Keeping pets in cages - cruel?
Discussion
BlackVanDyke said:
My cats spend their days playing, interacting with each other and with me, and sleeping. Like all cats do. They live with me because they needed somewhere to live - that I enjoy their company is a secondary benefit.
We spend 30m to an hour playing with ours most evenings. After lots of toys, we found that they prefer the fluorescent shoelace the best! 
tinman0 said:
Nope, we have 3 house cats, and they are house cats. Not allowed outside in the slightest.
Reasons are very simple - they get into less fights, less fights means less vet bills, less outside means they don't need inoculating, they are far more healthy and tend to live substantially longer. We have one Si-mix that's putting in a very respectable 17-18 years at the moment. And whenever they get seen by a vet, it's always commented on how healthy they are.
Do you have a wife? Children?Reasons are very simple - they get into less fights, less fights means less vet bills, less outside means they don't need inoculating, they are far more healthy and tend to live substantially longer. We have one Si-mix that's putting in a very respectable 17-18 years at the moment. And whenever they get seen by a vet, it's always commented on how healthy they are.
If so, do you keep them permanently locked up indoors? After all, it'd be safer and they might live longer.
tinman0 said:
icetea said:
Its not natural to keep cats locked up indoors... they need to be outdoor so they can explore and hunt. Its selfish to keep cats (or any other animals) if you can't look after them properly.... they're animals after all. Not toys.
Well, I'll put it to our three girls and see what they say. One is asleep purring on my lap, one is on my wife trying to get her tongue into my wife's ear, and other is on it's back in front of the tv. I'll try and grab them when they retire for the bedroom and see what they say about this 'outside' thing, although, I'm figuring they don't care much - food bowl is inside after all.When we lived in the country we had cats. They came and went as they pleased but always slept inside at night.
Like a previous poster I had a parrot which had a large cage,open all day and closed at night. We had a large dack and would put the cage outside under a tree when it was warm.
I have a couple of dogs,both cage-trained in large cages as puppies,cages put away at six months. They are walked on leash for two hours a day, and have a yard to loll about it. They sleep in out bedroom (floor,not our bed!
)
We have always cage trained dogs when they are puppies and they have invariably turned out to be well adjusted. However, they are rarely alone for more than a couple of hours which helps a lot.
I think it it far too broad a condemnation to say cages are always cruel. It depends on the whole environment in which the animal lives.
Like a previous poster I had a parrot which had a large cage,open all day and closed at night. We had a large dack and would put the cage outside under a tree when it was warm.
I have a couple of dogs,both cage-trained in large cages as puppies,cages put away at six months. They are walked on leash for two hours a day, and have a yard to loll about it. They sleep in out bedroom (floor,not our bed!
)We have always cage trained dogs when they are puppies and they have invariably turned out to be well adjusted. However, they are rarely alone for more than a couple of hours which helps a lot.
I think it it far too broad a condemnation to say cages are always cruel. It depends on the whole environment in which the animal lives.
Yeah, greyhound b
h. Just over 7 years old and going a bit grey but full of beans still.
She's the second one we've had, the last one lived to 13 but she was senile and blind in one eye at the end, that's a very good age for one.
h. Just over 7 years old and going a bit grey but full of beans still. She's the second one we've had, the last one lived to 13 but she was senile and blind in one eye at the end, that's a very good age for one.
BlackVanDyke said:
No worries. Greyhound? Got a mate whose retired racer is 13 now, he's a fantastic dog.
Looks like correct usage of the word bh has been censored. Is this automatic?
h has been censored. Is this automatic?M888SXY said:
Yeah, greyhound bh. Just over 7 years old and going a bit grey but full of beans still.
She's the second one we've had, the last one lived to 13 but she was senile and blind in one eye at the end, that's a very good age for one.
h. Just over 7 years old and going a bit grey but full of beans still. She's the second one we've had, the last one lived to 13 but she was senile and blind in one eye at the end, that's a very good age for one.
BlackVanDyke said:
No worries. Greyhound? Got a mate whose retired racer is 13 now, he's a fantastic dog.
M888SXY said:
Looks like correct usage of the word bh has been censored. Is this automatic?
Yes indeedy. The auto-wotsit doesn't detect context.h has been censored. Is this automatic?There's a PHer whose user name is b
hstewie which is apparently fine in his profile or listed as the author of a post, but then gets censored if someone quotes something he's said. Daft!My rabbit used to have free run of the garden most days, but she would often head back to her cage for most of the day.
My year old Cocker Spaniel is much happier in his crate at night than out of it, trots off there of his own accord and the door is just pushed to, so he could nudge it open and sleep in the office, but he stays in there for the night.
My year old Cocker Spaniel is much happier in his crate at night than out of it, trots off there of his own accord and the door is just pushed to, so he could nudge it open and sleep in the office, but he stays in there for the night.
Carthage said:
And what about stabling horses? Naturally they live in social herds, able to run from danger and covering wide areas in their lives.
We put them in separate little boxes away from their friends, largely for our convenience.
To be fair the 'little boxes' are next to each other and they are able to see the horse next to them and socialise to some extent. We put them in separate little boxes away from their friends, largely for our convenience.
GokTweed said:
To be fair the 'little boxes' are next to each other and they are able to see the horse next to them and socialise to some extent.
So a bit like a zoo then? ;-) i have never seen a more unhappy bunch of animals than when i went to a zoo a couple of year ago, really depressing. back on topic, i have no problem with having a cage or crate for a pet as long as they can come and go as they please and no one but the pet goes into it.
For a dog such as a malamute its actually a really good idea as this is their space and it saves the dog taking over the house.
danrc said:
GokTweed said:
To be fair the 'little boxes' are next to each other and they are able to see the horse next to them and socialise to some extent.
So a bit like a zoo then? ;-) i have never seen a more unhappy bunch of animals than when i went to a zoo a couple of year ago, really depressing. back on topic, i have no problem with having a cage or crate for a pet as long as they can come and go as they please and no one but the pet goes into it.
For a dog such as a malamute its actually a really good idea as this is their space and it saves the dog taking over the house.
and yes i agree with you i see no problem with them providing they are free to leave during the day at least. The Mrs. and I went to Chester zoo almost a month ago. That was a sorry sight
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