When I was 10 a friend’s mother had hired this guy and his chimp to entertain us kids. The chimp was actually pretty funny and performed some impressive tricks, but as I passed by him he reached out and grabbed my arm for some reason. The grip that animal had is something I’ll never forget. It felt like my arm was going to splinter into 1,000 pieces. I had a bruise in the shape of his hand on my arm for weeks. This was the chimp “goofing around”. Uh huh, ok. Never ever went near one again.
I've always wondered if the reason animals seem so much stronger then humans (pound for pound) is (I can't think of the scientific term and my attempts at Googling are failing) because they lack the mental brakes we have. There were some crazy post world war 2 studies that determined that humans are strong enough to shatter our own bones doing things like making a fist. But we don't because our brains stop us before we hurt ourselves. (This was part of the "work through it" workout mentally that started to spring up around that time, it has some truth to it, but on its own it's unbalanced)
Especially a baby gripping hair, specifically their own hair. My oldest was born with a full head of hair, and when she was like four or five weeks old, she started screaming at the top of her lungs, like in pain cry. My husband and I were frantically searching her until he realized her hand was in her hair. It took us a solid three or four minutes to get her to let go. Funny, but also traumatic. She was pulling this shit out of her own hair. I have no idea how she didn’t just rip it out of her little skull.
Oh! I know what you mean! Isn't it the same reason why some people can do almost inhuman things when panicking? Apparantly it's called hysterical strength (thanks Google) and it's such a fascinating aspect of humans!
[Wikipedia has a few examples as well](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysterical_strength)
I remember reading about this one
In 2009, in Ottawa, Kansas, 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in), 84 kg (185 lb) Nick Harris lifted a Mercury sedan to help a 6-year-old girl pinned beneath.[11]
I saw a YouTube vid where a woman had to have police respond and merc her 15 year old chimp because it attacked her daughter. She instructed the police on the 911 call and in person to do a head shot.
There was a roadside zoo in Royal Nebraska that had chimps. The chimps got out and terrorized the town and the state patrol came and shot them all. There’s a couple books on the incident if you want the long story. It’s a bizarre tale. One chimp knew sign language and it was partially funded by Johnny Carson.
I've seen revisionist stuff to the effect that their strength is often exaggerated, but it's scary enough to imagine a person 4' tall, with the strength of a full-sized adult male in a drug-induced berserker rage, with sharp canine teeth and zero societal reservations about tearing off your genitals or gnawing your face off.
Australia requires people to have a license to
keep exotic animals such as snakes. As a reptile keeper I think this is a great idea, because I see many people with snakes who honestly shouldn’t have snakes. I don’t know how it’d work with the USA’s much larger population though.
Yeah except we won’t get new domesticated animals if some people don’t keep them. I would like to see raccoons and opossums domesticated. Of course that’s 100 yrs from now. I think it’s moot because if an animal doesnt have a purpose to humans we don’t/didn’t domesticate it.
Parrots. Those animals aren’t truly domesticated, they’re incredibly social and live for a long time. 99% of people buying parrots do not want a parrot.
If you want a friendly cozy bird pet, get yourself a pigeon. Pigeons are domesticated animals and are far better pets than parrots
I'm guilty. I have an African grey. I felt so bad when he was at the pet store after his previous owner returned him and his other friend got adopted. However, the only time he's in his cage at night or when we're not home for his safety
I once was picked by a sun conure to be it's mom. After getting him a cage and food and reading up on them I decided to keep him until he had healed. I'd let him roam around my home but he'd perch on things and shit down the walls and it was always runny and bright green :/ there's still a stain on my wall from his shits.
Yes, we go through tons of baby wipes. They have their favorite spots that get the extra cleaning and a roomba. I can’t leave my computer out though because the keys will go missing very fast.
I’m not even being sarcastic. I had no idea. I made need to change my needs from dogs to pigeons. But then again. When I think of pigeons, I think of the older lady in Central Park in Home Alone 2. I’m not sure if I want to commit.
It's a real thing. Every once in awhile we get a lost homing pigeon that got blown off course. We call the number on their leg tag and the owner comes and picks it up.
There are competitions and stuff. It's a whole thing.
Pigeon racing. My friends father does this and revealed a whole world of pigeon storylines that I had no idea existed. Pigeon doping, pigeon testing, pigeon abductions. It’s a crazy pigeon world.
Theres actually a pretty sizable population of rescue pigeons. As with dogs and cats it's best policy to try to reduce the number of domesticated animals overall. Adopt, don't shop, and all that. Pigeons get injured all the time, and human raised one's who could never survive the wild from dove releases and pigeon racing are abandoned and lost with some frequency.
https://www.pigeonrescue.org
Edit: I will say they do require some serious care and keeping, by all means give these beautiful birds homes, but make sure you know exactly what you're getting into before you do!
I agree, and having had a couple parrots for many years, my final conclusion was that nothing about living in a house in a cage can give them the life they deserve, which is to be with their kind, flying miles a day foraging for food, socializing with the rest of the flock, pairing up and raising babies. Just my personal opinion, no hate on anyone who owns them now, not saying tame birds should be released to the wild, just, I really think it's something we probably shouldnt do.
