My dad was raised on a farm and he wouldn't tolerate animal cruelty but he was remarkably cold blooded about putting animals down. He wanted to get rid of my sister's dog just because the dog was really stupid.

In my dad's defense, "stupid" involved a lot of suboptimal urine placement.

My sister-in-law put both of her (incontinent) cats down at the same time, which I imagine as a "bring out your dead!" type situation. I like to pretend that Cat A was ailing and at the end of its life, and Cat B was like, "Wait! Why am I going to the vet, too? I'm fine!" and my SIL said, "I know you'd be too distraught to go on without Cat A." And then Cat B says, "No, no! Not distraught! I'm fine!" and she says soothingly, "You're far too distraught. Get in the car."

I don't know which cat was incontinent, or if both were.

I had to talk my sister into putting down her next dog. He was refusing food and walking in circles until he hit a wall.

I think he had a neurological disorder.

I also remember the time when I landed at an airport, and checked my voicemail, and there was a sobbing voicemail from a very close friend about how sick her cat was, and they took it to the vet, and they think it might have gotten bit by a rattlesnake, but certain tests were really expensive, and she didn't know what to do. She was crying and very upset.

I called her right back and asked if the cat was improving, or declining, or what was going on, and she sobbed that they put the cat down. I was like, "Wait. When did this all happen?" I'd only been on a flight for like 2 hours. It all happened in two hours. The cat wasn't rapidly declining. It was still sick and no one knew why, and she pulled the plug. Like without giving the cat a few hours to turn it around, on its own. I was very perplexed, but she was so upset that I felt like I couldn't really ask her "but why?" as many times as I wanted to.

Make an addition to your list of people to not give a healthcare power of attorney to.

It kind of sucks that the laws regarding value of animals for liability purposes capture the attitudes of an earlier time. Criminal animal cruelty laws aside, if I kill your dog my liability is limited to the cost of the animal (possibly depreciated for age?) and maybe any training expenses you can prove increased its value but not any emotional suffering I've caused you. I think I wouldn't even have to pay the vet bills you incurred trying to save it? This has come up often with pets being shot by cops for no good reason, like barking or running.

Running doesn't sound like a good reason to shoot a dog.

Barking, maybe. Like if I'm trying to sleep.

We used to get a lot of stray dogs in New Mexico, and if they were sick we'd try to help them out. I took a puppy that wound up being too sick to heal to the vet and they had to put it down. I had no attachment to the dog, but the vet was doing the whole very sensitively putting a beloved pet to sleep routine and because she was so pretty, I pretended to be sad.

9: But if it's a champion race horse, I bet it's with more than a human child - at least for civil damages.

To be fair, it's faster.

From the link in the link:

For thousands of years, humans have kept animals as pets. But only during the past 40 years have they come to be viewed as family.

I wonder if this guy has incorporated how people used to (or in many cases still do) treat family members below them in the hierarchy...

A stray wandering cat came when I called last night. I'd heard a yowl, and thought it was our cat -- but then the meowing in response was too soft and cat-like to be our cat (who kind of baas at me.) Rough-looking but very friendly stripey cat came up, and we kindly but stupidly gave it some water and food. It went away, but a raccoon found the rest of the food and THEN the catdoor so 3AM was fun.

shiv is of the 'dogs are work animals' school of redneck Canadian thinking, and norms of pet ownership are now 'but they're my kids', which seems bizarre to him, so we won't ever have a dog.

Not even to turn meat on a spit?

"Fur-baby" is one of my two least-favorite words. (The other one is "mouth-feel".)

Mouthfeel is the new moist

19 is me

"Fursona" is better.

The bit quoted in the OP is horrifying. The kind of pet ethical dilemma I'm more used to is, "Well, I know that outdoor cats are bad for birds, but our cat really, really wants to be an outside cat, so is it really so wrong?"

This bit, though, is a lot less horrifying, almost comical.

Institutions that exploit animals, such as the circus, are shutting down - animal rights activists claimed a significant victory this year with the closure of Ringling Bros circus - and there are calls to end, or at least rethink, zoos.

