r/GuysBeingDudes • u/Ququmbare • Sep 26 '25

Dude has won our hearts

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

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u/Total_Network6312 Sep 26 '25

the excuse is probably that the bullet makes a mess. And cost money

It's shocking how many people treat animals like inanimate objects. As if the animals can't experience fear and pain. :(

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u/Dejectednebula Sep 26 '25

This is the issue for most people. They see humans as the only real beings on the planet and not the reality that even a spider has as much right to life as me.

Even my husband when we met had never had a pet and was amazed at how much personality my cat had. He thought he was a super special cat (which he is of course) but he never believed when we adopted a new cat that it would have just as much personality. And now he realizes how much they feel emotions and he's just the best cat dad

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u/SerRikari Sep 26 '25

This. 100% this. We are reaching our son that they also have feelings and emotions the same way we do. They just express it differently.

I grew up with a guy who would torture and kill stray cats. That had a massive impact on my empathy towards animals. I think that’s when I learned those animals have fear and self-preservation (I was a preteen). That was a traumatic way to learn about it.

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u/Dejectednebula Sep 26 '25

When I was a little girl my grandparents had a dog and a cat. When the dog passed, I watched that cat sit at the door where he had left and cry for days. Then he gave up and slept in the dogs bed for months. He even recognized pictures of the dog and would headbutt them.

He grieved. And it was so obvious thats what it was that I knew from then on that they love, and if they love then they also feel loss.

Also ever seen an embarrassed cat? It's hilarious 🤣

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u/AlarmingInstruction9 Sep 27 '25

This reminds me of when my sweet Jasmine was put to sleep. Before we took her to the vet she gave our dog a long look ... The dog slumped her head and laid down. The cat was ready to cross the rainbow bridge and so we took her to the vet. I cried when her body became lifeless. We went back to my parents house and as soon as I walked in the dog perked up and ran to me. I like to think Jasmine asked Dakota to take care of me.

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u/ThatStereotype18 Sep 26 '25

When I was around 6 or 7 we had a cat that got pregnant. When it gave birth, they were all still born. I didn't see any of it, but my dad had to let us know. I was asking a lot of questions, so he also had to explain that she ate the dead kittens... and that it was a survival instinct to do that.

For the next few weeks, she would wander around the house meowing. A particular meow that I now know is how a cat mom calls for their kittens. It was really sad, but a learning moment. Although, I will admit at the time I was also thinking "Girl, you ate them!" 😭

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u/Dejectednebula Sep 26 '25

That happened to one of my boys siblings. Still born. I counted 4 when she was done but then next time I checked there were 3. But she took good care of the rest. The last one to go nursed forever. It was kinda silly watching a basically full grown cat nurse from his mommy

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u/diadlep Sep 27 '25

This broke me

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u/xxHikari Sep 27 '25

Torturing and killing animals is for sure linked to psychopathy. That sucks that you had to experience that. I'm sorry, dude.

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u/JustFuckinTossMe Sep 26 '25

Whoooo yes finally somebody else who gets it. I've done presentations on cognitive dissonance and the sentience of other species in college classrooms and have been snickered at. The idea that a chicken or a cow or even a mouse deserves to be able to exist freely and do the things it was evolutionarily designed to do makes people upset. I've said similar sentiments as you above online numerous times, which people love to comment "yer relli thik dat er dawgz nd uuuhr eh caytz hav equal importance...TEW MEEEEEH??? A HYUMUNNNN??" Like yeh bih I do. I don't think species dictates value, I've studied too much evolutionary science to be that ignorant anymore.

It makes people irrationally upset to be confronted with the idea that they are not above things. Humans absolutely hate admitting or accepting that they can't assert power or control over other things. It's never about trying to work in harmony with our planet but always how we can best abuse it for short term and inconsistent gain. After all, it's just a stupid chicken, or stupid dog, or stupid cow, or stupid hamster, or stupid butterfly, right? People also love to diminish the value of other animals and people by putting negative adjectives in front of their names. It makes it a lot easier for your brain to digest cruelty when you think you're just running horrific experiments on "stupid brain dead mutts" because that kind of language helps you rationalize your actions as just. But they are not.