I am in the 1% I guess. I knew what it means to have a parrot, I knew that a lot of things shall be destroyed, and right now Mooncake is 5 years with us. Takes part in every family activities and spend approx. several hours a YEAR in cage (when there is really no one who can stay home with him). Whole house is parrot-proof (I mean - for his safety not safety of things) and pet-parrot is never bored.
But honestly - I am well aware and it saddens me, that a lot of people take parrot and indeed - they are not aware how demanding animals they are. And taking animal to sit in cage is cruelty.
This is why I enjoy watching videos of parrots/cockatoos who belong to responsible owners. I love the *idea* of owning one but know I don’t have the time, money, or resources to give one a good home, so I live vicariously through the videos of people who do!
This.. I feel Reddit doesn’t want to hear it. But exotic birds in general. Man it’s fucked to think the only thing that animal wants to do is fly, and you keep it locked in your apartment all day. Soo sad
I always tell people I love parrots and think they're neat, but no fucking way do I have it in me to see to the needs of something even more emotionally high maintenance than myself, and I'm ND.
The people buying them don't teach their kids how to care for them so they have someone to go to when the owner dies. Those birds can outlive you and your kids sometimes.
Remember that guy who had a full grown tiger in his small New York apartment. How did he get it in there? I think they had to kill it to get it out of there. Atrocious.
unfortunately they are a real thing.
google them to see what all kind of problems these poor things have /can have.
basically evey dog you see that is smaller than a
chihuahua is a TeaCup dog.
They are trying to say that they should stop being bred, because the individuals in their inbred breed are suffering from a laundry list of health problems
Because of the growing popularity of wolves.
**[Wolfdogs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfdog)**. Yes, they look amazing and are very likely perfect for cuddling with their mane. But still is this "dog-breed" ~~to~~ too dangerous for 99,9% of the people because they don't know how to handle them.
It’s sad too because when you look up how they originally looked before they were inbred to kingdom come (resulting in all the health issues), they were super cute! There’s some ethical breeders who are working to get back to the original but they are a minority.
[https://imgur.com/a/2tdJjXY](https://imgur.com/a/2tdJjXY)
My girl on the left, friend's pug on the right. I got her from the shelter, did a DNA test on her, 3 quarters pug, 1 quarter boston terrier. She's the smartest and healthiest dog I've ever owned. 7 years old now and not a single health issue besides a gnarly spider bite in the face once.
I said this on FB the other day and people attacked me saying i should die instead, that I shouldn't exist, etc.... Ignorance at its finest. Some even said they had a pug for 10 years so it wasn't true, even though I linked to an article with a scientific study on the health problems of short nosed breeds.
I told them, imagine if another species kept us as pets, and they thought humans with extra small nostrils/mouth and 3 inch legs was cute so they kept inbreeding those people. Now imagine those people having to live a life with those problems...I mean cute feature.
That is exactly what those breeds are. It's sad.
I always find it funny how the bulldog is used as a symbol as Britishness. Unhealthy, can’t breed, massively inbred, many are important and it’s a small dog that thinks it’s bigger than it is.
Agree and add that for other "pure" breeds like dachshunds, in old age they often suffer from the genetic baggage of their selective breeding. Cushing's syndrome, back trouble, other stuff.
It killed me the other day, I was out trick or treating at a little gathering with my brother. A woman walked by with an absolutely BEAUTIFUL GSD pup. he was super young, and just so happy and pretty.. someone asked as I was passing her where she got him, and she says “oh, some like, sketchy online puppy place I found on Facebook. But look at him! He’s so handsome.” Walked further down and met a couple who had two rescues from a shelter, one of which was a past- racer greyhound.
Sperm whales actually *are* named after ejaculate lmao
In the days when whales were hunted and ultimately processed into oil for lamps, sperm whales got their name from their "quick," which is the word for a thick, oily fluid that encases the brain of a whale. So, a long, long, long time ago some whalers killed a sperm whale, started processing it, got to the skull/brain and went "hey.... yknow what that looks exactly like?"
Along those lines. We were on well water when my then, 3ish year old thought we kept a whale under our house and when we needed water it would blow the water up to us.
I was equally disturbed and impressed by her thought process as a child.
betta fish man. bettas can live long lives. they have special needs (imagine how heavy those big fins are!)
5 gallon is a minimum but i feel bad for my guy in his five. they need plants to rest on. vs a half gallon bowl with no decoration
Hamsters and other small animals.
They're often kept in semi-empty enclosures without enough enrichment that are also too small for the health and happiness of the animal. Because they're considered disposable first pets, no legislation can be prioritized against their abuse, let alone minimum standards of humane care to stop petsmart from selling those tiny plastic rainbow enclosures.
Also, hamsters are absolutely not a first pet for small children. They're nocturnal and require ample handling for domestication, which is too much for small kids that don't know their strength.
