Unpopular Opinions About Animals -

[Mourning Dove]

We already have threads about unpopular opinions on books, music, video games, food, etc. As an animal lover, why not animals as well? Plants can be included too, since they're also living things from the natural environment.

As one may be able to ascertain from username and avatar, I love birds. Pigeons and doves especially. Even though it's illegal in many cities, I would enjoy feeding pigeons if I lived closer to a large urban area. I don't care if the birds poop either. Everything poops (especially humans -just look at out sewer systems), doesn't it?

 

[Pikonic]

Canadian geese are beautiful creatures. I love the patten on their bodies and they're solid black heads.

My boyfriend says they're evil and he can suck it.

 

[Locksnap]

A lot of people seem to say that cats are cold, aloof and uncaring, but in my experience that couldn't be further from the truth. The two cats I raised are the most clingy and affectionate animals I've ever had the pleasure of living with. Before she died, one would sleep with me on my bed every night. Closing the door wouldn't stop her; she learnt how to stand up against the door and knock the handle down so she could sneak in. She was very dog-like actually, she would always give any kind of food she found a try, and especially loved butter and icecream (had to be careful to make sure she never had more than a lick of each, otherwise she'd probably eat a whole fucking icecream).

Another thing is seagulls. Some people really dislike them, but I think they're cool, boisterous animals.

 

[FramerGirl420]

I'm going to say a thing. A thing that is my opinion. I don't want any debates or arguments, it is just how I feel.

I'm not a fan of purebred critters like dogs. I'm not saying I dislike the critters themselves, I just am not a fan of the idea. There's just so many little creatures in pounds and such in need of a family and home that it just seems silly and almost callus to purposefully breed these animals and produce more offspring (usually with hereditary problems bc of the selective breeding) when there are excess critters already available for cuddles and love and such.
I can see how in the past it was helpful to be able to refine animals to have certain traits through breeding, but nowadays it's mostly just silly. Again, that's just, like, my opinion, man.
And as I said, just because I feel the way I do doesn't mean I dislike the animals themselves or even their owners. I know several purebred dog owners and they and their pups are swell! What I stated is just my personal beliefs.

Anyways, as far as just unpopular animals are concerned, I've not really met a critter I dislike. There's only two animals I can think of that I wouldn't want as a pet again. Those are birds and turtles. I've had both before and while they're neat and cute and lovely creatures, the type of care they require just isn't my cup of tea.

Anywho, animals are great and I look forward to hearing other folks' thoughts and opinions.

 

[Overcast]

I love chihuahuas. Particularly the long haired variety. I have two right now. One of them who's only been with us for a few days now, and she's both one of the sweetest and most energetic animals I've met.

I seem to notice a lot of people who don't really care for them or small dogs in general. I say they're missing out. : )

On that note, I don't really like the appearance of dogs like Maltese or dogs that look like they have facial hair. I'm sure they're amazing dogs, but I just don't really care for the look. I guess I'm superficial like that.

 

[Mourning Dove]

Combining it with the "food" thread, I try to eat organic animal and animal products whenever I can. I was a vegetarian for a while, but I had to stop because it was negatively affecting my health. But if the food product has the USDA Organic label on it, it's much more likely to be ethically produced. They would be without antibiotics, hormones, or CAFOs involved, ideally. Organic food tastes much better, too!

 

[John Titor]

I love chihuahuas. Particularly the long haired variety. I have two right now. One of them who's only been with us for a few days now, and she's both one of the sweetest and most energetic animals I've met.

I seem to notice a lot of people who don't really care for them or small dogs in general. I say they're missing out. : )

On that note, I don't really like the appearance of dogs like Maltese or dogs that look like they have facial hair. I'm sure they're amazing dogs, but I just don't really care for the look. I guess I'm superficial like that.

Yeah I don't get what everyone's problem with chihuahuas are. "Hurr hurr, not a real dog"; get bent.

 

[nonnewtonian]

Goldfish (and fish in general) don't get nearly the respect they deserve. They're neat animals with a lot of personality, and seeing them be treated as throwaway pets you can put in a bowl and forget about pisses me off. Oh, you kept a goldfish alive in a bowl for a year? Congratulations, you tortured an innocent creature for 365 days and killed it while it was still a baby. God, I wish fishbowls would just be banned here in the US. It wouldn't solve everything, but at least it would put a stop to some of the abuse of fish.

 

[Cosmos]

In general, I actually get pretty offended when people act like animals are just dumb beasts with no emotions or intelligence. I mean, up until a few decades ago there were arguments over whether animals can feel pain or not (spoiler alert: It's probably safe to assume that most of them do, what with having a nervous system and all).

I just think it's ridiculous (not to mention incredibly arrogant) to assume that humans are the only beings capable of emotion and/or intellect, especially when there's a ton of evidence to the contrary. Elephants form close family groups and actually mourn their lost members, dolphins and whales are extremely intelligent, creative, and look after their pod/family members, dogs and cats are both intelligent and emotional (as any pet owner can testify), decades of research have proven that apes and monkeys are more like us than we ever thought, etc etc.

I know that my opinion probably isn't that unpopular, but I still see a lot of people justify treating animals like shit because they're "stupid" and "inferior." I'm Catholic and was raised to believe that all life is worthy of respect and needs to be protected and cherished, so seeing animal abuse and the lack of reaction it gets is one of the things that really gets me.

 

[R.A.E.L.]

In general, I actually get pretty offended when people act like animals are just dumb beasts with no emotions or intelligence. I mean, up until a few decades ago there were arguments over whether animals can feel pain or not (spoiler alert: It's probably safe to assume that most of them do, what with having a nervous system and all).