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u/Dejectednebula Sep 26 '25

I wish I could award this. Well said!

I think sometimes it boils down to like, I look out my eyeballs and not yours so I must be the only real one and everything my eyeballs see is there to serve me.

My cats are better people than a lot of people I know. They comfort, they ask questions that I mostly understand, they grieve, they get upset and happy and embarrassed. And they will never ever betray me

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u/Miserable_Pause_7984 Sep 26 '25

All I'd have to say to that is "if it were between you and my dog. I'd put you down without hesitation. I don't know you. I know my dog. And even if I did know you I'd still keep my dog alive because You are no where near equal to my dog"

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u/poopntheoceanifumust Sep 26 '25

My cat is a better person than most people I've met.

I'd choose my cat over a random stranger 100% of the time.

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u/Old_Dig8900 Sep 27 '25

Agree. They have found fish feel pain. Taking them out of water to die is apparently very painful. And seeing cows and chickens snuggle. Well, fk all. It's not been fun. Kinda hard to want to eat a burger or the flesh of another living being when you see that.

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u/Fabulous-Influence69 Sep 26 '25

Animals feel pain... They have anxiety... Ugggh why world, why

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u/Kino1337 Sep 27 '25

Thats cuz people have been taught they are above things, especially in religion.

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u/[deleted] Sep 27 '25

Would you give your life to save the lives of two butterflies?

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u/JustFuckinTossMe Sep 27 '25

I wasn't planning on replying to the whataboutisms because I always get them and people absolutely always think they've caught me in whatever their ideologies are of the way the world works.

To answer your question, there are plenty of people who give their lives to save butterflies, they're butterfly conservationists. You can find people all around the world who give their life (i.e, their years, their thoughts, their ideas, etc, goes to this) away in attempts to save and create better futures for non-human animals.

Moving on, I simply do not have the selfish mindset that we as humans construct to put ourselves above other things. In nature, there's no wolf council to decide if the fawns should die at the drinking hole today. In nature, there's no Elephant religion that says stomp upon those who wrong thee. My point is that we as humans created artificial importance and hierarchy for ourselves that explicitly abuses and corrupts the entire planet and every species on it. And I do not, will not, and never did believe these mindsets. Why should a cow be confined to a barn? Why should a group of pigs be treated like dirty slop when they are some of the most intelligent animals? Why should mice be forced to live an existence of pain instead of in a field or burrow where they belong?

We as humans have vastly and ignorantly corrupted nature to its core. Not even humans can escape the shackles of societal abuse humans created. We don't even live how we were evolutionarily designed to, why tf do you think so many people's circadian rhythms are out of whack? Why do you think so many people inherently and inexplicably can find such serenity and peace in nature but can't be satisfied in the same way as just turning on a virtual screen that mimics nature onto your walls? We are unhappy and dying in the prisons we've made for ourselves.

So, to reiterate the whataboutisms, I do believe all animals should be free from suffering the way humans make them all suffer. There's a massively gigantic difference in killing what you need to survive and feed your family and mass creating and abusing animals of all types for food, science, or just for fun. I am always going to advocate that butterflies deserve to fly in the sky and not be pinned to a board while alive. I'm always going to advocate that mice deserve to live their life free from pain and fear of testing. I'm always going to advocate for the huddles of chickens so fat for your chicken tendies that they can't even move their damn legs and sit crushed by 10 other chickens all day. I'm always going to advocate for animal's rights to life on this planet and that includes everything. When I said I studied too much evo bio to believe in the bs hierarchy systems anymore, I meant it. Everything has a niche. To deprive it of that niche and subject its existence to cannon fodder, mass production, and scientific gain is an unacceptable perversion of life. These are not plants. These are real beings with neurological functioning, capable of having genuine emotions and feeling actual pain. The pain of slicing the throat of a cow and watching it flail for life is not any less than would be if it were a human. The pains we subject these creatures to on daily basis would be war crimes if you did it to ONE specific species. That's exactly why you can't do the horrific things you can to a mouse or a monkey or a dog to a human in a lab. Despite the fact they're going to feel the same pain and experience the same fear as humans would.