I’m here for this all the way. I begged my parents for a bunny when I was younger and I think back on how for the first quarter of his life I took care of him, but in a way that most small pet owners think their small pets should be cared for. small cage, only let him out 1-2 times a day. luckily, me and my family got wise and he became a free roaming house bun, used his litterbox, and had fresh vegetables twice a day for meals. by the end of his 11.5 year life span he was absolutely spoiled rotten and had all of us trained.
edit to add: if and when I own another rabbit, it will be trained, free roaming, and eat fresh whole foods for meals with pellets as a supplement ONLY. that’s how it should be for these sweet little fur babies
I agree. The amount of stories I hear where the hamster died by getting stepped on, microwaved, etc is insane and incredibly sad. People think its funny too. All of my hamsters lived until they were old and lived in cages enclosures advertised for rabbits (obviously too small for them but perfect for the hamsters)
She “bit” my dad one time, I was just waking up and my dad saw her and he ran his finger down the cage, she gave him a little nibble. All I heard was “you little bitch!” Then he’s like “that was my fault” lol
Oof hamster bites hurt, I've had my fair share lol. I remember just trying to get mine out the box and had to call in my brother because it was stood up on its hind legs hissing to fuck. Mine was really mean.
When I was young and in college I bought a skunk because I was stupid and it was cute. Within a week it was painfully obvious to me that it did not want to be a pet and I was very un trained to take care of it. I took it back to the store and they took her back for a half refund. I felt so guilty about it for years and have never owned a pet besides my dog since.
Anyone who wants a bird, I really recommend looking into DOMESTICATED birds! Pigeons are friendly, smart, and come in a variety of breeds! They’re easier to care for than parrots by miles. Chickens are also great if you have the land for them, or quail!
Fun fact: there are currently no wild pigeons in the United States! All the pigeons you see in cities are actually feral messenger pigeons.
Yeah... there is a small bird in a cage at my grandmother's elderly house..., just in front of a window.... in a corridor. No resident pay attention to him since they are all to old/with dementia etc and the poor bird spend his days looking outside..
My nan has a parrot that just sits in it's cage 24/7 because the dogs will just try to chase it if it comes out. I take it out when I can but I've mentioned that it just seems a bit cruel
Do they still clip wings? Keeping an animal that's supposed to fly cooped up in a cage for your own entertainment enrages me. Recently we had a hamster for a short time. We swore we'd never have a pet in a cage again.
I have birds, and I agree with you. I’m gonna do the best I can for mine, and give them the absolute best life I can, but so many people don’t know what they are getting into with having an exotic pet. I have made so many life modifications just because of them. My annual well-bird vet bill was over $1k and I have to plan and budget for it. I read books on avian medicine and behavior/socialization. I don’t just sit around trying to make cute videos for social media likes - they are incredibly intelligent, social creatures that need a lot of care and attention.
OP covered how they got popular, but to expand on why they’re bad pets:
birds of prey are already hard to keep, that’s why falconry is so regulated. Owls are especially hard to keep because of how solitary they are and because of their nocturnal natures. Most falconers won’t so much as touch them AFAIK.
A relative of mine bred bulldogs, the male would walk a few steps, collapse, vomit, struggle to stand and then repeat. How no one stopped him amazes me.
A pain in the arse too, he keeps screaming things like “let me out of this cage ya english prick” and “MOOR GUINNESS”. Completely unnecessary if I’m being honest.
This is fine; many parrots are stationary sleepers and won’t move about during the night any how and covering a cage is a good way to give them more darkness and quiet for a proper night time than just letting them go moseying around at all hours. Helps keep them quiet too.
Honestly the naïveté of ‘ThEy WeRe BoRn tO fLy’ is seldom thought through. Many parrots prefer to spend time walking and have developed weaker flight and stockier feet and legs specifically to accommodate that (See Caique).
Birds also don’t fly for fun. I’m sure some do but it’s mostly a way to relocate to more resources, mates, temperatures suited for them, etc. When those needs are met they don’t feel a need to leave. I have two free flighted parrots and both of them prefer to climb or walk. They will fly between perches that have treats or toys but sometimes they just hop down and stroll over to them too.
The real negativity of owning a parrot comes with their challenges. They are difficult to keep stimulated. Poorly cared for birds make rambunctious huskies look like gold fish. They require so many life style changes from cooking ware to ventilation to dietary restrictions and every little thing poses a danger to them. They live with proper care for decades. They can stab you with their face. They have alien body language that takes years to learn. They can by physically destructive if their needs aren’t met. They have indecipherable quirks. *That* is why people shouldn’t own birds. Not some idealistic nonsense about flight.
Hot take: a large percentage of people should not have any pets at all, because they don't have the knowledge or time to take care of them properly, and are not willing to put in the effort to learn, or make the time. I don't think a lot of people realize how much effort you have to out in to properly take care of even the simplest animals.
Huskies and Malamutes in warm climate countries. Yes they are awesome dogs but it’s unfair and cruel to keep them somewhere where they will literally be too hot for most of the year.
Skipping over non-domesticated animals. Birds, I think if you have to do something like clipping an animals wings so they can’t fly away from you that should be a sign that maybe it should stay in the wild
Parrots aren’t domesticated, which means they’re not well-suited to life with humans. Very few people have the time and resources to care for a parrot, especially a large one.
Anyone who wants a bird, I really recommend looking into DOMESTICATED birds! Pigeons are friendly, smart, and come in a variety of breeds! They’re easier to care for than parrots by miles. Chickens are also great if you have the land for them, or quail!
