The rise of pet parents & furbabies

S2G

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Its not my intention to offend or start ww3. So I joined a tortoise forum since my daughter wanted a Hermann's. I've found a disturbing amount of people that call themselves tortoise moms & actual have this (one sided) child type relationship with a reptile. One lady actually said I could not love a living breathing being more than my tortoise. The facebook groups seem to have this same trend...of course usually the animals are in terrible shape & literally being loved to death. Fathers day post the first comment happy fathers day to the ones of the human kind & if the tortoise variety. These people are dead serious

Well they had a dog thread. The same thing was there. Dog mom, furbaby, yadda yadda. Legit treating a dog like a human child. I've also noticed a trend with my bird dogs. Instead of saying hey I have 100acres & I plan on hunting your puppy, titling, etc. They say I'm a wonderful dog mom to 3 dogs & I'm also a cat mom. Of course I reject because they live in a town house & this dog roams 500yrd radius as an instinct. Then they flip like how dare you. Laws are even starting to pop up here like dogs are people almost forcing you to treat your dog like a child or its abuse.

I guess I'm late to the party as usual. Since when did we switch to being parents of animals? I'm legitimately curious. No doubt we have a special bond with our pets, but I feel like we may have crossed a line somewhere with this. Surely am not alone?

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Bouncingsoul39

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I don’t see anything wrong with it. If it doesn’t affect you in anyway then why care? Many people aren’t having kids these days so they consider their pets as their kids. I understand it could be a bit cringe if they go overboard with it, but still, it’s harmless. Live and let live.
 

Jedi1199

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Its not my intention to offend or start ww3. So I joined a tortoise forum since my daughter wanted a Hermann's. I've found a disturbing amount of people that call themselves tortoise moms & actual have this (one sided) child type relationship with a reptile. One lady actually said I could not love a living breathing being more than my tortoise. The facebook groups seem to have this same trend...of course usually the animals are in terrible shape & literally being loved to death. Fathers day post the first comment happy fathers day to the ones of the human kind & if the tortoise variety. These people are dead serious

Well they had a dog thread. The same thing was there. Dog mom, furbaby, yadda yadda. Legit treating a dog like a human child. I've also noticed a trend with my bird dogs. Instead of saying hey I have 100acres & I plan on hunting your puppy, titling, etc. They say I'm a wonderful dog mom to 3 dogs & I'm also a cat mom. Of course I reject because they live in a town house & this dog roams 500yrd radius as an instinct. Then they flip like how dare you. Laws are even starting to pop up here like dogs are people almost forcing you to treat your dog like a child or its abuse.

I guess I'm late to the party as usual. Since when did we switch to being parents of animals? I'm legitimately curious. No doubt we have a special bond with our pets, but I feel like we may have crossed a line somewhere with this. Surely am not alone?

Screenshot_20210620-164958_Samsung Internet.jpg FB_IMG_1624202781730.jpg FB_IMG_1624165233807.jpg

I was not blessed with any children of the body myself. I do take care of my animals. I think that the origin of these attitudes stems from reports of vile animal kennels and puppy farms that treat these wonderful animals as nothing more than cockroaches. Allowing them to struggle out an existence in a cage they can barely move in, while standing in their own waste and slowly starving to death.
 
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S2G

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Lol
Live and let live now means
Think exactly like us or else we will get you fined, jailed and fired from your job.

That's the vibe I'm getting. Extremely touchy subject. I mean dang do we really have to share fathers day with people that describe themselves as tortoise/fish/etc dads?
 

WVNed

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Awe the cute turtle loves the puppies
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Heat good.
 

JayA

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I think we include our pets in our family lives much more than we used to. My childhood dog lived in a doghouse outside. My current dogs are part of my everyday life, not my everyday chores. They live indoors and can even sleep in our beds. I kind of consider myself a dog mom...
 

WVNed

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We have 4 dogs and 2 cats. They are our friends, playmates and companions. Yes some sleep with us. They are not our children. We have 3 of those. Collectively they have 5 dogs and 4 cats who are their friends, playmates and companions.
They are not their children. They have 4 of those right now.

If you think you can receive the same kind of emotional feedback and reward from having a turtle or a fish as you can a child I pity you.
Yes cats and dogs can come close but it still isn't the same. It is a more rewarding substitute however.
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S2G

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I don’t see anything wrong with it. If it doesn’t affect you in anyway then why care? Many people aren’t having kids these days so they consider their pets as their kids. I understand it could be a bit cringe if they go overboard with it, but still, it’s harmless. Live and let live.

I mean... that's pretty much why people get pets. Cuz they like them and/or they are lonely

I mean I get it. We love our pets I know I do, but we do realize we're not actual mothers/fathers to these animals right? It seems to me we've crossed the figurative realm & invaded the literal realm. Those animals above are literally being crippled from improper care, yet owner praised as being a good mom for the celebration.
 

Pntbll687

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I mean I get it. We love our pets I know I do, but we do realize we're not actual mothers/fathers to these animals right? It seems to me we've crossed the figurative realm & invaded the literal realm. Those animals above are literally being crippled from improper care, yet owner praised as being a good mom for the celebration.
Your last sentence there his the nail on the head.

I'm a sales rep in the pet supply industry for the last 5 years, and there had been a HUGE uptick in the verbage of "pet parents" bring used to sell products. It's something I cringe at every time I see it or hear someone use those words.

Animals are being bred for looks, at the expense of their physical well being. Pug for dogs, or any dog with a shortened snout have really taken a turn for the worse. The dogs literally can't breathe if they get a slight head cold or any type of inflammation in the sinuses. The people that carry small dogs everywhere are absolutely abhorrent. Those dogs are the worst behaved because people view them as "babies" because they're little. They never get trained or disciplined properly, and go on to have miserable lives because they are taught to be scared of everything and have everything done for them.

There's nothing wrong with having a pet for companionship, but proper care for animals needs to be a priority. Small dogs need to be trained just as larger breeds are. Large breed and muscular breed dogs need exercise, and no the guy with his pitbull mix on a treadmill isn't mistreating the dog, he's ensuring the animal gets the exercise it NEEDS to stay healthy.

There is a difference between a pet and a child, and we need to start recognizing that more.

Ok, I'm done ranting now.
 

HomebroodExotics

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You know this is a pet forum right? People here spend literally thousands of dollars to keep a box of water and I’m supposed to believe that you don’t understand why people love their pets? These things are nothing new and I really don’t understand how it affects you at all.
 
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