I’m not on crack. I volunteered at a shelter (cats/dogs) for 6 years and another shelter (cats/dogs/rabbits) for 2 more. I have a lot of experience with animals even outside of having at least one pet in my home for 95% of my life. Very few dogs are untrainable and even fewer from birth… It’s usually the result of abuse or years of neglect. (ETA: only having experience with bad neighbors and one dog of your own doesn’t really give you “a means to judge”)
Likewise, there’s very few “bad” cats - though I’d wager the percentage is higher given the prevalence of feral cats. They are MUCH less domesticated and will “revert” to being completely feral in one generation. Not a bad thing, just pointing it out.
The majority of dogs don’t need to be trained to not rip a toddler’s fade off and those that do are usually from breeds that were bred for aggression. Pitbulls, as much as I love them, are in that category. Golden Retrievers are not.
Likewise, there’s very few “bad” cats - though I’d wager the percentage is higher given the prevalence of feral cats.
Hang on now, stray cats are not “bad cats,” they’re just wild and free, abiding by their own rules and slow to trust strangers. If you try to put them in a situation they don’t like they may defend themselves, but defense != aggression nor is it “bad,” it’s a natural reaction to aggression like say capturing the wild kitty.
If you know what you’re doing, you can even make friends with some strays, but some just don’t want anything to do with you and that’s ok too, I respect them.
Dogs OTOH if I see a stray I’m like “fuck am I gonna have to mace this dude?” I would rather run into a stray cat than a stray dog any day, because worst case with the cat is “it won’t let me pet it” and worst case with the dog is “it tries to fight me and I have to hit it with the hot sauce.”
I like some (owned) dogs fwiw, if it’s cool and not half my size and jumping on me with wet ass feet, but strays and my pets it’s no contest I prefer cats.
I said “bad” cats - as in “hard to train/untrainable” in the context of my comment.
The rest of your comment is also about aggression towards humans even though in my previous reply I was speaking about aggression in general but I’ll respond to it anyway: Of course a tiny feral cat is less likely to square up with a human…they know they’re one kick from death. Towards smaller animals, stray cats are absolutely more aggressive. Even house cats kill for fun.
None of this is admonishment (except toward owners who let their cats roam the neighborhood), by the way. I love cats. I’m just not into the toxoplasmosis-driven defending them as perfect little creatures who do no wrong
Sure cats can do wrong, but let’s be real that whole “aggressive towards humans” thing isn’t so easily hand waved away by saying “well cats kill small stuff.” Yeah they do, but “small stuff” and “humans” are of differing levels of importance, at least to me. You may value the life of the cockroach my cat kills the same as a human a dog mauls, but imo one is clearly worse.
All right, you’ve moved the goalposts pretty far. A feral dog being more dangerous to humans than a cat doesn’t mean they’re a more inherently aggressive animal like the person I was replying to said.
I’m just saying that “aggressive” in terms of a cat vs in terms of a dog are two wildly different things. Idgaf if a cat eats a bird or a bug but I do care about people being mauled by dogs.
Hell, I eat birds too, can’t get that mad at it. I don’t maul people though.
Depends, owned cats kill for fun because their food needs are met, but again, if a bird gets in my house, somehow, “Get it! And don’t eat it it could have parasites.” It’s usually bugs though. And you shouldn’t let cats out that you own. Strays absolutely eat the birds, they’re not pulling heists on kibble trucks, they hunt for their food. Strays however are wild animals, owls also hunt mice, it’s how wild carnivores survive, it’s the circle of life. Survival != aggression. And again, the point I’m making, is that even when cats are aggressive the consequences are less severe than dogs. You can refuse to acknowledge why that is relevant to the conversation all you wish but that doesn’t change the fact that it is relevant.
I don’t think this conversation warrants any further discussion as we just keep repeating the same things due to your refusal to accept the relevance of my point, and am declining to continue, this will be the last time I repeat myself. Good day.