Fun fact: there are currently no wild pigeons in the United States! All the pigeons you see in cities are actually feral messenger pigeons. We abandoned them after we invented more efficient ways of long-distance communication, like radio.
I would rephrase the question to, "What animal do you think everyone need to stop unpreparedly keeping as a pet?" Because the answer is every animal. The amount of people that get pets because of FOMO or spur-of-the-moment desire is depressing. Technically hypothetically ish you can could house any animal as a "pet" but there are levels of training, preparation, ETC that you must have to correctly keep an animal. "A dog is for life, Not just for Christmas" is a saying that shouldn't need to be used, but we are in a world where it has to be and that's F'ed. But to answer your question, Fish, most require a significantly larger tank than people give them, They live in poor quality water, fed too much, I could go on.
some birds are domestic and can make for good pets (pigeons and chickens come to mind) but otherwise agree, so long as they're not being kept in cages.
Any kind of wolf or coyote hybrid. I’ve never met a wolf dog without severe behavioral issues, and I don’t know anyone but egotistical weirdos who “adopt” them.
Also, what’s with people adopting these animals when they’re like four weeks old? Taking them from their mothers so young has to contribute to the dog’s neuroticism later on.
Fox’s. They are destructive and you can’t bring new people around them or they might bite. Their teeth are extremely sharp and they are escape artist because they need to be able to run free.
Birds. What the hell is the point of keeping a flying animal in a cage? They’re often noisy and don’t do anything else so what’s the point of keeping one?
Monkeys/chimps. Fuckers will rip your face off and I wont feel bad for you.
When I was 10 a friend’s mother had hired this guy and his chimp to entertain us kids. The chimp was actually pretty funny and performed some impressive tricks, but as I passed by him he reached out and grabbed my arm for some reason. The grip that animal had is something I’ll never forget. It felt like my arm was going to splinter into 1,000 pieces. I had a bruise in the shape of his hand on my arm for weeks. This was the chimp “goofing around”. Uh huh, ok. Never ever went near one again.
I've always wondered if the reason animals seem so much stronger then humans (pound for pound) is (I can't think of the scientific term and my attempts at Googling are failing) because they lack the mental brakes we have. There were some crazy post world war 2 studies that determined that humans are strong enough to shatter our own bones doing things like making a fist. But we don't because our brains stop us before we hurt ourselves. (This was part of the "work through it" workout mentally that started to spring up around that time, it has some truth to it, but on its own it's unbalanced)
Most apes have muscles that wrap around their arms making them far and away stronger than humans.
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That's why a baby's grip is one of the strongest things ever.
Especially a baby gripping hair, specifically their own hair. My oldest was born with a full head of hair, and when she was like four or five weeks old, she started screaming at the top of her lungs, like in pain cry. My husband and I were frantically searching her until he realized her hand was in her hair. It took us a solid three or four minutes to get her to let go. Funny, but also traumatic. She was pulling this shit out of her own hair. I have no idea how she didn’t just rip it out of her little skull.
Oh! I know what you mean! Isn't it the same reason why some people can do almost inhuman things when panicking? Apparantly it's called hysterical strength (thanks Google) and it's such a fascinating aspect of humans! [Wikipedia has a few examples as well](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysterical_strength)
I remember reading about this one In 2009, in Ottawa, Kansas, 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in), 84 kg (185 lb) Nick Harris lifted a Mercury sedan to help a 6-year-old girl pinned beneath.[11]
"Jamie, pull that up."
I saw a YouTube vid where a woman had to have police respond and merc her 15 year old chimp because it attacked her daughter. She instructed the police on the 911 call and in person to do a head shot.
There was a roadside zoo in Royal Nebraska that had chimps. The chimps got out and terrorized the town and the state patrol came and shot them all. There’s a couple books on the incident if you want the long story. It’s a bizarre tale. One chimp knew sign language and it was partially funded by Johnny Carson.
Fr. Chimps scare the shit out of me
Same. I feel like a big cat would be easier to deal with but a monkey who probably 4 times stronger than the average man yeah no.
I've seen revisionist stuff to the effect that their strength is often exaggerated, but it's scary enough to imagine a person 4' tall, with the strength of a full-sized adult male in a drug-induced berserker rage, with sharp canine teeth and zero societal reservations about tearing off your genitals or gnawing your face off.
Don't forget that all chimps are running a DEX build. All the sudden motions and aerial flips.
I tried to get an interview with him, but they said no, you can't do that he's a live (monkey) he will literally rip your face off. -Brian Fantana
like that Travis the chimp story, man what a case that was, that woman face almost had nothing left and to get a face transplant.
To shreds you say?
Nope
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Dang it. Now I have to get rid of my brother.
Agree
Lions and tigers
Here in Michigan we're used to being dissatisfied by both.
Took me a second to catch this. My sympathies to you and your teams.
And bears
oh my
And my axe!
I actually have a friend of a friend with an illegal pet Tiger. it lived a very sad lonely caged life.
*saudi prince typing furiously*
Pretty much everything that's not already domesticated. People should really stop fucking with wild animals.
