Are there certain circumstances that you would make an acception for?
Do you own any yourself? Why or why not?
I'm just wondering what other veg*ns think about owning animals.
I think we have a duty to own domestic aniamls. we bread a symbiotic relationship into them so they could help use in activity such as hunting. even tho there intended usefulness is no longer needed(in most cases). they still can't live without us, period. so we must take care of them. also they have a new usefulness. they help us emotionally, and they get fed, water, provided with shelter,ect... in return.
P.S. I"m the happy owner of 3 happy,well cared for, and very loved pets.
I believe animals help keep stress levels down (unless they tend to do annoying things) but over all, especially with cats, I heard just by petting them helps to lower the blood pressure, and of course dogs give a reason to go walking/running right? Not to mention when you adopt one out of a pound or take a stray off the streets you are making a difference in their lives, that would make someone feel good right? And when you feel good, your closer to health right?
I love my babies with all my heart and I wouldn't know what to do if they wern't part of my family.
*goes to my furry kids and gives them kisses right smack between the eyes*
I have loved all my pets. In most cases I would have gone crazy were it not for their loyalty and affection. I am almost 67, and when I grow up, I want to be the woman my dog thinks I am. 
I'm not a vegan, I'm an animal-lover. I don't know anything about other pets, but cats and dogs are a part of the family... our cats aren't property - they're our furry children and we look after them every bit as well as we would human children.
I just think of one of my two dachshunds trying to tough it out in the wild. They would be whining within two hours for a cookie, assuming they hadn't been carried away by a hawk.
There are too many to be taken care of and I think that their lives must be such a drag, even in the best of homes. I definately wouldn't want to be in a domestic animal's situation.
I adopted two rabbits that would have otherwise been killed without a home. My first rabbit is extremely soft because she was bread especially for her pelt. I feel that if I can provide needy animals with a warm and loving home, I must.
edit* Also, I think my animals own me more than I own them. Vada knows that she can do whatever she wants and I'll still love her. She's the queen bee of the house.
...I think that their lives must be such a drag, even in the best of homes. I definately wouldn't want to be in a domestic animal's situation.
well, except for the fact that they dont quite have the same mind capacity as humans do. i love my cat and dog like they are family. but i understand that they dont have the mind capacity to feel the same sort of boredom a human would in their situation. cats and dogs are happy with their small toys and such. they can lie around all day and just....be cats and dogs. while a human would most likely get bored stiff and go crazy with the dullness, cats and dogs dont think like that. when they see their loving human friends, it makes their day. as for not doing much the rest of the day, well, as i said....they dont have the same thought processes as we do.
I'M A HORSEBACK RIDER & I ask myself that all the time. What I've come up with is this:
- for instance: I wonder if horses would rather be running free in the wild. Then I think, WHAT WILD? Then I realize if horses did not have a job in our lives, then they would either be pushed out and made into dog food so we could build on their land, or we would treat them as cattle and have a new type of meat for ourselves.
SO I am happy they serve a beautiful purpose.
Anyway, I've had 3 cats, 5 pups, 5 horses, 2 birds and 1 fish and I know I'm a lover all because of them. They taught me everything. My BF HAD NEVER OWNED A PET before meeting me. He had a bit of trouble showing his feelings before we got our pups Arrow and Casanova, now he's a true lova!! Plus, it keeps down stress!! (Best thing you could ever do for yourself, child - but go to a shelter, not a pet store!)
I don't think it's cruel to take domesticated animals into our homes. We give them a soft, warm, safe place to sleep, a place to play, food, water, love, affection, we keep them clean, take them to the vet. to make sure they are healthy, give them medicine when they are sick, etc. If they were in the wild, they would always have to be on the lookout for bigger animals who wanted to eat them, they would have to hunt for every meal, they would have no warm, dry shelter, etc. I know it's in their "nature" to hunt (i.e. a cat killing a mouse) and that's how they were intended to live, but they have evolved, and giving them a loving home is not a bad thing. Some vegans and animal rights activists will say that owning a dog or cat is just as bad as factory farming because that animal wants to be out in the wild acting as nature intended, and keeping them confined is animal abuse. I disagree. If I keep my dog in a kennel 24-7 and she is constantly starved and not able to move around or exercise and has to sleep in her own waste, then yes, that's abuse, but normal people don't do that to their companion animals. My dog and cat have free roam of the house, and they are perfectly happy. Our dog goes outside multiple times a day and when it's warm, she spends hours outside running around. We also go for walks and take her on hikes. She's not confined. My cat doesn't go outside (she is afraid of it) but she's not unhappy. She follows me to every room of the house and sleeps in my bed. She even whines at the door if we go to bed and forget to call her into the room.
I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion. And if anyone believes it's wrong to "own" animals, that's perfectly fine. But I'm not going to feel guilty for it! 
P.s. sorry if this post sounded defensive, I know the topic starter didn't mean anything by it, I was just bringing up these points because I've had people try to make me feel bad in the past for being a vegan and having pets. That's all!