I’m not on crack. I volunteered at a shelter (cats/dogs) for 6 years and another shelter (cats/dogs/rabbits) for 2 more. I have a lot of experience with animals even outside of having at least one pet in my home for 95% of my life. Very few dogs are untrainable and even fewer from birth… It’s usually the result of abuse or years of neglect. (ETA: only having experience with bad neighbors and one dog of your own doesn’t really give you “a means to judge”)
Likewise, there’s very few “bad” cats - though I’d wager the percentage is higher given the prevalence of feral cats. They are MUCH less domesticated and will “revert” to being completely feral in one generation. Not a bad thing, just pointing it out.
The majority of dogs don’t need to be trained to not rip a toddler’s fade off and those that do are usually from breeds that were bred for aggression. Pitbulls, as much as I love them, are in that category. Golden Retrievers are not.
Hang on now, stray cats are not “bad cats,” they’re just wild and free, abiding by their own rules and slow to trust strangers. If you try to put them in a situation they don’t like they may defend themselves, but defense != aggression nor is it “bad,” it’s a natural reaction to aggression like say capturing the wild kitty.
If you know what you’re doing, you can even make friends with some strays, but some just don’t want anything to do with you and that’s ok too, I respect them.
Dogs OTOH if I see a stray I’m like “fuck am I gonna have to mace this dude?” I would rather run into a stray cat than a stray dog any day, because worst case with the cat is “it won’t let me pet it” and worst case with the dog is “it tries to fight me and I have to hit it with the hot sauce.”
I like some (owned) dogs fwiw, if it’s cool and not half my size and jumping on me with wet ass feet, but strays and my pets it’s no contest I prefer cats.
I said “bad” cats - as in “hard to train/untrainable” in the context of my comment.
The rest of your comment is also about aggression towards humans even though in my previous reply I was speaking about aggression in general but I’ll respond to it anyway: Of course a tiny feral cat is less likely to square up with a human…they know they’re one kick from death. Towards smaller animals, stray cats are absolutely more aggressive. Even house cats kill for fun.
None of this is admonishment (except toward owners who let their cats roam the neighborhood), by the way. I love cats. I’m just not into the toxoplasmosis-driven defending them as perfect little creatures who do no wrong
Sure cats can do wrong, but let’s be real that whole “aggressive towards humans” thing isn’t so easily hand waved away by saying “well cats kill small stuff.” Yeah they do, but “small stuff” and “humans” are of differing levels of importance, at least to me. You may value the life of the cockroach my cat kills the same as a human a dog mauls, but imo one is clearly worse.
All right, you’ve moved the goalposts pretty far. A feral dog being more dangerous to humans than a cat doesn’t mean they’re a more inherently aggressive animal like the person I was replying to said.
I’m just saying that “aggressive” in terms of a cat vs in terms of a dog are two wildly different things. Idgaf if a cat eats a bird or a bug but I do care about people being mauled by dogs.
Hell, I eat birds too, can’t get that mad at it. I don’t maul people though.
Yeah…so you’ve moved the goalposts to counter a point I didn’t make…
You’re moving it again with the “I eat birds too” part. You SHOULD give a fuck about what cats do to wildlife. And to be clear, they aren’t eating the birds. They’re killing for fun.
Depends, owned cats kill for fun because their food needs are met, but again, if a bird gets in my house, somehow, “Get it! And don’t eat it it could have parasites.” It’s usually bugs though. And you shouldn’t let cats out that you own. Strays absolutely eat the birds, they’re not pulling heists on kibble trucks, they hunt for their food. Strays however are wild animals, owls also hunt mice, it’s how wild carnivores survive, it’s the circle of life. Survival != aggression. And again, the point I’m making, is that even when cats are aggressive the consequences are less severe than dogs. You can refuse to acknowledge why that is relevant to the conversation all you wish but that doesn’t change the fact that it is relevant.
I don’t think this conversation warrants any further discussion as we just keep repeating the same things due to your refusal to accept the relevance of my point, and am declining to continue, this will be the last time I repeat myself. Good day.