Please stop buying axolotls and other exotic animals for pets

I read the headline aloud to my wife, who replied “at least it’s keeping them alive, they’re almost gone in Mexico”

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Having pets is contentious. Quite literally these days, so is breathing. Ethics around imports are clearer than ethics around captive bred populations. I can follow along that path for a while. “Domestication is unnatural and impure” feels like a naturalism fallacy though or a religious belief.

Even then: A return to the garden is impossible. That’s the point of that story imo.

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Sort of- the captive lines have diverged genetically from the wild stock. Many of them include tiger salamander DNA from previous hybridisation.

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Axolotls are nearly extinct in the wild. The pet trade had kept this from happening. Getting a captive bred animal is important after doing the research to provide proper husbandry.

Feral (stray and street) cats on average have a two year lifespan. Even pet cats who go outside average much more longevity.

I have never heard what a stray pupper’s avg lifespan is. Probably about the same, or a little more.

Our cats are affectionate, often follow us about, and usually sleep with us. The young one wanders into the kitchen to be near me if I’m out there too long for his taste, even if he was sound asleep and knows I’m just washing dishes. He’ll flop on the floor by me or watch me from a chair.

Our older cat willingly lived on our front porch for months, waiting for us to be able to afford to get him fixed & bring him inside.

Our current pair gleefully chase each other up and down the stairs, up and down the halls, and the younger one loves playing fetch with small crumpled up paper bags.

We had two other cats who had left their homes in the neighborhood to live with us. We didn’t take them, they just took to us. They liked that we weren’t drunks, had no kids who pulled their tails, and that usually someone was home during the day.

I see the stray cats in our neighborhood and my heart breaks for them. The longhairs have filthy matted coats; some have had eye injuries; most of them pretty quickly disappear.

An ideal world would involve only wanted pets: no strays of any kind anywhere, and only the best treatment for all, including big pets like horses, and livestock, too. :crying_cat_face:

I would imagine our cats are much happier than those strays, especially when the older one climbs purring onto my BF, and pats his beard with a paw, then rubs his head against his chin.

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I thought the capybara was held in an apartment building. That would be cruel.

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Archive for the article:

https://archive.is/MZ6JE

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People have a very strong tenancy to romanticize wild animals and the lives they lead. In fact, wild animals live short brutal lives, infested with parasites, riddled with dental problems, and spending much of their time cold and hungry. It’s just how nature is. It’s tough out there. Evolution makes sure everyone lives just long enough to reproduce. It doesn’t care about “happy and healthy”.

This is not to say we should interfere with wild animals in any way or not let them live those lives, because they are important. However the idea that our domesticated cats and and dogs would be happier without us is patently silly.

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preach christina aguilera GIF

And the headline for that linked article is misleading. The article is pretty much all about dogs, I saw nothing about cats.
We’ve had plenty of cats adopt us over the years. They do not know how to “fake it” and definitely make it clear when they don’t want to be around you. It’s not rocket surgery.

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Agreed, anything helpful or substantive was limited in scope to dogs. It was also riddled with a lot of “You know, I think…” but did cite one large scale study of anxiety in dogs, which fits with my anecdotal experience. We “rescued” a 50 lb hound dog and had him living in our little Brooklyn apartment for 2 years. We’re right next to a huge park with big fields and lots of open off-leash time, which he loved, but in our apartment or on the sidewalk, he was constantly, visibly stressed out. We ended up putting him on Prozac, and the vet told us half the dogs in Brooklyn were on anti-anxiety meds.

He lives in Maine now with my semi-retired dad and is fat, happy and drug-free. It definitely takes some thoughtfulness about what you can actually offer a pet, which is the thing the article considered in the opening (“fewer, happier pets”). After our experience, I do marvel at how many people in Brooklyn choose to own huge, energetic dogs. The happiest ones I see are in big packs with the professional dogwalkers wandering around in the park for hours, but even then, that’s a fraction of the day.

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Why is this topic bringing in all the new posters? Was this topic disseminated widely on teh social medias? Seems odd.

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Can’t wait to see the proof on these bigoted claims!

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It is rather odd.

Stories re: pets, exotic, usual, large, or smol stir the emotions in varied and frequently intense ways.

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Who knew this post would be so incendiary, or attract so many bad faith bears?

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Yeah. Bai, indeed.

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Shrugs GIF

What Are You Talking About Harrison Ford GIF by Star Wars

If you think beating your kid is the same as offering guidance and discpiline, then you’re wrong and I hope you don’t have kids. Because that’s the only thing that “the gubmint” says you can’t do to your kid - with GOOD reason. It does fuck-all to help kids grow up into healthy, happy adults who aren’t damaged.

Bake Off Giggle GIF by PBS

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…and no thx. Hmph! hmm

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I put it on the list

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Well done you!
applause4

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