We have had many dogs, cats, fish, all manner of creatures, but all have been rescues or animals that just showed up. (The fish, for example, were science fair fish abandoned at the school by a student who had not planned for their future after the fair – they lived happily for years in my office.)
Currently we have two good puppers, former callejeros. Our girl, Minerva, five-ish, came into our home ill with ehrlichia. Our boy, Rómulo, seven-ish, shown below in a before/after, had everything but ehrlichia.
I think any difference in ownership levels is largely due to the amount of care required. If those know they will be away from home for long days or overnight, a cat is a more responsible choice of pet than dog. That might not represent a bias so much as a recognition of what an animal is due in terms of pet ownership, which would be in line with what I would think are most iNaturalist users’ core values.
Personalitywise, both dogs and cats run the gamut. You will find very social ones, some very intelligent ones, some very loud ones, some who like to snooze, and some who are content to sit and watch the world go by all day long.
(All cats don’t behave like people with neurological difference any more than all dogs behave like people with attention disorders; those books are just a visually attractive way of presenting differences in positive ways that make sense to those familiar with cats and dogs but less so those conditions.)
Wow that first photo almost looks like…dead. Night and day difference!!
I agree with your premise that also naturalist types are likely more self aware of what nature (including pets) need and what they are able to provide and select accordingly (for many, that is cat). I am a professional dog trainer ‘by day’ and there are many people who come through our doors that really needed a cat…or just even a stuffed animal inanimate toy.
(And yes, the books are just funny; the cat I have acts ‘like a dog’ - and knows over 20 tricks, and the dog I have is a working Australian Shepherd and my SAR partner so she is a LOT of dog!)
I’m a cat lover, I had a lovely cat, but I had to give her away as we were moving to a whole entirely new place.
She was an indoor cat, and as you know how unrestricted outdoor cats affect the environment, I also didn’t want to derive her from getting fresh air and getting her senses stimulated, so I would take her out in a carrier to the closest park (she really hated cars) and put her on a leash and she would LOVE it, ofc that was after a month of training her. I miss her.
Our cats have always been rescues. Most from shelters. But Henry appeared on our doorstep as a tiny kitten - I suspect as a lone survivor from an abandoned Not Siamese litter. And he in his turn brought us Chocolat - feral kitten from the empty plot across the road, to ‘take my place’.
I have seen terrarium reptiles and a captive raptor on iNat obs. We have feral Californian king snakes around Cape Town. Unwanted pet? Dump it in nature. Problem solved. People are too ‘kind’ to take their unwanted pets to a shelter.
Fading Henry on the left (Siamese points but unacceptable Kuhmuster) with feral Chocolat learning to people.
I’d say “something cooler”… Something like a snake, for example… Lots of snakes. Sprinkle it with lizards, amphibians and invertebrates, put a pigeon on top and I’m happy.
But if I have to choose between cats and dogs, I will definitely choose cats (and I don’t even mention my last name lol). More to the point, I’m slightly cynophobic.
Dog, cat, or whatever. I have developed a real mental aversion to the term ‘ownership’ used in most people’s description of their pets. Adopted, responsible for… a lot more positive.
The problem with the root ‘own’ is it still leaves things far too open for cruel abuse and neglect by the own-ers.
Conversely, there are owners of dogs I run into on the trails (the vast majority around here, at least) who feel it is more responsible of them to unleash their charges as soon as they move past the trailheads, despite the clearly posted signage to the contrary.
That’s true, after opening the topic I thought about those stickers for a dog rescue(?) that state “Who rescued who?” with a paw print. At least for cats a variation of that ought to be “who owns who?”
Almost all nature preserve here have big signs that say “no pets” - but we encounter dogs all the time. And zero sense of guilt - my wife likes pointing out to people with dogs that they are not allowed, but nobody ever apologized for missing the huge sign at the entrance, instead the replies go from stupid remarks to threats. (This is in redneck parts of Ohio, so probably not really surprising… I’d actually prefer her to just ignore them…)
I just changed my profile photo to support the underdog…
We’ve had all kinds of critters and we find dogs to be much easier to care for than cats. Go figure. Spiders are pretty easy too though…Lots of other critters at one time or another, some easier, some not so easy, some (like birds) downright messy but still lovable. Rescued a baby rabbit recently with its eyes still closed. No rehabber would take it and they all said it would just die, but it thrived and was easy to take care of and I finally released it back into the wild when it was old enough to forage on its own. Still have no idea why all the rehabbers refused to take it but there you are…
Right, illegal. But it was a wild critter that my dog gave to me. That’s why I tried to find a rehabber as they are the ones who can legally do the rehab/release, but they all said they were sick of dealing with baby rabbits and most rabbits just died anyway so I was left with terminating the poor thing or caring for it for a week or so and then releasing it back where it came from and hoping for the best. Which is what I did. I certainly didn’t want to just terminate it.
I don’t keep wild animals as pets as it is illegal and I don’t think it’s right. But in this case I felt I had no choice for those few days. I have thought about becoming a rehabber so I could do these sorts of things legally but as I am getting older, I don’t think it would work out well so I just try to find the legal rehabbers when necessary. It’s not always easy though and they often refuse the animal.
Beyond legal reasons, this is really ill-advised for many biological and ethical reasons. There is a reason why unlicensed rehab is illegal in most states. I appreciate that this was a difficult situation. I do think it is important to provide context. Many baby animals (especially fledglings, rabbits, fawns, and squirrels) are “rescued” (aka kidnapped) because people assume it’s abandoned when they don’t see the parents. I understand that this was not the case, but that was not apparent in your original comment.
Additionally, even in these tough situations, unlicensed rehab has consequences that extend beyond the time that the animal is in your care.
We have a lot of animal rescue needs locally (in addition to dogs and cats, tolocs and opossums, both of which live happily in my garden), but I do not think I would consider temporary rescues the same as pets.
However I definitely would assume most iNaturalist regulars know the ramifications of any rescue and considered wisely before arriving at their decision, in the same way I believe they are keenly aware of the responsibilities of having a pet. Thus why I think cats may often just make more sense as a pet, rather than due to bias.
I always use the term “caregiver” for the companion animals when I volunteer for a small pet rescue (Companions in Waiting). I do not like the notion of ownership at all when it comes to companion animals.