This is one I have never heard before. Thinking of all the stray animals (esp. cats and dogs) running around, getting hit by cars and starving to death, I don't see how anyone can think that they would be better off not being "pets". These animals are dependent on us and too domesticated to survive for long - at least with any quality of life - on their own in the "wild".
My dogs are part of the family - they are like our kids. They have free run of the house and yard (via doggy door), we take them on walks every day, and they are happy.
Wild animals/exotics on the other hand, I do NOT think should be owned. However, in some cases where a wild animal was brought up in captivity, it may be unable to successfully return to the wild. But people should not seek these pets out and encourage this to continue, IMO.
The idea that is in question by the OP is the fact that pet owners are claiming ownership over another animal. Was it right in the first place to domesticate cats and dogs and make them dependent on us? I believe it WAS okay, but not any more. Is is right to breed more of them? I don't think so. As a society, we do not respect them. Puppy mills are allowed to continue; millions of domesticated pets sit in cages and are euthanized because they are often not regarded as a permanent addition to a family. We've created a giant problem because "pets" are purchased, not taken seriously, and thrown away. We have absolutely abused our power.
And to the person who said that pets are not bored sitting at home all day because they do not have the mental capacity of humans:
1) Your impression of an animal's intelligence is not necessarily a measure of required stimulation. You have no idea if they are bored or not. The fact that many stare out the window all day (mine included) gives me a clue that they are looking for some more stimulation.
2) Domesticated animals were bred for a purpose. Most dogs actually had a job to do. Without being needed on a farm or for hunting, I believe that most pet dogs now actually are bored, not being challenged (both mentally and physically) the way they once were.
To answer juliannah's questions:
I believe taking in homeless, domesticated animals is important.
I do not believe it is okay to keep monkeys, snakes, in cages as pets. (as mentioned above)
I do "own" one Italian Greyhound named Nico. She's the best! I work from home, so I'm here to take her to the park every afternoon. Coincidentally, I've read that they were bred to crawl under the covers and keep your feet warm at night... and by that measure, we certainly put her instincts to good use.
cheers!
Many domesticated animals could not survive as "wild" animals.
Original Post by erininnyc:
The idea that is in question by the OP is the fact that pet owners are claiming ownership over another animal. Was it right in the first place to domesticate cats and dogs and make them dependent on us? I believe it WAS okay, but not any more. Is is right to breed more of them? I don't think so. As a society, we do not respect them. Puppy mills are allowed to continue; millions of domesticated pets sit in cages and are euthanized because they are often not regarded as a permanent addition to a family. We've created a giant problem because "pets" are purchased, not taken seriously, and thrown away. We have absolutely abused our power.
Yes, it always makes my blood boil when I hear about someone wanting to buy or has bought a puppy from a breeder. WHY???
I think we have an obligation to take care of the domestic animals which are already alive. I am not at all sure that we should continue to breed domestic animals though.
In creating, for example, domestic dogs, humans have pretty much made a new species, and now while a lot of dogs are loved by their owners, a lot aren't.
I guess I am still a little bit on the fence about whether or not we should continue to breed pets, but I will say that I watched a movie in biology class the other day where a dog breeder was interviewed. It was creepy. She went on and on about how this dog she had was a piece of art which she had created and was now her property. And she talked about the "mistakes" she had made in the process, like a dog who was perpetually drooling because his jaw bones made his mouth too small to contain his tounge. I do not think it is right, under any circumstance, to turn an animal into a piece of art/property. Doing so is quite different from having mutts.
Trid
my two cents then I'm done.
We love our babies.. we don't 'own' our cats in the sense that we adore caring for them, and having them care for us. We do 'own' them in the sense that we don't allow them to roam outdoors freely. They.. well, one of them isn't smart enough not to jump off a 3 story balcony.
I, personally, believe showing and breeding animals -dogs, cats, whatever- is morally wrong. 'impure' animals are discarded if they're not show material. Show animals are warped generation by generation into nothing more than things humans can brag about. It's disgusting and I think the practice should be eliminated. 'show' breed dogs would stop selling for retarded amounts of money - therefore people wouldn't be able to make a living doing such things.
I think 'owning' birds, lizards, some things are okay as long as we care for them responsibly. The vast majority, I believe, of domestic pet animals are at least mostly well cared for. All three of our cats were rescued from imminent death and we love them as if they were our own blood. And I have a 2k vet bill for one cat to prove it.
Because we prefer to support a responsible breeder rather than a puppy mill or some jerk who thought it would reflect on his masculinity to get his dog neutered. Dogs, and other animals, are bred to develop specific traits, which lends to predictability in traits like size, temperament, and other tendencies. If everybody bred their animals responsibly or spayed/neutered, as the AKC supports, we would not have the enormous number of strays and unwanted animals that currently fill animal shelters.
I have three dogs. They are all large and need tons of exercise, so I have to live in a house that has an ample yard. I am constantly humbled by their innocence as well as their intelligence. It is a great feeling to have a personal relationship with a different species. I don't know what I would do without them. And I'm pretty sure they feel the same way about me. 
So you can keep track of what you eat - which enables you to analyze your foods and receive the following:
- Health Score of your overall diet
- Warning when you approach your daily calorie limit
- Overview of the good and bad nutrients