Unpopular Opinions You Hold

[Daggers]

8 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

I am of the opinion that dog wars on FT should see this thread closed down. 

It’s high time something did, I’ve been waiting for Unpopular Opinions 2 for an absolute age.

[SkidsFox]

11 hours ago, Unabomber said:

What constitutes a good dog owner? 

Various things. Trains the dog well. Is prepared to take the dog for adequate exercise everyday. Disposes of the poop. Keeps the dog on a lead when it's likely to approach other dogs, animals and people. 

[Sly]

1 hour ago, SkidsFox said:

Various things. Trains the dog well. Is prepared to take the dog for adequate exercise everyday. Disposes of the poop. Keeps the dog on a lead when it's likely to approach other dogs, animals and people. 

Fully agree with this.

 

Irresponsible cat owners need to come and clean up after the cats they own as well. So 99.9% of cat owners are irresponsible 

[Daggers]

Cats absolutely should be locked in the house all day, every day. And if their twat owners are going to let them shit in my garden and murder all the birds then I should be allowed to put down bowls of antifreeze or sharpen my airgun skills.

 

“Oh look, he’s brought me a present.”  No, you simple minded freak, he’s brought you one of the final examples of an at-risk or endangered species and the only thing that matches my disdain for you is his.

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, Daggers said:

Cats absolutely should be locked in the house all day, every day. And if their twat owners are going to let them shit in my garden and murder all the birds then I should be allowed to put down bowls of antifreeze or sharpen my airgun skills.

 

“Oh look, he’s brought me a present.”  No, you simple minded freak, he’s brought you one of the final examples of an at-risk or endangered species and the only thing that matches my disdain for you is his.

This has come up before.

 

Letting cats roam, apart from for a very specific pest control purpose, likely poses threats not only to potentially endangered local wildlife, but the cats themselves. There's a laundry list of examples proving this. We don't let other pets roam freely even though it might be "better for them", I don't see why it should be the case with cats.

[Stuntman_Mike]

28 minutes ago, Daggers said:

Cats absolutely should be locked in the house all day, every day. And if their twat owners are going to let them shit in my garden and murder all the birds then I should be allowed to put down bowls of antifreeze or sharpen my airgun skills.

 

“Oh look, he’s brought me a present.”  No, you simple minded freak, he’s brought you one of the final examples of an at-risk or endangered species and the only thing that matches my disdain for you is his.

Australia could be for you

[Daggers]

3 minutes ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

Australia could be for you

That jacket and lead would make them ideal for improving the game of Swingball.

[The Bear]

30 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

This has come up before.

 

Letting cats roam, apart from for a very specific pest control purpose, likely poses threats not only to potentially endangered local wildlife, but the cats themselves. There's a laundry list of examples proving this. We don't let other pets roam freely even though it might be "better for them", I don't see why it should be the case with cats.

Sorry but this is a terrible argument. I don't believe in locking cats indoors as a good thing. 

 

Cats are naturally outdoor animals and hunt not only for food but for sport and natural development as they mature. They also patrol their immediate territory as part of their daily behaviour. It's completely natural and they have been doing it for probably hundreds of thousands of years and way before they were domesticated. Just because we now keep them as pets doesn't mean we should lock them inside against their nature because we find elements of it distasteful or inconvenient. 

 

Dogs also shit everywhere where people walk and on people's front gardens, unwantedly jump up people, occasionally bite them, and often bark loudly and constantly. That doesn't mean I want them to be kept indoors at all times. 

Edited 14 November 2023 by The Bear

[grobyfox1990]

1 hour ago, Daggers said:

Cats absolutely should be locked in the house all day, every day. And if their twat owners are going to let them shit in my garden and murder all the birds then I should be allowed to put down bowls of antifreeze or sharpen my airgun skills.

 

“Oh look, he’s brought me a present.”  No, you simple minded freak, he’s brought you one of the final examples of an at-risk or endangered species and the only thing that matches my disdain for you is his.

Hahahahaha that’s brilliant. And so true!! 
But for the sake of everyone’s else’s pleasure pls remove the swearing and abuse so this post doesn’t get removed or you get banned. Some dude got banned for saying cancer on here. The world needs to see this post!! 

