Which countries and cultures view dog and pet ownership in a negative light?

[ArchibaultNew]

Hey guys,

Excellent post of Winston. He has shown that he truly a divergent and unique thinker. I had similar ideas to him for awhile so I wanted to share them and add to the discussion.

My personal view of dogs is I don't really like them. I have an aunt from Latin America, I notice that she doesn't like dogs either. She lived in a urban areas and dogs where associated with dirtiness, rat chasing and uncleanness. To her it would be crazy to own a dog.

Also anyone else thinks pet ownership as generally a "dirty hobby" to have? For instance, cats kill their prey and have all that in their mouths and they you let them in your house.

It's interesting because it seems the English/Anglos like all the things that many people in the developing world dislike. For instance, dogs, camping, hunting, the countryside. Many of the things the English/Anglos value are things people from developing countries would try to distance themselves from. For instance, why would you want to sleep on the floor?

[Winston]

Maybe China? The thing is, if you date or marry a woman and she wants a dog but you don't, then it becomes an issue. So it's not just about us not being pet owners, which we are free to do. The issue comes when a woman we are seriously involved with wants one. Then what? There's no way to compromise this.

One time my ex in the US wanted a dog. I told people in Washington about this and they took her side and said that I should consider her need for security, which a dog provides for a woman. What I didn't understand though was why I should be considerate of her needs but she doesn't need to be considerate of my needs to not have a dog? Seems like a double standard. When I asked people about this, they were speechless and had no answer. It's so easy to catch Americans in contradictions and double standards. They are so non-intellectual and easy to debunk and expose.

[MrMan]

My wife is not too crazy about pets, but she likes the more than I do. She called asking if she could get a dog in our first house, and I said no, and she didn't do it. (It's necessary for the man ultimately to be in charge, which resolves such conflicts, though I exercised this far too little early on and should have established a stronger precedent more often to set the norms. I should have been a bit more domineering.)

My parents didn't have pets inside. I think a dog got in once or twice, but dogs were outdoor animals. I had a dog for two or three years of my childhood, but the dog sort of outgrew me. It was huge. We'd go play outside and leave the dog tied up-- more not thinking about it than anything else and my parents not getting on my case about it. Mom wasn't a pet person. Maybe she was afraid the dog was too big for us.

I did like dogs when I was really little, of course. I probably wouldn't have liked cats if we'd had one.

In my mind, dogs are okay as outdoor animals. But I'd rather not have one because I want to be free to travel. We did tell one of our kids she could have a hamster. I said in the garage. Now if Covid lightens and we go to Indonesia as we are thinking of doing later, we'll have to find a rodent-sitter. I wouldn't mind having a dog if we were tied down to a little farm, anyway, with goats, chicken, and cattle. Even better yet would be to own it as a get away home and to hire help (if I had the cash) to take care of the farm so I could just be there when I wanted-- to come and get fresh eggs, milk, young goat meat and beef, and let the kids play-- but not have to take care of them every day.

I hear Arab culture tends not to like having dogs. Dogs are considered unclean in the Islamic world. In Indonesia, I heard some taxi drivers bury cats they hit on the road because of something about Muhammad saying something positive about cats. I don't know what he said. But I didn't see that many people walking around with pets. I remember one Indonesian woman with a Persian cat. Also, I heard about a cat cafe where cat lovers could drink coffee then pet expensive exotic cats. I imagined cat hair in the coffee when I heard this.

I saw a lot of stray cats on the side of the road, including at least one cat-rape in progress. Maybe they leave the cats there to eat the rats. I think I counted 12 rats running around one time walking through this little stretch of back alleys in a neighborhood in Jakarta, once.

If I were single and I know what I know now, a woman being a big pet person especially a cat person would be a big negative. Do they have a category for it on dating profiles? If a woman said she was a cat person and it was prominent enough to mention it on a dating profile, and you don't want a cat in the home, this could be a point of contention in the future. Just imagine a woman opening the door to some nasty cat that makes your eyes itch so it can sleep all over you, or a dog watching you while you are in the bedroom. No thanks.

[MrMan]

One time my ex in the US wanted a dog. I told people in Washington about this and they took her side and said that I should consider her need for security, which a dog provides for a woman. What I didn't understand though was why I should be considerate of her needs but she doesn't need to be considerate of my needs to not have a dog? Seems like a double standard. When I asked people about this, they were speechless and had no answer. It's so easy to catch Americans in contradictions and double standards. They are so non-intellectual and easy to debunk and expose.

Since dogs can stink, shed hair on your furniture, etc. you can have a 'need' not to have a dog. It's possible to have an even stronger 'need' not to have a cat, since it seems like people are more likely to be allergic to them, and personality wise, they are inferior to dogs. And they like to rub their cat hair on everything.

But if a woman really, really wants a dog, she just might not be compatible with you. If a woman isn't willing to give up a dog or cat to have a man, that shows a lack of commitment, anyway.

If you want to take a trip abroad, you then have to find a dog sitter or a kennel.

[Winston]

But guys there must be something special about cats because remember in Ancient Egypt they were worshipped as gods? So they must have some divine quality. Some say cats are enlightened beings too. Spiritual and occult people tend to like cats. So they must have some occult quality too. What do you think?

[ArchibaultNew]

Great comments so far. Why do you guys think that Anglos want to "own" dogs or pets in general? I remember studying other cultures it seems that it was mostly young people who wanted their parents to buy them pets as entertainment. However, once people grow up it seems that "owning" a pet would be more of hassle or borthersome as opposed to something necessary. It seems that in a different society it would be more of a "niche" interest.