is that what you want to offer the animal you really love. a prison.... think about it... it is maybe not your animals favorite envirnoment.... is it really fair?
Can't have a hamster, gerbil and other small animals running around the house now, can you? What option is there? I use to have many small animals and I'd always buy large cages for them, and IMO it was too big for them.
If there were such things as giants, then we'd all be in cages...I wouldn't know any better so it wouldn't bother me. What's the solution? Allow them to get lost in your house roaming free? Have them starve to death because they can't find food?
haha you have a very fashistic view of life. We actually have the choice, when it comes to weaker beings than us, to treat them well. the solution? yes. think about it for a while... maybe you shouldnt keep pets.... or? do you think, it is natural for these pets for a lifelong enprisonment? no, it is againt all what nature wants..... there is one obvious answer. pets in cages is cruel
I assume your a die hard PETA member with your outlook on animals as companions. What makes you think a small animal in a cage is unhappy? Any hamster I've had, has lived a long and healthy life. Longer then the average hamster. Same with my birds.
RyJa is right. We cage our small animals to protect them. Letting them run amok in a household would lead to a short life span. Letting them run amok, even in a farm situation (here the cage would be pen and hutch) where they would be vulnerable to prey would be dodgy. Cage does not mean poor treatment. The squarefootage of my guinea pig's cage compared to his size vs my livngspace compared to my size - my pig has a larger, more plush pad than I. I get to go beyond my house. He gets plenty of highly monitored 'floor-time'. When weather allows, monitored lawn time. His diet is definitely better than mine. Add liberal doses of snuggles and toys and I dare say he's one of the happiest damn guinea pigs around. and yes, I can tell. He's a popcorn', happy dancn' kinda guy. Certainly you can't be advocating tossing domesticated anmials with little to no chance of survival into the wild. To me, that seems cruel. Oh..and C&C cages FTW - http://www.guineapigcages.com/
Lae youre being a tad absurd, no? And it doesnt make people who care intensely about the welfare of other animals look good. As has already been said, with creatures like hamsters, gerbils etc, what choice is there!? Free rage in the house and theyd electricute themselves, get trodden on and killed, have things spilt on them, get lost never to be found again, burrying their way out, could starve or dehydrate...I do hope your post was a joke, really. Our bunnies are mostly uncaged and are free range in the house, but they are completely different to say a mouse or a rat. We "cage" them (in homemade, VERY spacious playpen type setups) at night or when we are out or on holiday for their own protection only People put their toddlers in playpens when they have to leave the room so they dont choke, cause havoc etc...are these bad parents? And were talking about a hamster or a mouse here potentially! So what is your solution? These creatures have been bred now, they are here, domesticaed and to stay. They could not survive, for the most part, in the wild now. Of course creatures should be given the maximum amount of freedom...our rabbits skip and frolic around every room in our house all day when were in...and cages are usually undersized which is tragic. BUT biggr ones are a simple necessity for some animal parents!
You're funny. I crate train my dog when I'm not home. It keeps her safe - from chewing on electrical cords, getting into poisons, etc. It also made her super easy to house break. And I'm pretty sure she likes the crate - she crawls in and sleeps there even when we don't put her in it - its her den. My GF and I adopted this dog from a shelter that puts down half its animals, gave it a loving home, pay for it's health, and take it for 2 hourlong walks a day. You're doing a bad job of convincing me I'm a bad person.
If people didn't adopt animals, they would be euthanized... Also a "big" cage is better then the urine and feces soaked one they keep you in at the pound or shelter... Please get off your cross now, thanks
Blazing Dervish, I would LOVE to swap photos of C&C cages with you!!! I have two guinea pigs. They live in a cage a little larger than our loveseat. My husband, children & I created it ourselves to give them the maximum amount of comfort & popcorn space as possible. Their cage is lined with soft fuzzy fleece that we wash bi-weekly, so their tender feet will not be hurt by pokey pieces of wood shavings. They have floor-time in a "cage" that's literally as large as our living-room floor. Its ONLY purpose is to keep them away from cords & from running under the sofa. They are spoiled rotten eating "imported" hay that we have shipped here from Maine, literally the BEST pellets on the market - as well as mountains of fresh produce every day. Would they have a larger area to live in if they were wild? Yes. Could MY piggies live safely in the wild? No. They are domesticated. What's more, our elder-pig is 8 years old... FAR older than a wild pig would live, and he is epileptic. Were he in the wild, he would have died long before this of natural causes... assuming a predator didn't come along in his youth! Sure, cages may SEEM cruel to some people. And yes, some cages truly are too small. But they don't HAVE to be small, dirty, or a 24/7 solution for pet-care. They are there so that our pets can remain safe. In my state alone, there are currently over 500 guinea pigs in shelters and 4 different rescues. If someone does NOT come along & adopt them they risk being put to sleep, or live their entire life in a cage that's big enough to take two steps forward & one step sideways. I would far rather "imprison" one or two in our terribly confining cage and "torture" them with the best possible care that can be had. love, mom
there is an industry, out there making money on the pets and the food and the cages... just think about it.... they say: look at the pet, and it will say something about the owner: it does work. If you need to keep a pet in a cage, that means that maybe a part of you is not free. maybe you are like a pet in a cage, but you dont know about it?
It says that I am smart enough to look out for traffic and not electrocute myself, while my dog isn't. Whoda thunk it.