I just think it's ridiculous (not to mention incredibly arrogant) to assume that humans are the only beings capable of emotion and/or intellect, especially when there's a ton of evidence to the contrary. Elephants form close family groups and actually mourn their lost members, dolphins and whales are extremely intelligent, creative, and look after their pod/family members, dogs and cats are both intelligent and emotional (as any pet owner can testify), decades of research have proven that apes and monkeys are more like us than we ever thought, etc etc.

I know that my opinion probably isn't that unpopular, but I still see a lot of people justify treating animals like shit because they're "stupid" and "inferior." I'm Catholic and was raised to believe that all life is worthy of respect and needs to be protected and cherished, so seeing animal abuse and the lack of reaction it gets is one of the things that really gets me.

On that note, I believe animals have souls.

 

[Mourning Dove]

I think snakes are cool. They don't scare me at all. They're my Chinese Zodiac sign, after all. I like the texture of their cool, smooth skin. As long as snakes don't bite, poison, or constrict me, it's all good.

 

[Cosmos]

On that note, I believe animals have souls.

Same here. My great-grandma, one of the most devout and by-the-book Catholics ever, was also a dog lover. She disagreed with the Church that animals don't have souls and don't enter the afterlife because, as she said, "Heaven wouldn't be heaven without my dogs." I sure don't want to spend eternity without my dog, either.

 

[sparklemilhouse]

She disagreed with the Church that animals don't have souls and don't enter the afterlife

I think when I heard this when I was 13, that was the last time I ever went to church.

 

[Sunny-D]

Pandas should be allowed to go extinct. I can't think of a single important ecological niche they fill, "fat lazy thing that sits around eating giant grass" cannot be that important to the environment as a whole. They still have the digestive tract of an omnivore/carnivore, they could eat meat, but instead they eat nearly nutritionally useless bamboo that they can barely digest, because it doesn't move. They refuse to have sex and reproduce, despite people's ridiculous efforts and showing them panda porn. People only care about them because they're "cute", although personally they just seem like cows in bear form except more useless since they're not edible. Natural selection logically should have selected them out of existence already, but instead people pour money into their conservation, money that could go to less photogenic endangered animals that actually act like they want to survive.

Also sloths are creepy and I have no idea why the internet thinks they're cute, either.

 

[Dark Mirror Hole]

Moths are quite lovely. Okay, maybe not when they flutter in your face and cover you in powder but besides that, they're not that freaky.

 

[R.A.E.L.]

Shrimp and prawns are cute. I love their big shiny eyes.

 

[Magpie]

In the vein of purebred animals that FramerGirl mentioned, I have a distinctive dislike of brachycephalic breeds of cats and dogs. Obviously not the animals themselves, but the fact that everyone seems to find them "charming" when it screams of bad health, so people clamber over them and want more of these unhealthy animals. Dunno, I just don't find bad breeding to be adorable and would rather stick with mutts.

Also damn I really hate it when people kill animals needlessly, with a particular example being wild snakes. I lived in Florida for a good long while and there are six species of venomous snakes: dusky pygmy rattlesnake, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, timber rattlesnake, eastern coral snake, cottonmouth, and the copperhead. That's it, and there are so many more nonvenomous and pretty much totally harmless snakes there. A friend of mine posted a status bragging about how she killed a snake brutally by crushing it and people congratulated her. Judging from the photos it was only a juvenile garter snake, not much bigger than the bank card she used to gore it. If that snake were to bite you, it would probably not even break your skin. I told her she was a dipshit for going after it in the first place (apparently it was in a garage as well so it could have very well been avoided) because that is how most people who get bit by snakes have it happen, and two of course for killing it and three for acting like she was big and tough as a 20-year-old for killing a snake that was barely even a foot long. "Oh but it's just a stupid snake!" Fuck off.

I've been bitten by snakes twice, both of the instances was with my pet corn snake. Once was when my cats had knocked over her viv and freaked her out, so she had slithered under the bed into a corner. She was unharmed but stressed, so when I went to get her she bit my hand. She was still young so the shock scared me more than anything. The second time I was stupid and mishandled her food, and while that hurt more, I have been harmed much more by my fully-clawed cats. With wild snakes I was able to pick up a five foot black racer up off the side of the road where it was basking but at risk of getting hit by a car. It mostly just flipped out and tried to get away from me, not ever trying to strike in the short time I needed to move it to a safer spot.

Basically I have a lot of feelings about animals.

 

[Sunny-D]

Little dog breeds aren't bad if their owners remember to treat them like dogs. People let them jump up on people, act obnoxious, get away with things they wouldn't allow bigger dogs to do because "aaaww, how cute!" So they can end up neurotic, bitey or have all kinds of problems. If people treat them like normal dogs, though, they can be alright.

I still sort of don't like small dog breeds in general, though... but it's just because they seem so fragile in comparison when I'm used to being around bigger dogs. Like you can't play with them like you would with a bigger dog or they'll break or something.

 

[Coldgrip]

Okay, what I'm about to say will very damn likely rub some people the wrong way. This opinion of mine is apparently so bad to have that, according to some people, I'm no better than a nazi because of it. I shit you not, some people honestly think that because I don't really care for this particular animal, I'm some kind of racist.

Spoiler: And that opinion is...

I don't like dogs.

 

[chimpburgers]

I love chihuahuas. Particularly the long haired variety. I have two right now. One of them who's only been with us for a few days now, and she's both one of the sweetest and most energetic animals I've met.

I seem to notice a lot of people who don't really care for them or small dogs in general. I say they're missing out. : )

On that note, I don't really like the appearance of dogs like Maltese or dogs that look like they have facial hair. I'm sure they're amazing dogs, but I just don't really care for the look. I guess I'm superficial like that.

Hey, I have one myself and he couldn't be any sweeter or fun to play with. They just have to be trained really well from the get go and be socialized properly early on in their lives to a lot of different situations.