Would you disagree with this statement? “Often the mentally unstable own a lot of animals”.
I’m sorry if I missed how Left Hand Of Dorkness was an expert in mental instability, which is the issue at hand.
People who look after the animal for the animal’s own welfare are different. My sister is continuously acquiring cats and dogs and then taking them to the pound because she stops liking them. She doesn’t care about their welfare. Perhaps instead of saying people with more than 4 animals are mentally instable, it should’ve read, people who keep animals but don’t care about their welfare are perhaps mentally instable.
Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you? Smelly cat, smelly cat, it’s not your fault!
Sorry, couldn’t resist … at least I didn’t adopt another cat.
Adds yosemite to the Cool Dopers list
Instead of typing up a long post, I’ll just direct y’all to reread what yosemite said. See basically the cat thing is about your opinions. Sure there may be a disease which leads to animal hoarding but that does not mean that everyone with more than 4 cats is a hoarder. Your personal opinions of what is “normal” is just that, your own damned opinion and not a fact.
Now, this is just dumb. You say “it’s not 100%” but these people “have issues” as if it applies to 100%. You say it “doesn’t mean you’re crazy” but you’re “not normal”. That’s what we call a con-tra-dic-tion. You can’t say “well this is true, except not completely” and treat it like a fact, it’s not. Actually, until you come up with some actual facts this is all just your opinon. And opinions are like assholes, everyone has at least one. Doesn’t mean the rest of us want to listen to it.
I just feed him Meow Mix, that’s all. And it’s um, not his poo that’s the problem. He has stinky pee. I mean, it’s normal and all, but we’re in relatively close quarters and I have to clean it every day or I’ll be able to smell it.
He’s not Smelly Cat!
He’s bubby wubby tubby TJ and he’s the cutest baby in the world, yes he is.
Unless you have a cite for it, yes, I would. I seriously doubt that of all the millions of mentally ill people in America or the world, a majority of them own “a lot” of animals. Do some animals owners have mental illness? You betcha. But that’s not the question here OR in the other thread.
I would argue that making a blanket statement like that would be akin to me saying that often assholes drive SUVs. It might seem true, it might even BE true, but the fact that one drives an SUV doesn’t make one an asshole, nor does it even greatly increase the risk factor. And if it IS true, I bet there are some cites out there to prove it, so why aren’t any forthcoming?
Now, if you want to say that people who own 600 animals might be unstable, I wouldn’t argue the supposition so strenuously. But no one–not one single “cat lover” (funny how that term gets tossed around like it’s some sort of disparagement) said that owning 600 cats is not weird. Nor 400, nor 100. We’re talking, say, 5 cats or 9 cats.
I don’t think that IS the issue. The issue is # of animals and when it becomes a problem in and of itself. And since Daniel works in the area of animal welfare and since Daniel has SEEN the very situations we’re discussing more than probably anyone contributing to the thread (including me), why not listen to him when he says that in his professional experience in animal control he has found that the cutoff would appear to be 25ish, why would you discount his experience and favor your own instead?
I’m sorry that your sister is a lousy animal caretaker. But again, that is as anecdotal as me telling about my very good friend who has 10 cats and a damned near spotless house. That’s why I’m not using MY personal experience as my proof…it doesn’t prove the opinion.
Given that the thread was “How many cats is the tipping point from cat lover to crazy cat collector?”, it’s probably pretty reasonable to assume that at least some people think there is an informal, rule-of-thumb type of “pet ownership ceiling” and give your opinion about what that ceiling is.
Failing to acknowledge that this is your opinion and not a 100% true, hard fact would make you an asshole. I think that’s why brickbacon acknowledged that this is not a 100% true, hard fact.
I’ve never seen one, don’t know anyone who’s seen one, don’t know anyone who claims to have seen one, etc. etc. etc.
I’ll take your claim at “good-faith” and believe that you think it is true, but will damn near guarentee you that if I materialized in your bosses joint could point out piles of excrement, stinky dog/cat piss stains and general nasty, unhealthy conditions within 30 seconds of my feet hitting the ground. I don’t have anything against animals, per-se, other than that they “are animals”, and by near definition are nasty, dirty, disgusting creatures. They live outside for a reason! They shit where it smells best! Pretty soon, everything smells like shit, and the least-shit-smelling place becomes the toilet!
Have all the critters you want. Have things that shit/piss in the house (and I’m as guilty as anyone- the wife has a GD bird in a cage in the living room), and have them in large numbers, and you are a certifiable nut-case. In My Humble Opinion.
Oh, Fuck! This is the Pit! You’re a GODDAMN FREAK!
Hello? could we get back on topic? There’s a whole thread devoted to how many cats/other pets tip you into Crazy Cat Lady territory in - oh wait! in In My Humble Opinion. It really doesn’t need to be argued again all over here.
Guin, aside from the nuisance of your opening post, I can’t see anything wrong with Brickbacon’s posts. So you don’t agree with him. You know what? A lot of the time, it looked as if he didn’t agree with himself - not trolling, but trying to explain the opposing point of view.
But even if he wholeheartedly believes in everything he said, where do you or anyone else get off claiming that that is ignorance? Granted, I didn’t make my way through all nine threads, but in the first four or five, I never saw him claim that what he was saying was fact - he was either expressing his own opinion or explaining what he believed to be the reasoning behind someone else’s.
It looks to me as if he pushed one or more of your buttons. Well, I don’t like all or even most of his viewpoints either. Get over it.
Oy!, read his crap in the bully thread. Constant statements of dubious veracity that he refuses to back up with any cites other than, “My mom is a teacher!”
I read the first page, which was as much as I had the attention span for (oh look! something shiny!). He expressly stated that he was providing his opinion. I assume his statement that Mom is a teacher was explaining on what his opinion was based.
But that’s irrelevant. the point is, disagreeing with you or the entire board doesn’t demonstrate ignorance unless you’re pointing at solid, documented, cited facts and your opponent is denying them on the basis of personal belief alone. I’ve seen much to make me believe I disagree with Brickbacon, but nothing to demonstrate that he is particularly ignorant, or for that matter, particularly an asshole.
His entire stance in the bully thread is that he knows better than the rest of us because he has family members who are teachers. Despite the fact that his statements are inaccurate and not supported by any sources. They are made from ignorance and they are WRONG.
Well, technically - That’s only 2 1/2 felines per adult. Fret not. By the ‘more than 4 pets’ barometer, you and your hubby have only just passed the second turn in the Great March Toward Insanity.