[Daggers]

54 minutes ago, The Bear said:

Sorry but this is a terrible argument. I don't believe in locking cats indoors as a good thing. 

 

Cats are naturally outdoor animals and hunt not only for food but for sport and natural development as they mature. They also patrol their immediate territory as part of their daily behaviour. It's completely natural and they have been doing it for probably hundreds of thousands of years and way before they were domesticated... 

And just like that the counter argument collapses 

[Foxdiamond]

Amusing that any criticism of dogs and owners is met with anti cat vitriol 

[Langston]

I think cats and dogs are both great tbh.

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, The Bear said:

Sorry but this is a terrible argument. I don't believe in locking cats indoors as a good thing. 

 

Cats are naturally outdoor animals and hunt not only for food but for sport and natural development as they mature. They also patrol their immediate territory as part of their daily behaviour. It's completely natural and they have been doing it for probably hundreds of thousands of years and way before they were domesticated. Just because we now keep them as pets doesn't mean we should lock them inside against their nature because we find elements of it distasteful or inconvenient. 

 

Dogs also shit everywhere where people walk and on people's front gardens, unwantedly jump up people, occasionally bite them, and often bark loudly and constantly. That doesn't mean I want them to be kept indoors at all times. 

TBH I think this is an Appeal to Nature fallacy (lots of things that are "natural" are also bad), but yeah, can understand the counterpoint even if I don't agree with it.

 

Just now, Langston said:

I think cats and dogs are both great tbh.

In their own ways, yeah. I've never understood the need to choose one over the other.

[Tommy G]

Love a Dog v Cat battle 

[Dunge]

1 hour ago, Daggers said:

Cats absolutely should be locked in the house all day, every day. And if their twat owners are going to let them shit in my garden and murder all the birds then I should be allowed to put down bowls of antifreeze or sharpen my airgun skills.

 

“Oh look, he’s brought me a present.”  No, you simple minded freak, he’s brought you one of the final examples of an at-risk or endangered species and the only thing that matches my disdain for you is his.

Supposedly, it’s neither of those things. What the cat is apparently doing is judging that you, a member of its family, are a crap hunter so therefore bringing you a half-dead prey so you can learn to finish it off. It then probably judges you as a complete dimwit when you then don’t kill it and eat it.

 

The fact that you have food in the cupboards is probably considered most fortunate but unlikely to last.

[RonnieTodger]

Yeah I can imagine cats are great pets, especially when they shit in everybody else’s garden except for yours. 

[SouthStandUpperTier]

7 hours ago, The Bear said:

Sorry but this is a terrible argument. I don't believe in locking cats indoors as a good thing. 

 

Cats are naturally outdoor animals and hunt not only for food but for sport and natural development as they mature. They also patrol their immediate territory as part of their daily behaviour. It's completely natural and they have been doing it for probably hundreds of thousands of years and way before they were domesticated. Just because we now keep them as pets doesn't mean we should lock them inside against their nature because we find elements of it distasteful or inconvenient. 

 

Dogs also shit everywhere where people walk and on people's front gardens, unwantedly jump up people, occasionally bite them, and often bark loudly and constantly. That doesn't mean I want them to be kept indoors at all times. 

Depends on the cat really and their personality. My cat is a perfectly contented house cat. She'd sleep on my lap all day if she could and has almost no interest in going out. She did go out into the back yard earlier today but only because I was out there sweeping up some leaves, and she soon scarpered back inside after a mild gust of wind scared her.

[AyewJoking]

I keep a super soaker loaded (with water)

for any cat that comes into my garden.

[Finnegan]

9 hours ago, leicsmac said:

This has come up before.

 

Letting cats roam, apart from for a very specific pest control purpose, likely poses threats not only to potentially endangered local wildlife, but the cats themselves. There's a laundry list of examples proving this. We don't let other pets roam freely even though it might be "better for them", I don't see why it should be the case with cats.

 

Honest question, is there actually evidence for this in the UK at all?

 

I hear people bang on about it in Australia and the US where I do understand to an extent. But I'm genuinely unsure what endangered UK wildlife populations are earnestly under threat from domestic cats? Or, conversely, are a significant threat to domestic cats?

