Per rule #6, please defend your UO position with reasoning.
Edited
Cats are healthier and live longer when kept indoors.
Local wildlife are healthier and live longer when cats are kept indoors, too.
There's no evidence that domestic cats put pressure on local wildlife. Most domesticated cats live near urban and suburban humans and can keep household rodent populations down. They also have no impact on urban birds like pigeons, sparrows or crows.
If by domestic, you mean cats that live indoors, agreed. Otherwise there's an extensive amount of evidence:
That Wikipedia article contains incorrect info if it applies to habitats outside of Australia or isolated islands. The math doesn't add up for the vast majority of domesticated cat habitats. Once away from humans, cats have plenty of predators in the wild that would check their population against bird destruction. Also note that some birds prey on cats in the wild.
Many urban and suburban places in Australia have precious native bird life. They do have a measurable impact on the native population.
Cats ESPECIALLY belong inside because they decimate the local wildlife.
Terribly unpopular and stupid opinion. Have an upvote
This is an ignorant take in that it doesn't in any way address the emotional benefits of having animals in your living space, or offer any justification for why the costs that are asserted could be worth accepting, or the fact that plenty of animals adapt well to smaller spaces. Don't like cleaning fur? Get short haired animals. Kids need training too, and plenty of human adults have no idea how to properly clean up after themselves. If you don't like animals that's fine, but don't try to perscribe your needs onto others based solely on these grounds, you can just say I don't like pets and that's acceptable.
At some point in your life, you also required training to make sure you didn't destroy the furniture or shit on the floor
Cleaning is part of the care. I guess that's just what the deal is though
Some people think animals shouldn't live indoors. It's worth reminding those people that humans are animals
We should spend a lot more time outside, too
Upvoted for the opinion being unpopular.
Cats don't belong outside. They will kill local wildlife and have contributed to the extinction of dozens of species.
I don't think fish care either way as long as they get the space and care they need. That is, a tiny pond outside isn't any better than a tank of the same volume indoors, all other things being equal.
Rodents definitely belong inside, if having a rodent as a pet is allowed at all in this scenario. I feel like this doesn't require further explanation.
I could see rabbits liking being outside, as long as they're adequately protected from predators. They do well inside, too. I'd call this one 50:50.
If reptiles and amphibians should be kept as pets at all, indoors is way better.
I imagine almost all invertebrate pets would have to be indoors.
Pets that are livestock species go outside, yeah. No argument here.
Some animals shouldn't be pets at all. Some belong inside. Some belong outside. Some go in and out. It's a mixed bag.
Upvoted and upvoted. It's weird that in c/UO, a truly extremely unpopular opinion gets downvoted!
It should be in the top few of all time!
Upvoted because unpopular but I personally think youre a boring person. Sure, animals smell but thats why you clean them and your house. Id rather clean my house 5 times a week than not have my dogs.
That exact same reasoning applies to humans as well, but we still let them into the house. However, though from a very weird direction, you have certainly landed on an unpopular opinion.
I don't think I've ever been to a cat owners house who's furniture smells like cat, I would love to know what a cat even smells like.
Maybe if those owners don't clean their cats litter properly or often enough, that causes a smell, and yeah, lots of shitty cat parents who don't clean after them well enough.
Or maybe this is about un neutered cats that piss on stuff? That's unfortunately somehow also a thing.
Cats also don't require any training to do any of those things? Just pay attention to your cat, ensure you play with it and give it enough toys and attention and it won't do shit to your stuff.
Your statements have me more confused than anything else.
Dogs smell, they have a weird metallic smell to them and they leave that smell on surfaces, maybe you got confused?
Is this unpopular opinion or just objectively wrong opinion?
Wow that is an unpopular opinion
I agree - I think it's mean that people keep dogs, for instance, when they're leaving them unattended for most of the day. Personally I wouldn't get a dog unless I had family, a house and a garden for it. Cats have a bit more leeway but I would still want them to have a nice neighbourhood or gardens to explore.
Thats the main argument for me. I keep hearing neighbors dogs barking alone all day, it seems so sad to me...
Upvoted, because you’re totally incorrect.
Are you advocating for the somewhat extreme position that pets shouldn’t exist?
Your reasoning suggests that basic duties of pet ownership such as basic training and grooming are too onerous. Canids do not soil their den in the wild and so easily are trained not to soil indoors, and cats don’t need training to use a litter box.
Are you advocating for the somewhat extreme position that pets shouldn’t exist?
Reductio ad absurdum is the technique of reducing an argument or hypothesis to absurdity, by pushing the argument's premises or conclusions to their logical limits and showing how ridiculous the consequences would be, thus disproving or discrediting the argument.
Upvoted because I do disagree, where else they gonna go?
cats outside are a menace, for example. Responsible thing to do is keep them inside.
Unpopular Opinion
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