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Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

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Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#31

Post by mikestew »

charliesharding wrote: post #27
dawhizkid wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm one of those people who has decided to purposefully not have kids because I do not believe they will have a better life than me due to climate change. I suspect there's an increasing number of people who think that way.

One could argue that you're worsening the lot of the world by not having kids that you impress the importance of addressing climate change upon. Your children could help to radiate that message outwards and may even become scientists that help to reverse it! Of course there's no guarantee that they'll adopt your views but if you fundamentally believe the world is capable of saving then it's worth a shot :)

"Could", yes. The overwhelming odds, however, are that they'll grow up to be upper-middle class consumers who don't do anything outstanding other than hoover up huge amounts of resources and make the problem worse.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#32

Post by mikestew »

makerofspoons wrote: post #23
Liquix wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something you classify as an 'extravagance' could be classified by others as 'best friend', 'most uplifting part of the day', revered by the egyptians' 'my only reason for getting out of bed when faced with crippling depression', etc. Amusement parks, restaurants, and the manufacture of your latest high-tech gadget also generate carbon footprints. One could argue that none of those things are strictly necessary for s…

I wonder if the same feelings people have for pets could be instead replaced with volunteering in one's community, making human best friends and giving oneself purpose. I'm not in disagreement with you on that last part- extravagances like amusement parks, gadgets, and restaurants should be appropriately taxed until the resources they consume come down to sustainable levels. Everything needs to be scaled back.

I wonder if the same feelings people have for pets could be instead replaced with volunteering in one's community, making human best friends and giving oneself purpose.

Keep on wondering, because I doubt anyone will bend over to fit your view of the world. Starting with the foundational point that you have no idea why people have pets at the individual level, or even macro based on what you've post so far on the subject.

EDIT: you also assume that pet owners don't already volunteer, have human best friends, and feel that they have purpose. The pretense is strong in this one.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#33

Post by makerofspoons »

gota wrote: post #20
makerofspoons wrote: post #6

I'm not sure we should be encouraging people to own more dogs and cats- they have a substantial carbon footprint for being extravagances: https://www.salon.com/2014/11/20/the_surprisingly_large_carb...

> "Some people now spend more on feeding their pets than they do feeding their children," Yes, this is easy when you have zero children and more than zero pets; and I'll wager a good amount of money that its true only in that case > In the U.S., American dogs bless us with 10 million tons of waste a year. 10 million tons of waste a year is really not that much for 350 million people, for the benefits of having pets i…

It is, however, a simple way for individuals to avoid growing their carbon footprint. Not doing something is easier than changing an entrenched lifestyle. It's the same as saying "don't buy a large home", "don't buy a large vehicle (or preferably any vehicle at all)", "don't travel" - you're not missing out on anything, you're simply avoiding a destructive behavior. If you have a dog or cat already there isn't much you can do about it at this point.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#34

Post by floatingatoll »

Has anyone done a study on pet inanimate objects, such as rocks or coconuts or plants?

Not to undervalue live animal pets, but people are pretty intensely personal about their pet objects, too — and if the same benefit can exist for a pet rock, then you can say that your pet has a small carbon footprint and be twice right.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#35

Post by simonebrunozzi »

Karawebnetwork wrote: post #24
Ididntdothis wrote: post #2

For a while I worked at a place where they allowed dogs in the office. It’s probably not for everyone it but I personally felt this have the workplace a very nice touch and made it much more humane.

I hate to be a party pooper, but make sure that if you bring animals to the office they are hypoallergenic. For cats, you want to look for breeds that produce less Fel D1 protein. There is probably something similar for dogs. One office I once interviewed at had the CEO's dog roaming around and I had to decline the job offer for this reason. I'm sure that I could have talked about it but nobody wants to be the one wh…

Was there something specific you didn't like about that dog?

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#36

Post by x2f10 »

owlninja wrote: post #21
papln wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is clearly false hyperbole.

I'll agree OP was hyperbolic, but there certainly is a marked increase. The worst part is all these companies selling emotional support animal certificates or registries, despite the fact they are usually meaningless.

>I'll agree OP was hyperbolic, but there certainly is a marked increase.

Of course there is. Emotional support animals are now being offered as an alternative to medication.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#37

Post by simonebrunozzi »

tombert wrote: post #26
Ididntdothis wrote: post #2

For a while I worked at a place where they allowed dogs in the office. It’s probably not for everyone it but I personally felt this have the workplace a very nice touch and made it much more humane.

We tried that for awhile at a previous job. It was fun at first, but there were two problems: 1) Dogs like to poop. A lot. Even with a responsible owner, if the dog runs around the office frequently, they would poop, and someone would step in it, and that is gross. 2) Dogs like to bark. Most dogs are fine, but occasionally there would be one that wouldn't shut up and get them all started. After a few months, they got…

Unfortunately, based on my very limited experience, most pet owners don't want to properly train their pets, and these are the consequences of lack of training (assuming these pets don't have a specific mental disorder).

If you ask experienced dog trainers, they would all tell you that pooping and barking can be fixed with proper training for pretty much any dog.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#38

Post by xythian »

tombert wrote: post #26
Ididntdothis wrote: post #2

For a while I worked at a place where they allowed dogs in the office. It’s probably not for everyone it but I personally felt this have the workplace a very nice touch and made it much more humane.

We tried that for awhile at a previous job. It was fun at first, but there were two problems: 1) Dogs like to poop. A lot. Even with a responsible owner, if the dog runs around the office frequently, they would poop, and someone would step in it, and that is gross. 2) Dogs like to bark. Most dogs are fine, but occasionally there would be one that wouldn't shut up and get them all started. After a few months, they got…

Huh. I worked at an office with dogs for ~4 years and never experienced pooping or barking problems or heard rumors of such issues.

The biggest problem we had were allergies. There was an eventual compromise with dogs only allowed in specific conference rooms that had air purifiers running.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#39

Post by scottlegrand2 »

floatingatoll wrote: post #34

Has anyone done a study on pet inanimate objects, such as rocks or coconuts or plants? Not to undervalue live animal pets, but people are pretty intensely personal about their pet objects, too — and if the same benefit can exist for a pet rock, then you can say that your pet has a small carbon footprint and be twice right.

I know too many guys intensely personal about their six-figure jalopies. They don't seem particularly healthy to me but maybe I'm missing something...

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#40

Post by stevewodil »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #35
Karawebnetwork wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to be a party pooper, but make sure that if you bring animals to the office they are hypoallergenic. For cats, you want to look for breeds that produce less Fel D1 protein. There is probably something similar for dogs. One office I once interviewed at had the CEO's dog roaming around and I had to decline the job offer for this reason. I'm sure that I could have talked about it but nobody wants to be the one wh…

Was there something specific you didn't like about that dog?

I'm going to guess being allergic
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