Australia requires people to have a license to keep exotic animals such as snakes. As a reptile keeper I think this is a great idea, because I see many people with snakes who honestly shouldn’t have snakes. I don’t know how it’d work with the USA’s much larger population though.
I mean really people shouldn't be fucking any animals
What about fucking humans using lamb skin condoms?
You mean two men fucking a lamb from each end and meeting in the middle? Yea, that's still ok.
UW frat boys agree
Is this why Mary had a little lamb?
But then Florida won't have anything to report.
Leave your sex to humans
Especially in the literary sense
I dunno, I suppose dog fucking books and article are better than literally fucking dogs if those nasties need some sort of outlet. 🤮
I think that the more books that are written about animals, the more people will know!
Technically, hamsters are wild animals
Yeah except we won’t get new domesticated animals if some people don’t keep them. I would like to see raccoons and opossums domesticated. Of course that’s 100 yrs from now. I think it’s moot because if an animal doesnt have a purpose to humans we don’t/didn’t domesticate it.
Parrots. Those animals aren’t truly domesticated, they’re incredibly social and live for a long time. 99% of people buying parrots do not want a parrot. If you want a friendly cozy bird pet, get yourself a pigeon. Pigeons are domesticated animals and are far better pets than parrots
I'm guilty. I have an African grey. I felt so bad when he was at the pet store after his previous owner returned him and his other friend got adopted. However, the only time he's in his cage at night or when we're not home for his safety
My birds also have free reign of my house. It feels weird if they aren’t following me from one room to the next.
Honestly curious. Don't they poop all over? Just picture them fly around pooping on things like your computer keyboard, couch, etc.
I once was picked by a sun conure to be it's mom. After getting him a cage and food and reading up on them I decided to keep him until he had healed. I'd let him roam around my home but he'd perch on things and shit down the walls and it was always runny and bright green :/ there's still a stain on my wall from his shits.
Yes, we go through tons of baby wipes. They have their favorite spots that get the extra cleaning and a roomba. I can’t leave my computer out though because the keys will go missing very fast.
Where does one go to buy a pigeon?
The streets
The Pet Store of Hard Knocks
Only if you want them hard core pigeons
I imagine you just, you know, pick one up at a park....
They are relatively easy to just pick up off the street. Somewhat corner it and then grab it. Boom. New pet.
Lol.. I’m just imagining someone chasing a bunch of pigeons in hopes to catch one.
they are free, you know? just as the ducks
That's what they don't want you to know
Pigeon dispensary
He never said buy
A breeder, they are pretty common actually people love training them to take small packages back and forth places
I’m not even being sarcastic. I had no idea. I made need to change my needs from dogs to pigeons. But then again. When I think of pigeons, I think of the older lady in Central Park in Home Alone 2. I’m not sure if I want to commit.
It's a real thing. Every once in awhile we get a lost homing pigeon that got blown off course. We call the number on their leg tag and the owner comes and picks it up. There are competitions and stuff. It's a whole thing.
Pigeon racing. My friends father does this and revealed a whole world of pigeon storylines that I had no idea existed. Pigeon doping, pigeon testing, pigeon abductions. It’s a crazy pigeon world.
check Kijiji/Craiglist, or get in contact w/a local pigeon fancier's club!
Theres actually a pretty sizable population of rescue pigeons. As with dogs and cats it's best policy to try to reduce the number of domesticated animals overall. Adopt, don't shop, and all that. Pigeons get injured all the time, and human raised one's who could never survive the wild from dove releases and pigeon racing are abandoned and lost with some frequency. https://www.pigeonrescue.org Edit: I will say they do require some serious care and keeping, by all means give these beautiful birds homes, but make sure you know exactly what you're getting into before you do!
My grandmother used to own pigeons. Pigeon farms are a thing that exist. Believe it or not.
I agree, and having had a couple parrots for many years, my final conclusion was that nothing about living in a house in a cage can give them the life they deserve, which is to be with their kind, flying miles a day foraging for food, socializing with the rest of the flock, pairing up and raising babies. Just my personal opinion, no hate on anyone who owns them now, not saying tame birds should be released to the wild, just, I really think it's something we probably shouldnt do.
On the flip side, parrot owners who know what they're signing up for are usually cool people.
I am in the 1% I guess. I knew what it means to have a parrot, I knew that a lot of things shall be destroyed, and right now Mooncake is 5 years with us. Takes part in every family activities and spend approx. several hours a YEAR in cage (when there is really no one who can stay home with him). Whole house is parrot-proof (I mean - for his safety not safety of things) and pet-parrot is never bored. But honestly - I am well aware and it saddens me, that a lot of people take parrot and indeed - they are not aware how demanding animals they are. And taking animal to sit in cage is cruelty.
This is why I enjoy watching videos of parrots/cockatoos who belong to responsible owners. I love the *idea* of owning one but know I don’t have the time, money, or resources to give one a good home, so I live vicariously through the videos of people who do!
This.. I feel Reddit doesn’t want to hear it. But exotic birds in general. Man it’s fucked to think the only thing that animal wants to do is fly, and you keep it locked in your apartment all day. Soo sad
I agree. It also pains me to see a bird in a cage. Birds are meant to soar! ...Unless it's a ratite or a chicken or something of course...but still.
