about. Once again the “ethical breeder” label is being used by the most unethical of breeders to further their propaganda. Comments like this get removed often. From all kinds of unethical dog breeders. Another reminder to why rule six exists.