The lifestyle, treatment, and history of circus animals is very different from that of most common pets or livestock. Zoos put a lot more effort into being humane these days than they did 50+ years ago and a lot of them are major refuges for animals that would be extinct or on the verge of it due to human activity. Comparing them to modern pet ownership standards is bonkers.

do we think the Rollin anecdote happened? as in, it was a thing rather than a friend of a friend story or sheer shake-the-undergrads-rigid fiction?

shake-the-undergrads-rigid fiction

IYKWIM.

I guess if there's anyone who just can't shake their curiosity about the usage of "mouthfeel" in trans circles, Google is there for you, but be careful.

Furbaby is the worst.

"Furbaby's mouth-feel" is the worst.

Mouthbaby's fur-feel is similarly unpleasant.

12 reminds me of Steven Wright's old joke: "I like my dental hygienist, I think she's very pretty. So before every visit, I eat an entire box of Oreo cookies."

You lost a 'd'.

For thousands of years, humans have kept animals as pets. But only during the past 40 years have they come to be viewed as family.

But that's nonsense, though. Kipling wrote some heartbreaking stuff about the death of a dog. "Master, behold thy servant, he is rising eight months old"

It's too bad he didn't live to see Warriors.

I have just acquired a monstrous puppy, to train her as an actual working dog. She is a Kangal, and will get to be about 120 pounds. They are very independent, And while she is actually quite charming we have a lot of differences of opinion on the idea of a leash. This may be the hardest task I have ever taken on...

The goats didn't prepare you?

Not even close... and now I need to get the most easily startled animal in the universe to accept the slavering beast...

Somehow, I can't figure at all which element of your menagerie gets that description. The Guinea hen collective?

Can birds even do slavering?

Oh my god, goats are ridiculous. Have you ever startled a deer in the woods? It's no different, and my goats are as tame as any pet. Only one of them needs to start, and the whole mass of them moves like a school of fish when a shark comes by.
As to whether birds slaver, while I was referring to the dog, I am reminded of a bird from a children's magazine. Did anyone ever get 'Cricket'? It had cartoons drawn on the sides of the pages, scattered among the articles and stories, and featured "Ugly Bird - the only bird in the world with fangs and dandruff."

33: congratulations on the dog!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangal_Shepherd_Dog

A nice blog from a shephard and rangeland ag extensionist: http://flyingmule.blogspot.com/

He has a few posts on LGDs.

We are down to one guinea fowl, they are remarkably stupid and die unnecessarily all the time. We thought it was going to be sad, and he would be very lonely not having anybody else to chase around with, but it turns out he is just now coming into his own. He has elected himself constable of the farm, and regularly herds the chickens and turkeys back towards their home, gives the ducks what for, and sometimes chooses to just go out grazing with the goats to make sure everything is as it should be.

41: Sounds like a born leader! Maybe he can also train the dog?

41: Sounds like a born leader! Maybe he can also train the dog?

Live fast, die young, leave a delicious corpse.

Also, Dr Whoops, are you on Tik Tok? From my understanding that how farms make money these days.

I made a guinea fowl au vin with a couple of them two years ago, and they were fine, albeit stringy.... Of course, all free range birds seem to have that issue. They are amazing and flavorful, but need to be cooked low and slow.

I did talk to Clegg (the Guinea) about taking the dog on, but he said something about having enough on his plate already, plus the language barrier, etc etc

Your bird is a Liberal Democrat?

We are not on Tik Tok - I don't have a exhibitionist bone in my body, and I hate posting things that random people will take offense at for some reason. I do love looking at other peoples farm stuff, though, and I recommend uselessfarm on Instagram. Very silly...

Oh god no, I think most of the animals are much more conservative politically, and Clegg is probably the worst of them.

I have a farm now. No animals but I get government subsidies as soon as I figure out the application.

When does the cob house go up?

There's no possibility of a house there. It's just corn and/or beans.

52: Who does the farming?

48: You don't have to appear on screen -- the animals would be the stars, anyway.

52: My cousin, unless he just hires someone else.

49: In which Brexit is explained.