Oof that would have hit me too. But I guess the older the become the more common it will be. At some point we'll go to more funerals than birthday parties. My whole card system will need to be reworked then.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely agree that we need to neuter cats and dogs. I just personally cannot bring myself to make this decision for an individual cat that I have to decide for. If I was getting a pet I would absolutely neuter it, but I prefer to just not get a pet to not have my mind wander down that road of "damn, did I just assume what my pet would want and put my values on them or did I do something responsible by interfering with their body". Same for most decisions.
In The Big Bang Theory without the laugh track, Raj becomes just a huuuuuuge asshole.
To be fair, with or without a laugh track, TBBT is depressing as fuck. I feel incredibly sorry for the faith of most characters.
A friend who had two breds from the same parents (different litter) said that you can predict the personality better in breds, while with unknown mixes you can get a manic dog and that they all have behavioral problems.
As you might have guessed by now, I am very much not a dog person. And I have no place to judge her statement. But I can imagine that there are a lot of dog owners who think like that.
Btw I'm in Germany, so is the friend. There is some Nazi joke in all of this that I am too lazy to make.
Imagine you wanted children and then someone would come along and castrate you because there's a problem with overpopulation. You take away an individaul's choice of reproduction for the greater good. And it makes sense, but the lack of consent or even understandment does not sit well with me.
Putting down pets is another thing. You make the decision whether a (sick/suffering) animal is going to die, while we are refusing to allow people to make this decision for themselves in most countries.
I absolutely see your point and I would not say you are wrong about it. But to me these are ethical questions that I just don't wish to answer because there is not really a right answer.
In a sense I think it is about dogs being in an urban environment. There is just no good place for them to move from a to b. Even if you pick up the poop in the park, there are parts of it left in the grass. The few trees in a city (next to sidewalks I mean) will be peed at and a lot of trees don't take this well. If I am on a narrow sidewalk and someone with a dog passes they can hardly keep their leashed dog at such a close distance that they wouldn't end up striving me. And the question is also, is this the life you want for this animal? Having it on a short leash for 99% of the time?
No one would argue that keeping a horse in your city apartment is a bad idea. Yet somehow for dogs it is normalized.
To be honest, I've never seen anyone take a dog from a shelter. With cats - yes, and I only know a handful of people who own a specific type of cat. But everyone I know and all people I meet have specific dog breeds or known mixes that were planned - both in the making and adoption.
But that's something everyone should decide for themself.
Honestly I'm not so sure about that. I'm actually annoyed by the lack of regulation. Why is pet breeding still a thing? Owning a pet seems like something that should be phased out (while working on getting the numbers of new born pets down).
Don't get me wrong, I like animals, I've grown up with a cat who lived to 21 years and I consider him more of a brother than a pet, and I love cats, but I wouldn't want to repeat this again. With cats you are damned if you let them outside and damned if you don't. Dogs should just not exist in public spaces. A lot of people are afraid of dogs and every dog "doesn't bite" before he bites one for the first time. I also don't care if they bite or not, I don't want an animal touching me or my stuff, period. The trees suffer, the playgrounds are surrounded by shit, and people tense up in a subway or restaurant when there's a dog. Unless you are a farmer with a huge piece of land you just should not have a dog. (Or need an animal for disability reasons of course.)
As for cards - I've now developed the habit of writing a text once a year and using it basically for everybody (slightly modified if necessary). Bonus points for a kid and a grown up version. Btw I also have the same standard text for weddings and funerals (these stay the same over the years). Most of my friends don't know each other and will never find out.
I also started to just wish very mundane things because it sounds poetic and I have wished them the same Big Things for years. No one ever congratulated me when I wished them happiness and health, but when I wish them the most colorful flowers on the roadside and warm summer rain on sun exhausted skin, and the occasional mindfulness to take the time to stop and appreciate these small moments everyone loses their shit. Sometimes something negative is also appreciated. Think you still got so many years ahead of you. Your path will in some parts be straightforward, but will make you stumble and fall in other parts. For the latter I wish you a helping hand to get up again and some colorful band aids
As a side note, I am more proud of my sincere go to when someone dies. Especially old people. Because I always point out that they don't need to excuse the death or downplay it because someone was old or it was predictable. Losing a person who you cared about, no matter how old or sick, is always painful and a big loss. And no matter how predictable it was, their death and your grief always end up taking you by surprise. And I wish everyone who lost someone the support necessary to have some time granted for their grief and pain. .
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