# Poll: Is raising pets an acceptable alternative to raising kids? (take two) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949 "2022-01-17T20:47:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/1 "2022-01-17T20:47:55Z")
Sorry all, I really botched the first poll. I’m going to try one more time. I ask that if you answer one question you answer all four to the best of your ability. All polls are anonymous, some results are held until the polls close in a week or so. * * * _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/1))_ _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/1))_ _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/1))_ _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/1))_ ~Max ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/2 "2022-01-17T20:54:38Z")
imho, poll 3 should have an “I don’t know” option. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/3 "2022-01-17T20:55:10Z")
Isn’t that covered by “unsure”? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/4 "2022-01-17T20:56:58Z")
I’d say go with “Unsure” if you don’t know. If you ever prefer not to answer I’d say pick “Unsure”, too. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/5 "2022-01-17T20:58:45Z")
I’m not sure I understand the title question (the poll questions are fine.) Acceptable to whom? Raising pets is a fine thing to do, within reason. Treating an animal as a baby human is probably not doing the animal or the animal’s owner any good but most pet owners don’t fall into that category. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/6 "2022-01-17T21:00:25Z")
👍 ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/7 "2022-01-17T17:59:27Z")
If you want to raise kids, raise kids. If you want to have pets, have pets. One has absolutley nothing to do with the other in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/8 "2022-01-17T18:01:10Z")
I vote “Disagree with premise” because I think you are makeing a category error. Not all parent raise children out of a desire or duty to nuture something nor do all pet owners develop a maternal/paternal relationship with the animal. It is way more complicated and interesting than you state, with so many individual cases for each side of the premise that do not compute that I can only say: _non sequitur_. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/9 "2022-01-17T18:02:25Z")
I only had in mind those who have the desire to nurture something but may not want to have or adopt children (or more children). If you think this category doesn’t exist in any significant number, you should vote N/A. Example: - empty nest couple, no grandkids, feeling empty and wants something to fill the void, but not children because finances and/or they think it is irresponsible to have/adopt children at this age ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/10 "2022-01-17T18:06:33Z")
Some people know they would not make good parents, why force them to be. Maybe they make good aunts and uncles, so why not let them have a support animal of their choice and tell people to get off their back? ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/11 "2022-01-17T18:28:54Z")
Hubs and I are child free by choice. We have always had cats. We love our cats, we take them to the vet when needed and cry when they are gone. Our cats are not our children, they are pets. We don’t raise them to be able to spread their wings and successfully launch from the nest, having pets is much different than raising children and I think most pet owners understand that. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/12 "2022-01-17T18:41:15Z")
This. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/13 "2022-01-17T18:46:04Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I vote “Disagree with premise” because I think you are makeing a category error. This. You do or do not want kids. You do or do not want pets. The decisions are independent of each other. You’re the one making them dependent. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/14 "2022-01-17T18:46:41Z")
> [@Poll: Is raising pets an acceptable alternative to raising kids?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids/957938/1): > > Do you think raising pets is an acceptable alternative to raising kids, or to raising more kids, for the purpose of satisfying the need to nurture? Depends on what you’re talking about. I don’t think there’s anybody who wants to have kids who thinks that having pets instead would be “just as good.” But I think there are plenty of people whose pets satisfy whatever “need to nurture” they have, so that they feel they do not need to have kids. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/15 "2022-01-17T18:47:48Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But I think there are plenty of people whose pets satisfy whatever “need to nurture” they have, so that they feel they do not need to have kids. This is what I’m talking about. See also the example from post #4 Plenty of people want pets for other reasons that have nothing to do with a need to nurture. The poll as I envisioned it is not asking about those people. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/16 "2022-01-17T18:50:04Z")
> [@Poll: Is raising pets an acceptable alternative to raising kids?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids/957938/10): > > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > > But I think there are plenty of people whose pets satisfy whatever “need to nurture” they have, so that they feel they do not need to have kids. > > This is what I’m talking about. So, was your poll question meant to ask “Do you, personally, fit this description?” Or were you just asking about people in general? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/17 "2022-01-17T18:52:17Z")
> [@Poll: Is raising pets an acceptable alternative to raising kids?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids/957938/1): > > Do you think raising pets is an acceptable alternative to raising kids, or to raising more kids, for the purpose of satisfying the need to nurture? I’m not clear on why it would be my place to judge it as acceptable or not for other folks. If people are fulfilled by having pets or kids in the house, it’s no concern of mine, as long as the kids/pets are being appropriately cared for. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/18 "2022-01-17T18:52:28Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Plenty of people want pets for other reasons that have nothing to do with a need to nurture. Are you assuming that’s the “a need to nurture” is the reason people have kids? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/19 "2022-01-17T19:00:07Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > So, was your poll question meant to ask “Do you, personally, fit this description?” Or were you just asking about people in general? I meant in general, but it’s occurring to me that the poll was poorly written… ☹ > [@Poll: Is raising pets an acceptable alternative to raising kids?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids/957938/12): > > I’m not clear on why it would be my place to judge it as acceptable or not for other folks. I voted yes by that logic, but see also above. If I thought such couples didn’t exist I would vote N/A. If I thought it was wrong/immoral I would have voted no. If I thought such couples do exist, but are crazy for asking, I would have picked ‘nobody in their right mind would ask’. > [@Poll: Is raising pets an acceptable alternative to raising kids?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids/957938/13): > > Are you assuming that’s the “a need to nurture” is the reason people have kids? Not necessarily ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949/20 "2022-01-17T19:05:49Z")
I keep animals because I like being around animals. I had children for completely different reasons. I do not particularly like being around children except my own. I mean, any more than I like being around any random humans. I don’t think either choice had to do with “need to nurture”. I know such a need can exist in humans, especially women, but I don’t believe I’ve had the emotion myself. Ecologically, sure thing, pets are far better than having children, who may very well reproduce themselves, an outcome to be avoided since we’ve already overpopulated the planet by seven billion or so. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-raising-pets-an-acceptable-alternative-to-raising-kids-take-two/957949.md?page=2)