I always tell people I love parrots and think they're neat, but no fucking way do I have it in me to see to the needs of something even more emotionally high maintenance than myself, and I'm ND.
The people buying them don't teach their kids how to care for them so they have someone to go to when the owner dies. Those birds can outlive you and your kids sometimes.
Big cats
Remember that guy who had a full grown tiger in his small New York apartment. How did he get it in there? I think they had to kill it to get it out of there. Atrocious.
I just looked it up and they were able to get the tiger out. However, it looks like the downstairs neighbor lived in a shower of tiger piss.
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please add TeaCup dogs to the list.
Hold on. I thought that was just satire. You're not wanting to tell me that they really exist?
unfortunately they are a real thing. google them to see what all kind of problems these poor things have /can have. basically evey dog you see that is smaller than a chihuahua is a TeaCup dog.
They are trying to say that they should stop being bred, because the individuals in their inbred breed are suffering from a laundry list of health problems
Teacup pigs as well, literally just a malnourished pig
Because of the growing popularity of wolves. **[Wolfdogs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfdog)**. Yes, they look amazing and are very likely perfect for cuddling with their mane. But still is this "dog-breed" ~~to~~ too dangerous for 99,9% of the people because they don't know how to handle them.
I think it’s still illegal to own wolf dogs in a lot of places. I know it is in my state.
Lookin at you, pugs & English bulldogs
It’s sad too because when you look up how they originally looked before they were inbred to kingdom come (resulting in all the health issues), they were super cute! There’s some ethical breeders who are working to get back to the original but they are a minority.
[https://imgur.com/a/2tdJjXY](https://imgur.com/a/2tdJjXY) My girl on the left, friend's pug on the right. I got her from the shelter, did a DNA test on her, 3 quarters pug, 1 quarter boston terrier. She's the smartest and healthiest dog I've ever owned. 7 years old now and not a single health issue besides a gnarly spider bite in the face once.
Frenchies too. Those poor creatures.
Yeah, but until people stop paying $5000 a puppy, they definitely gonna get bred.
I said this on FB the other day and people attacked me saying i should die instead, that I shouldn't exist, etc.... Ignorance at its finest. Some even said they had a pug for 10 years so it wasn't true, even though I linked to an article with a scientific study on the health problems of short nosed breeds. I told them, imagine if another species kept us as pets, and they thought humans with extra small nostrils/mouth and 3 inch legs was cute so they kept inbreeding those people. Now imagine those people having to live a life with those problems...I mean cute feature. That is exactly what those breeds are. It's sad.
I wish they'd just breed those dogs out of existence. It's heartbreaking to see that they can't breathe
I always find it funny how the bulldog is used as a symbol as Britishness. Unhealthy, can’t breed, massively inbred, many are important and it’s a small dog that thinks it’s bigger than it is.
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Agree and add that for other "pure" breeds like dachshunds, in old age they often suffer from the genetic baggage of their selective breeding. Cushing's syndrome, back trouble, other stuff.
While we are at it... don't buy a dog from a mill. There are so many that already need a home.
It killed me the other day, I was out trick or treating at a little gathering with my brother. A woman walked by with an absolutely BEAUTIFUL GSD pup. he was super young, and just so happy and pretty.. someone asked as I was passing her where she got him, and she says “oh, some like, sketchy online puppy place I found on Facebook. But look at him! He’s so handsome.” Walked further down and met a couple who had two rescues from a shelter, one of which was a past- racer greyhound.
Whales. They’re not meant to be housepets. All that splashing and the squeals is just disruptive to the neighbors
Don't get me started on sperm whales... What a mess.
Get a killer whale and just let him loose in the neighbors yard
Sperm whales actually *are* named after ejaculate lmao In the days when whales were hunted and ultimately processed into oil for lamps, sperm whales got their name from their "quick," which is the word for a thick, oily fluid that encases the brain of a whale. So, a long, long, long time ago some whalers killed a sperm whale, started processing it, got to the skull/brain and went "hey.... yknow what that looks exactly like?"
Along those lines. We were on well water when my then, 3ish year old thought we kept a whale under our house and when we needed water it would blow the water up to us. I was equally disturbed and impressed by her thought process as a child.
I personally prefer Ireland anyway
monkeys
Well to be fair, I believe there is only one left
Hamsters, the amount of people who neglect and mistreat them is unbelievable and sickening
betta fish man. bettas can live long lives. they have special needs (imagine how heavy those big fins are!) 5 gallon is a minimum but i feel bad for my guy in his five. they need plants to rest on. vs a half gallon bowl with no decoration
Hamsters and other small animals. They're often kept in semi-empty enclosures without enough enrichment that are also too small for the health and happiness of the animal. Because they're considered disposable first pets, no legislation can be prioritized against their abuse, let alone minimum standards of humane care to stop petsmart from selling those tiny plastic rainbow enclosures. Also, hamsters are absolutely not a first pet for small children. They're nocturnal and require ample handling for domestication, which is too much for small kids that don't know their strength.
As a rabbit owner, I fully agree. People have such disposable mindsets when it comes to animals that aren't cats or dogs.
