Talk:Pet/Archives/2015

Do other animals also keep pets?

Mention if only humans keep pets or do some animals also do? (No I'm not talking about e.g., ants managing aphids.) Jidanni (talk) 04:28, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Koko (gorilla) kept one or two cats but I don't think she would have done this had she been brought up in the wild instead of in captivity where she saw humans with their pets. Rissa, Guild of Copy Editors (talk) 01:55, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

Maltese and Maine Coon kitten photos

I think the photographs of the Maltese puppy and the Maine Coon kitten should be removed because they are clearly there to show off the photographers' own pets and don't have anything to do with the article especially given that everybody knows what cats and dogs are. The two other dog pics show their humans with them which is part of the owner-pet relationship. The more unusual pets like the rabbit and guinea pigs can stay as they are. Comments? Rissa, Guild of Copy Editors (talk) 02:07, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

Overpopulation

Tagged the section. Overpopulation of domestic animals is rather a myth created by lobbying groups than a real problem. It is solely based on shelter statistics. Statistics show that certain numbers of domestic animals are euthanized, and animal groups refer to these statistics. However, editors do not explain, that these euthanized millions are about 5% of population, and do not explain that a lot of people bring their severely ill or very old animal to the shelter to "put him down". Majority of animals that are euthanized in shelters are not suitable as pets due to incurable illness, or temperament issues that make them dangerous or extremely problematic. Need to tag the main article, too. Guess, as "misleading"? Afru (talk) 17:49, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

Do you have any reliable sources that support the notion that overpopulation is a myth? You assertions don't jibe with my personal observations from volunteering at animal shelters and with rescue groups. OhNoitsJamie ^Talk 19:24, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

Same data and same figures to prove its existence, statistics. 77 millions dogs in USA, around 7.7 millions, i.e. 10% get to shelters yearly, this is just a figure from statistics. That means that a dog has approximately 10% chance to end up in a local shelter, like a human has certain chances to became homeless; talking about probability, and nothing else. It does not mean that the total number of dogs in country exceeds demand by 10%, it does not mean that we need to reduce breeding of well bred dogs by 10%, that only means that we can help situation by helping owners to locate their lost pets, increase screening for true breed temperament for breeding stock to decrease "mixmatch" incidents, work on education etc.

Majority of dogs that are hard to adopt are either unpredictable, or ill; some are old, but that's another story. They end up in a shelter because they did not match expectations of people who initially purchased or adopted them.

Or because the owner died, or went off to college, or had to move to an apartment/condo that doesn't allow dogs, or had a baby that was allergic to the dog, or was given the dog or puppy as a gift he or she didn't want, or became too sick or injured to care of the dog, or inherited the dog from a relative but didn't want to keep it, or moved in with or married someone who doesn't like dogs, or who already had a dog at home that hated the new dog on sight, or discovered when they brought the dog home that it wanted to kill their cats and/or their children. Or maybe it's a dog that needs constant contact with people or likes to chew on pillows or slippers or has some other habit the new owner can't cope with. Sometimes dogs are given up because they have been injured or have developed a disease and the owner simply doesn't want to look after it.

The humane society where I volunteer took in a very sweet-natured dog a couple of years ago that turned out to be afraid of loud noises. Her first owners lived near O'Hare Airport where planes flew over their house constantly. They thought the dog would get used to it but she didn't, she was terrified of the noise. The shelter adopted her out to a man who was experienced in handling dogs that are easily frightened. He lived in a quiet, rural area, with two other dogs. Everything turned out fine.

There is a purebred fox terrier in the shelter where I volunteer that is deaf. His owners didn't know this when they bought him at a pet shop but they weren't able to deal with him. Once he got to my shelter he was trained to recognize hand signs and is doing well and shouldn't have too much trouble finding a new family to love him. There are lots of reasons why people with dogs and puppies don't want or can't keep them that have nothing to do the owner's expectations, as anyone with even a little experience working or volunteering at a pound or humane society shelter can tell you. Rissa, Guild of Copy Editors (talk) 03:14, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

This did not happen because there were too many dogs, this happened because people wanted a dog, and had room for her, but they did not realize that dogs is an different amount of responsibility than they expected. The way to prevent this from happening is to educate people, and to offer them only a matching pet, not "any given dog". If they realize what animal will better adjust to their home before she get there, this animal will unlikely end up in a shelter. I.e. this is mostly an issue of wrong pick, not of excessive offer.

Another argument: if and when a person needs to place her pet in a new home for personal reason, she normally offer this pet to family members, friends, neighbors, advertises in local ads etc. If the dog is healthy and does not have behavior problems, does she often end up in a shelter? If the dog is a purebred, she usually can find her new home via breed rescue channels. Majority of dogs that can hardly find a new family are medium to large mongrels. There are statistics, but they are hardly accurate by breed for the reason that most volunteers usually guess the breed out of the blue.

Ninety percent of the time that information comes from the owner. Nearly all shelters and pounds add "mix" to the dog's description, as in "shepherd mix," unless the owner or an expert verifies that the dog is a purebred. At my humane society 15-20% of the dogs and puppies are purebreds. Less than 5% of the cats are. Rissa, Guild of Copy Editors (talk) 03:14, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

Do we deal with a general overpopulation, or with an overproduction of large mongrels and/or of dogs with unstable temperament? Afru (talk) 07:15, 31 August 2013 (UTC)

When humane societies and pounds talk about over-population, they mean healthy, friendly, adoptable dogs and puppies. Wild dogs, vicious dogs, seriously ill dogs and very old dogs aren't part of that statistic. Rissa, Guild of Copy Editors (talk) 03:11, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

"According to some estimates, the current world population of domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) may be as high as 500 million, of which a substantial, although unknown, proportion is poorly supervised or free-roaming" Source. Also referenced here. Not exactly hard numbers on overpopulation, but enough to take the focus off the US a bit? Stummelfüßer (talk) 18:04, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

Discussion you might wish to be involved in

Please be advised there is a discussion here[Wikipedia talk:Identifying reliable sources (medicine)] which may affect this article.__DrChrissy 21:43, 12 April 2015 (UTC)