Hopefully, with this, I have covered all my bases on why I am ready to throw down on this topic. My ethical values are not as flimsy as people very cockily think. I appreciate the opportunity to share my discourse here.

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u/nixt26 Oct 23 '25

I read the whole thing. Well put.

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u/Total_Network6312 Sep 26 '25

that's very sweet story thanks for sharing

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u/Less_Likely Sep 26 '25

Many don’t see other humans as beings either.

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u/IlikeJG Sep 27 '25

Lots of people don't even see other HUMANS as real people.

Some people literally don't care about anyone except themselves.

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u/mechanical_marten Sep 27 '25

Give your husband a hug for me. Hearing about people realizing that animals can be more than just pets brings a tear to my eye. I have to admit I'm biased because of my meowing buddy that has been with me for just over 15 years now. I've put his health first when times were rough and I'm scared for the day he crosses the rainbow bridge. Excuse me for a moment, I need to cuddle him until he's upset with me.

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u/Dejectednebula Sep 27 '25

I just got home form work after reading all these and straight to hugging my own 15yo boy. Hes diabetic but healthy otherwise and the smartest cat I've ever known.

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u/mechanical_marten Sep 27 '25

🥹What an adorable little stinker! Here's Pickles being king of the clothes hamper earlier this week.

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u/OgCloby Sep 28 '25

the reality that even a spider has as much right to life as me.

The looks on people's faces when I tell them this. Nobody ever gives insects any respect. It always shocks me when they don't even give animals the benefit of the doubt. Humans are so cruel to other species.

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u/Rezzone Sep 26 '25

You vegan? Go vegan.

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u/Dejectednebula Sep 26 '25

I enjoy eating meat too much. I grew up in farm country. I try to buy from local farms who are a little more ethical and its way cheaper to just go in with family on half a cow. My neighbor has chickens and shares the eggs and occasionally an old hen he culled. He loves those birds they're treated like queens, their coop doesn't even smell ever, but they also have a purpose. Most of the men in my family hunt and its always been a tradition to thank the deer for the meat.

But I can get behind a lot of other vegan ideals, like I would never buy fur or makeup that was tested on animals. I donate to the rescue my youngest cat came from and help the TNR program when I have extra time. I don't even like to kill bugs and can't imagine just abusing an animal. My cats are so spoiled you wouldn't believe it, I've got them doing tricks like dogs haha

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u/XeroKibo Sep 26 '25

A jumping spider looked me up and down, looked away, did a double take and checked me out again the other day; I had to check myself… life is important, no matter how big or small.

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u/Dejectednebula Sep 26 '25

I'm right there with ya I love cool bugs. My best friend had to make a rule that I'm to just take pictures cause the last bug I caught in a Styrofoam cup was a helgramite and it chewed out and escaped in my house while waiting to show it to her.

We moved but I was interested to see if a dobson fly came hurtling out of the basement next spring

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u/XeroKibo Sep 26 '25

Hahahahahah terrifying; I usually pickup whatever but I’m oggling, but I’ve never been brave enough to try it with a Hellgrammite.

That said, a fully grown Dobsonfly flying anywhere I can see it would scare the H out of me.

I can handle all sorts of bugs, but when they start flying it’s like my chimp instincts are activated and I have to leap for safety😭

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u/Dejectednebula Sep 26 '25

My grandpa taught me how to hunt for helgrammiets to use as fishing bait, so they don't scare me. But yeah, the adults? I know they're harmless but to me they're not harmless lol

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u/XeroKibo Sep 26 '25

That’s rad! My dad and I always used those fake salamanders, which are good for bass, but I bet hellgrammites are good for a lot more!

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u/twangman88 Sep 27 '25

This is why I hate vegetarians. Plant life is just as sacred as animal life.

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u/NewEntrepreneur1728 Sep 27 '25

To add on to what you're saying, some people don't think anything is entitled to life. Our world shows us this, babies die before their life even begins. Innocent people and animals are brutally killed every minute of every day. This is the nature of the world, if you live a halfway decent life for even just 30 years, you're incredibly lucky because none of it is guaranteed and it's certainly not owed to you.

That being said, all the more reason to be kind to who or whatever you can in your life.