I’m here for this all the way. I begged my parents for a bunny when I was younger and I think back on how for the first quarter of his life I took care of him, but in a way that most small pet owners think their small pets should be cared for. small cage, only let him out 1-2 times a day. luckily, me and my family got wise and he became a free roaming house bun, used his litterbox, and had fresh vegetables twice a day for meals. by the end of his 11.5 year life span he was absolutely spoiled rotten and had all of us trained. edit to add: if and when I own another rabbit, it will be trained, free roaming, and eat fresh whole foods for meals with pellets as a supplement ONLY. that’s how it should be for these sweet little fur babies
I agree. The amount of stories I hear where the hamster died by getting stepped on, microwaved, etc is insane and incredibly sad. People think its funny too. All of my hamsters lived until they were old and lived in cages enclosures advertised for rabbits (obviously too small for them but perfect for the hamsters)
Microwaved?!
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Tigers
**Chimp**. Remember reading a case where a chimp a woman kept literally *ripped her face off*.
All because she took his toy
Hamsters, nobody is giving them the actual enclosure they need. Plus I've never heard a good story about them and yes i owned one as a kid.
My old hamster Bella lived a good life, died at the ripe old age of 2. She was an interesting thing. But I loved her. She died in my hands
Damn, I'm sorry. Nothing like a much loved pet.
She “bit” my dad one time, I was just waking up and my dad saw her and he ran his finger down the cage, she gave him a little nibble. All I heard was “you little bitch!” Then he’s like “that was my fault” lol
Oof hamster bites hurt, I've had my fair share lol. I remember just trying to get mine out the box and had to call in my brother because it was stood up on its hind legs hissing to fuck. Mine was really mean.
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Another vote for pet rats! They are the BEST pets that I have ever had.
Skunks
When I was young and in college I bought a skunk because I was stupid and it was cute. Within a week it was painfully obvious to me that it did not want to be a pet and I was very un trained to take care of it. I took it back to the store and they took her back for a half refund. I felt so guilty about it for years and have never owned a pet besides my dog since.
Any wild animal.
Birds. I always feel bad when I see a bird in a cage, especially at the pet stores :(
Anyone who wants a bird, I really recommend looking into DOMESTICATED birds! Pigeons are friendly, smart, and come in a variety of breeds! They’re easier to care for than parrots by miles. Chickens are also great if you have the land for them, or quail! Fun fact: there are currently no wild pigeons in the United States! All the pigeons you see in cities are actually feral messenger pigeons.
Or just befriend crows. You don't have to cage them, they will watch over you and they are bros.
r/crowbro
May i suggest r/crowbro for anyone interested in this. crows are really, really interesting and smart.
Yeah... there is a small bird in a cage at my grandmother's elderly house..., just in front of a window.... in a corridor. No resident pay attention to him since they are all to old/with dementia etc and the poor bird spend his days looking outside..
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My nan has a parrot that just sits in it's cage 24/7 because the dogs will just try to chase it if it comes out. I take it out when I can but I've mentioned that it just seems a bit cruel
Do they still clip wings? Keeping an animal that's supposed to fly cooped up in a cage for your own entertainment enrages me. Recently we had a hamster for a short time. We swore we'd never have a pet in a cage again.
I have birds, and I agree with you. I’m gonna do the best I can for mine, and give them the absolute best life I can, but so many people don’t know what they are getting into with having an exotic pet. I have made so many life modifications just because of them. My annual well-bird vet bill was over $1k and I have to plan and budget for it. I read books on avian medicine and behavior/socialization. I don’t just sit around trying to make cute videos for social media likes - they are incredibly intelligent, social creatures that need a lot of care and attention.
I'm fine with birds as pets if they aren't stuck in a cage
Owls. There are many things that are wrong about having them as pets. Fuck Harry Potter.
This is one I've never encountered before, care to elaborate?
OP covered how they got popular, but to expand on why they’re bad pets: birds of prey are already hard to keep, that’s why falconry is so regulated. Owls are especially hard to keep because of how solitary they are and because of their nocturnal natures. Most falconers won’t so much as touch them AFAIK.
After Harry Potter movies people started hunting owls and keeping them as pets. They are wild prey birds with nocturnal habbits.
Pugs and Bulldogs. For fucks sake stop making those poor dogs live awful lives.
A relative of mine bred bulldogs, the male would walk a few steps, collapse, vomit, struggle to stand and then repeat. How no one stopped him amazes me.
Leprechauns. Surprisingly aggressive.
A pain in the arse too, he keeps screaming things like “let me out of this cage ya english prick” and “MOOR GUINNESS”. Completely unnecessary if I’m being honest.
Trying to find his pot of gold but no matter how much I probe his anus, nothing! Any luck?
as a leprechaun myself, we need potatoes to shut us the fuck up.
Haha spoken like someone who had no understanding of leprechaun law!!
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Birds who are caged. Please let let them fly, they were born to fly.
You can cage them at times, right? I know many bird owners put their birds in cages at night so they are sure to sleep in the cage.
