# Owning pets and then changing your mind **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 11, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567 "2020-05-11T04:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/21 "2020-05-12T16:33:35Z")
> [@cornflakes2](#): > > Well let’s put it this way, what happens if you throw away your child on the streets? > Exactly. That didn’t answer Omar’s question in any way. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@cornflakes2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes2)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/22 "2020-05-12T16:38:16Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Again, unless by “adopt him away” you mean “drove him a long way off and then shoved him out of the car and left him there”, that isn’t abandonment. Re-homing is not abandonment. Taking the animal to a shelter isn’t abandonment (unless you left them on the grounds of a shelter without first making sure they’d be able to accept the animal.) Taking a dog that’s started attacking humans to the vet. and having it euthanized isn’t abandonment. And those things aren’t going to show up in any remotely reasonable abandonment statistics; or to be forbidden by any remotely reasonable law on the subject, or by any existing law that I know of on the subject. > > ETA: Omar Little: which specific statistics? and are they counting animals left with the consent of the shelter, or do they mean ones dumped on the doorstep in the middle of the night? A shelter is not a home. It is abandonment any way you want to look at it. Maybe it’s not as bad as just dumping them on the side of the road and driving away, but it is still a form of abandonment. You agreed to purchase the life of that cat/dog, and you failed to uphold your responsibility to care and provide for it over it’s lifetime. If that shelter can’t find a home for the animal, they will eventually put them down. That’s why there aren’t shelters and pounds over ridden…some of you might think it’s because “neglecting/abandoning” your pet is not a big issue that’s going on, but you just don’t see it cuz half of them are put down and then we just repeat this cycle again by buying puppies and kittens! ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/23 "2020-05-12T16:41:10Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > ETA: Omar Little: which specific statistics? and are they counting animals left with the consent of the shelter, or do they mean ones dumped on the doorstep in the middle of the night? The 8 million a year stat includes all dogs in shelters whether they were picked up by animal control, or taken there by their owners. I get your pedantic usage of the term abandonment. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/24 "2020-05-12T16:43:54Z")
Cats and dogs euthanized annually in the US is currently about 1.6 million. Most of the pets in shelters get adopted. So less than 1% of the pet population in the US is euthanized annually. There are bigger problems than this one. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/25 "2020-05-12T16:50:36Z")
> [@cornflakes2](#): > > Well let’s put it this way, what happens if you throw away your child on the streets? > Exactly. Well you didn’t answer my question, but I will answer yours. You can’t compare human life to the life of a pet. You might, but generally in our society we do not put the same value of a pets life to that of a human. Freedom United estimates that there are approximately 10 million children held in slavery around the world. That’s probably a more important issue than euthanizing 1.6 million pets a year in the US. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@cornflakes2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes2)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/26 "2020-05-12T16:51:26Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Cats and dogs euthanized annually in the US is currently about 1.6 million. Most of the pets in shelters get adopted. > > So less than 1% of the pet population in the US is euthanized annually. There are bigger problems than this one. I respectfully disagree. I don’t think “most” pets in shelters get adopted. It’s probably closer to 50/50 or 60/40. Again maybe in the US most do, but globally, I highly doubt it. I also disagree there are bigger problems than this when it comes to pets. What could be more important than playing with a life? If people aren’t going to be serious in caring for these lives, then why do they keep breeding them and making more? They are breeding them and making more because it’s a business and a thriving one because people want to keep buying pups/kittens but abandon the old cats and dogs. I think pet health and diseases are secondary to the topic of actually creating these animals just for our enjoyment and convenience to play with their lives and discard them the moment they are inconveniencing to us. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/27 "2020-05-12T17:09:04Z")
> [@cornflakes2](#): > > I also disagree there are bigger problems than this when it comes to pets. What could be more important than playing with a life? Worldwide we kill 50 billion chickens, 1.5 billion pigs, .5 billion sheep, .5 billion goats, and .3 billion cattle each year. While dogs are cute, and I love dogs, clearly people don’t place the same value on animal life as you do. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/28 "2020-05-12T17:10:21Z")
If you want to ignore statistics and disagree with me, then that’s your prerogative. Do some study about your debate topic, before coming in here full of emotion. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/29 "2020-05-12T17:13:52Z")
On the up side, our local shelter announced that, they assume due to the lockdown, the number of animals waiting for homes had gone down substantially. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/30 "2020-05-12T17:18:57Z")
I’d shoot your dog for a case of beer and I’d dig the hole. Now you want to get other countries involved? Countries that eat dogs? Countries with long standing views on dogs and the roll they play? Good luck. If you created a world government right now, the laws protecting dogs would be worse than the current U.S. laws. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/31 "2020-05-12T18:12:48Z")
How would it even be constitutional for the government to _require_ an individual to own property? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/32 "2020-05-12T18:44:53Z")
Yet again: there are currently existing laws in the United States against abandoning animals. To the best of my knowledge none of them have ever been found unconstitutional. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/33 "2020-05-12T19:50:21Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Yet again: there are currently existing laws in the United States against abandoning animals. > > To the best of my knowledge none of them have ever been found unconstitutional. Yet again: abandoning them on the side of the road, sure. Re-homing them? Where is there such a law??? ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/34 "2020-05-12T20:31:42Z")
I would think that most pets these days are not bought, but adopted. [Here](https://www.animalsheltering.org/page/pets-by-the-numbers)is a link to a page with some interesting statistics. In my 61 years, I have bought only one dog from a small-time breeder (a friend), a purebred Sheltie. He lived 14 years. I have owned five other dogs in the last 15 years, and all of them were rescued off the street. So not even adopted. Well, one was, but I stole him from his useless owners first, then turned him into the SPCA, and adopted him immediately. Long story. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/35 "2020-05-12T21:35:06Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Yet again: abandoning them on the side of the road, sure. Re-homing them? Where is there such a law??? I don’t think anybody in this thread (or, to the best of my knowledge, elsewhere) has proposed that there should be laws against rehoming animals. I’ve specifically said that rehoming is not abandonment. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/36 "2020-05-12T21:54:23Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > I would think that most pets these days are not bought, but adopted. Yes > [@Omar\_Little](#): > > There are approx. 90 million dogs and 94 million cats as pets in the US. > > Approx. 45% of these cats and dogs were acquired through rescue from shelters. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/37 "2020-05-12T23:30:10Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I don’t think anybody in this thread (or, to the best of my knowledge, elsewhere) has proposed that there should be laws against rehoming animals. The OP pretty much did. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/38 "2020-05-12T23:37:58Z")
Not really ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567/39 "2020-05-13T02:17:54Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I don’t think anybody in this thread (or, to the best of my knowledge, elsewhere) has proposed that there should be laws against rehoming animals. > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > The OP pretty much did. No, they didn’t. Not only does their first post not read that way to me, but in a later post they’ve flat out said the opposite: > [@cornflakes2](#): > > Adopting him away or rehoming is OK. I’m mainly talking about people who neglect to care for the animal they agreed to buy and care for. So I’m mainly talking about people who just throw them away outside, abandon, that sort of thing. Changing minds and then finding a new home for them is ok…you still took care of them and found them a new home to be cared for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/owning-pets-and-then-changing-your-mind/853567.md?page=1)