 

From the Grauniad:

 

“The kneejerk reaction is that they must be having some sort of impact – they’re killing millions and millions,” says Philip Baker, a mammalogist at the University of Reading. However, numbers can be deceptive. According to Baker, the birds most hunted by cats have so many young that they can afford to lose a lot of them. In the UK, he says: “I just categorically say there is no evidence of an impact.”

 

The UK’s largest bird charity, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), is not particularly concerned about the impact of cats on the British mainland. Instead it focuses on what it says is driving UK bird declines: global warming, intensive agriculture and expanding towns and cities leading to habitat and food loss. “While we know that cats do kill large numbers of birds in UK gardens, there’s no evidence this is affecting decline in the same way that these other issues are,” said a spokesperson.

 

A big reason why they are less worried is the evidence that cats primarily take “the doomed surplus”: weak or injured birds likely to die anyway. In 2008, Baker led a study in Bristol showing that birds killed by cats on average had less fat and muscle than birds killed by collisions with windows. While there could be other explanations – such as birds having less fat in the morning when cats tend to pounce – Baker says that the fat and muscle scores were so low that the birds were “in dire trouble before they got killed”

 

Just sounds like the sort of thing the Jeremy Clarksons (who surprise, surprise, hates cats) of this world can moan about to blame someone other than the farmers. 

 

I find people that "hate" any animals to be weird af to be honest (like, weirder than @Daggers normally is), especially people that seem to have to passionately hate either cats or dogs arbitrarily like the two are at some sort of war.

 

Btw I've just gone to tag @Daggers and realised @Daggers. exists. What is this shenanigans. 

 

 

[Zear0]

I hold both in equal contempt. 

[Mike Oxlong]

Just now, Zear0 said:

I hold both in equal contempt. 

I take it you are referring to @Daggers and @Finnegan 

 

Same here 

[Finnegan]

3 minutes ago, Mike Oxlong said:

I take it you are referring to @Daggers and @Finnegan 

 

Same here 

 

Daggers vs Finners, the culture war nobody asked for or wanted.

[Mike Oxlong]

1 minute ago, Finnegan said:

 

Daggers vs Finners, the culture war nobody asked for or wanted.

 

Showing in cinemas near you now ! 

 

Reviews:

Feisty, thoughtful and laugh out loud funny. DO NOT MISS - The Cheeky Girls 

The D and the F taught me everything I know about how to be a badass. AWESOME - S.Braverman 

These fvckers really should be banned - Mark (FT)

[leicsmac]

30 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Honest question, is there actually evidence for this in the UK at all?

 

I hear people bang on about it in Australia and the US where I do understand to an extent. But I'm genuinely unsure what endangered UK wildlife populations are earnestly under threat from domestic cats? Or, conversely, are a significant threat to domestic cats?

 

From the Grauniad:

 

 

 

 

Just sounds like the sort of thing the Jeremy Clarksons (who surprise, surprise, hates cats) of this world can moan about to blame someone other than the farmers. 

 

I find people that "hate" any animals to be weird af to be honest (like, weirder than @Daggers normally is), especially people that seem to have to passionately hate either cats or dogs arbitrarily like the two are at some sort of war.

 

Btw I've just gone to tag @Daggers and realised @Daggers. exists. What is this shenanigans. 

 

 

https://www.mammal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Domestic-Cat-Predation-on-Wildlife.pdf

 

"Based on the proportion of cats bringing home at least one prey item and the back- transformed means, a British population of approximately 9 million cats was estimated to have brought home in the order of 92 (85-100) million prey items in the period of this survey, including 57 (52-63) million mammals, 27 (25-29) million birds and 5 (4-6) million reptiles and amphibians."

 

Now, from what I can tell there's debates in the UK either way about whether or not these numbers are going to be threatening to wild populations of various animals, but my own take is that we've domesticated these animals, we're supposed to be good stewards of the planet and its life, and so if there's much of a chance of such a threat at all we should be taking action as such responsible stewards.

[Daggers]

47 minutes ago, Mike Oxlong said:

 

Showing in cinemas near you now ! 

 

Reviews:

Feisty, thoughtful and laugh out loud funny. DO NOT MISS - The Cheeky Girls 

 

You wouldn’t believe the number of LibDem MPs I’ve fvcked.