Dogs should be heavily regulated

By that logic having children should also be highly regulated.

My hot take is that people are too loud about “adopt don’t shop” and too quiet about “spay and neuter your goddamn dogs.” We should really focus way more on the root causes of shelter overpopulation vs the bandaid issue of just telling everyone to adopt.

this isnt an unpopular opinion really. the fact that rescues, shelters, and reputable breeders have such stringent qualifications for pet ownership kinda proves it. you'll find no laws about it outside of abuse laws but I think most people believe that not everyone is qualified to own a pet..

I largely agree with you, but it is usually folks who are doing fine that contribute to the shelters most, and which is better, having someone who "can't take of them properly" or someone who will try their best? I see homeless people every day that have dogs with collars and a leash, look well fed and have nice coats and are sitting patiently or curled up sleeping even with traffic roaring by.

I also know country type folks who have shot or dropped a dog off in the middle of nowhere because its "bad" or won't hunt....

And city dwellers who have plenty of money but keep their dog chained up outside in the winter time.

The theory about 1 dog being matched with 1 fully responsible owner doesn't work when there are 100 strays and shelter dogs for every responsible owner....

Believe it or not some places actually have "dog licenses".

It's not really enforced much where I live but it is required.

I love dogs and I agree to some extent. More regulation would be fine but it would also lead to more euthanasia because less people would be inclined

The amount of amateur dog owners with intact, untrained pitbulls is too damn high.

I don't necessarily disagree but I feel like this would end up having a negative impact on shelter animals

Yep. Most owners are clueless and make decisions based on their anthropomophizing of their pet. Theres actual skill and training needed to care for animals.

Context: my aunt rehabilitates dogs and we rescue guinea pigs in my house.

There are at least one or two of these posts a week. If only anyone cared about gun regulation, adoption regulation nearly as much as they give a shit to judge people who get dogs maybe the world would be a better place 

You know who abandon their dogs the most? Military families. I was a military kid and when we lived overseas in Germany it was fucking disgusting how many families left their dogs behind, dumped them on other families or straight up just abandoned them. There was an AFN commercial (or informative message as theyre called) that used to come on tv a lot about it. It was a stray dog wandering alone with a voice over "my owners got orders and left me behind. I thought i was a good boy.." and "remember to make plans for your pets when you PCS." The shelter in my military town is big on this, if you are in the military you are required to show some evidence of a plan if you deploy or get orders overseas. Its not always the poor people who are the shitty pet owners.

lol my husband and I talk about this a lot! Our most authoritarian belief is that anyone who owns a dog should be required to take a training course and a grooming course.

There should be a lot more regulations on breeding. We also need backyard breeders to stop.

I agree with this tbh. I'm always seeing people with pitbulls that have no business having a pitbull. Everyone in my neighborhood has a dog that they just throw in a fence all day long, they just sit outside and bark and are effing annoying. They don't train them, and don't even spend time with them.

It's not the same as having kids. Humans for the most part know how to take care of humans (of course there's a lot of people who should never be a parent to begin with).
Learning the body language and cues of an animal is totally different and most people don't even take the time to learn.

Agree 100%. We also need a registry for those who abuse them so they can never have one again.

That opinion is certainly unpopular. I know because all the people I see with dogs.

My girlfriend and I have discussed this on multiple occasions and generally agree, however we can't think of a way to actually enforce it without it being over reaching.

After my girl rescued a few cats that were declawed by the owner, living in a crate, inside of a fucking uhual shared by 3 dogs, that experience pretty much convinced her.

Some people should never be allowed to own pets.

"Not to mention the actual costs associated with pet ownership, that the average person can’t afford,"

Not their fault Mars Candy co and Black Rock bought up many of the small animal hospitals.

Did you know the BluePearl Animal Hospitals are owned by Mars Candy co (the junk food maker).

A small surgery on a 10 lb animal should not cost $7,500 to $20,000, but here we ar.e.

"Mars acquired BluePearl in 2015. Alongside BluePearl, Mars Veterinary Health owns other major chains like Banfield Pet Hospital and VCA"

Should Goldfish be "heavily regulated" too?

It sounds good on paper. In practice you run into more ethical and logistical problems than it is worth.

To name a few concerns off the top of my head: What parameters are we using to determine how capable people are in taking care of animals? Are we taking cultural differences into account when determining said parameters? Are our parameters subject to discriminatory biases from systemic racism and/or sexism? Why dogs specifically and not other animals? Will each dog breed need a separate certificate? How often will people need to renew their certificate? Where will people need to go in the first place to become dog owner certified? Will there be enough locations so that there isn't any proximity discrimination like there is for the DMV? Is the amount of dog lives saved from these regulations enough to justify their cost? Will this be something that people who are allergic to dogs be ok with covering via their taxes? How will this affect people who need service animals for disabilities? Will we include emotional support animals with any exceptions for service animals? What if someone can't afford the certificates but can take care of an animal well? Are we going to forcibly separate owners from their pets if they don't have a certificate but is taking care of the dog well? What if an elderly person's certificate expires and they can't renew it? What if someone finds a stray and has been taking care of it without a certificate? Are people not allowed to dogsit unless they have a certificate? Are people not allowed to do dog walking services if they don't have a certificate?

I am sure there are even more concerns about this.

I agree. And all dogs should be neutered by law unless there’s a medical reason.

If you can't take care of a dog you absolutely can't take care a child

Meanwhile they have both

What about fricken horses. Why do the gnarliest looking places have a 50% chance of having a horse in a grass-less pasture

I think a lot of people underestimate the time and effort that it takes to train a dog well to make one a great pet and well as the exercise needs for certain breeds. Walking and training pitbulls especially made me realize how many people don’t hard exercise their large dogs enough and teach them proper commands while they’re still young enough to learn quickly. Dog’s are complicated animals that can easily be dangerous as hell for sure.

There’s something interesting about coming to this conclusion rather than one where people would be better informed about their pets and the needs of said pets.

I am an animal lover.

I don't disagree with anything you're saying.

But saying "the pet industry" did tickle me lol.

Thr only thing that needs to be regulated is the idea of an emotional support animal.

I'm tired of living in a place that thinks it's okay to have a dog living on a chain for 15 months and counting. People in this state should not be able to own any pet without some sort of class work or test or license or follow up visitation or something. Neglect is cruel.

I agree, we need pet licenses and requirements so only worthy and responsible people can obtain them 

You could literally apply this to so many things. Who gets to decide who has pets?

You guys do realize that shelters are literally overflowing as is? There are far far more shelter dogs than homes. So your solution to reduce animal suffering is to even further reduce the amount of available homes for them?

I’d personally rather a pet live a life in a loving home even with slightly less than optimal care than be euthanized, spend all its days in a shelter, or as a terrified street dog.

Your number one focus should absolutely be eliminating backyard breeding and ensuring existing dogs are neutered/spayed if you really care about the long term well being of them, not preventing poor people from having pets

It’s fine to say that, but what do you do with all the dogs that are now homeless? They don’t just go away. You say 95% of people are clueless. That’s millions of dogs that you now, what, euthanize? 

AGREE. Cats too. Children too. Everyone should have to take a test and read a 101 book about taking care of another being.

I mean you should feel the same about cats since most people just let them wander outside to murder shit then get hit by a car.