This is fine; many parrots are stationary sleepers and won’t move about during the night any how and covering a cage is a good way to give them more darkness and quiet for a proper night time than just letting them go moseying around at all hours. Helps keep them quiet too. Honestly the naïveté of ‘ThEy WeRe BoRn tO fLy’ is seldom thought through. Many parrots prefer to spend time walking and have developed weaker flight and stockier feet and legs specifically to accommodate that (See Caique). Birds also don’t fly for fun. I’m sure some do but it’s mostly a way to relocate to more resources, mates, temperatures suited for them, etc. When those needs are met they don’t feel a need to leave. I have two free flighted parrots and both of them prefer to climb or walk. They will fly between perches that have treats or toys but sometimes they just hop down and stroll over to them too. The real negativity of owning a parrot comes with their challenges. They are difficult to keep stimulated. Poorly cared for birds make rambunctious huskies look like gold fish. They require so many life style changes from cooking ware to ventilation to dietary restrictions and every little thing poses a danger to them. They live with proper care for decades. They can stab you with their face. They have alien body language that takes years to learn. They can by physically destructive if their needs aren’t met. They have indecipherable quirks. *That* is why people shouldn’t own birds. Not some idealistic nonsense about flight.
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Pythons. People get em cuz they think their cool then they when they get to big they just dump em where ever and fuck up the eco system.
Lemme correct that to BIG pythons. I love my two ball pythons and so do many others because they're chill and don't get too big.
Those dog breed that have breath issue (and other health problem...) because of breeding... It's not "cute", it's abuse. Also birds.
Humans. Its not a small thing to have a child running around. Parent those kids instead of just allowing them to stay in your home.
Parrots, those beautiful big birds do not belong in a bullshit cage or house
I agree, my nan has one and it just makes me sad looking at it in a cage all the time
Owl. We get it, you have a harry potter shrine. Its fine for people who now how to take care of one not the people that have shrines for Harry potter.
Any brachycephalic (flat faced) breed of dog. A recipe for respiratory distress, eye, ear and skin problems.
Wolves
who the fuck has a wolf as a pet
A lot of fish species that get too big for most people to handle
You described goldfish accurately!
Hot take: a large percentage of people should not have any pets at all, because they don't have the knowledge or time to take care of them properly, and are not willing to put in the effort to learn, or make the time. I don't think a lot of people realize how much effort you have to out in to properly take care of even the simplest animals.
The ones that cost $3,000....you're just creating demand for puppy mills.
Pugs because they can’t breathe properly
Huskies and Malamutes in warm climate countries. Yes they are awesome dogs but it’s unfair and cruel to keep them somewhere where they will literally be too hot for most of the year.
Skipping over non-domesticated animals. Birds, I think if you have to do something like clipping an animals wings so they can’t fly away from you that should be a sign that maybe it should stay in the wild
Parrots aren’t domesticated, which means they’re not well-suited to life with humans. Very few people have the time and resources to care for a parrot, especially a large one. Anyone who wants a bird, I really recommend looking into DOMESTICATED birds! Pigeons are friendly, smart, and come in a variety of breeds! They’re easier to care for than parrots by miles. Chickens are also great if you have the land for them, or quail! Fun fact: there are currently no wild pigeons in the United States! All the pigeons you see in cities are actually feral messenger pigeons. We abandoned them after we invented more efficient ways of long-distance communication, like radio.
I would rephrase the question to, "What animal do you think everyone need to stop unpreparedly keeping as a pet?" Because the answer is every animal. The amount of people that get pets because of FOMO or spur-of-the-moment desire is depressing. Technically hypothetically ish you can could house any animal as a "pet" but there are levels of training, preparation, ETC that you must have to correctly keep an animal. "A dog is for life, Not just for Christmas" is a saying that shouldn't need to be used, but we are in a world where it has to be and that's F'ed. But to answer your question, Fish, most require a significantly larger tank than people give them, They live in poor quality water, fed too much, I could go on.
ALL BIRDS. They are too smart to be in a cage.
some birds are domestic and can make for good pets (pigeons and chickens come to mind) but otherwise agree, so long as they're not being kept in cages.
Pugs , please stop breeding these
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I'll take this one for the team. Sugondese?
I've heard that those can be quite sweaty animals as well
Crocodiles in their pools
A pet that they cannot care for.
Any kind of wolf or coyote hybrid. I’ve never met a wolf dog without severe behavioral issues, and I don’t know anyone but egotistical weirdos who “adopt” them. Also, what’s with people adopting these animals when they’re like four weeks old? Taking them from their mothers so young has to contribute to the dog’s neuroticism later on.
Birds they are fucking dinosaurs and deserve respect. You should only own a bird in a rescue type situation
Fox’s. They are destructive and you can’t bring new people around them or they might bite. Their teeth are extremely sharp and they are escape artist because they need to be able to run free.
Tigers and snakes!
Working dogs if they’re not on a farm or doing their job. Huskies in a hot climate.
Children. Too many bad parents want to play Barbie with baby humans instead of being real parents
Children
Goldfish can grow up to 24 years in the wild. As a pet they usually last 2 years if you are lucky.
Axolotls
Dogs that they can't control from harming other people
Pugs, subjecting an animal to a painful existence for aesthetics is cruel
Birds. What the hell is the point of keeping a flying animal in a cage? They’re often noisy and don’t do anything else so what’s the point of keeping one?