Is it wrong to cage pets?

Question

Caging pet animals is no different to caging wild animals, which many people believe is wrong. What do you think about caging pet animals?

If you think it's ok, then are you not concerned for the animals well-being or does your happiness come first?

Answer 1

caging pets is defenitely cruelty at its finest. however sometimes it is necessary like if your taking the animal on a plane. i think what is best instead of caging the animal  would be to create like a playpen for it. at least so it can move around.

Answer 2

i don't agree with caging up dogs or cats however i do have a cage for my dogs and it is up all the time, basically it is their bed but i NEVER lock the door on the cage so they are free to go in and out as they please and i think they like it coz it gives them their own space.

Answer 3

What kind of question is this? I keep my pets caged BECAUSE I am concerned for their well-being.

I have rabbits, and letting them run free (inside or outside) while unsupervised is dangerous. End of story.

Answer 4

Protection of my pets comes first.. I don't want them to die..

Contrary to popular tree-hugger opinion, nature is a cruel, cold bi-atch. It's not like Bambi where all the little animals are friends with each other. The modern world also causes dangers to pets in the forms of electrical cords that small animals can chew on.

If you don't believe that pets are any different from wild animals, I dare you to pick up a raccoon and a cat and tell me if they act any different towards you.

For instance, let's say I have a pet rabbit that I let hop around when I'm out to supervise but I 'cruelly' keep my rabbit in a cage away from coyotes when I'm not there to protect it. Is that cruel or kind? Somehow, I doubt anyone would sell me a new pet rabbit everyday when the coyotes eat my other one at night. Nature doesn't care about my pet rabbit. My rabbit, outside it's cage, is treated like any other rabbit outside. Rabbits exist to feed coyotes. Coyotes exist to control prey animal populations. That's why rabbits reproduce so rampantly, because most will die to feed other animals.

Now, if I kept my rabbit in a tiny cage with nothing to do all day 24/7, yes, that would be cruel for my own amusement.  Domestic animals are very different from wild animals. My rabbit will approach my cats and dogs. What would happen if it did that with a stray dog? My rabbit would die.

Most animals live longer in captivity then they do in the wild. All you can really argue is whether or not they are 'happy' in captivity. Since most animals are in a constant struggle to survive, I would assume that an increased life span would be seen as a good thing to an animal. Granted, they still have to be able to carry out some of the activities they would've in the wild. Obviously though, an animal that is not happy will not live long due to stress. So, perhaps the real question is, why don't we make them all pets?

Answer 5

It's okay to cage your animals but it's not okay to leave your animals in a cage for a long time. Just like you need to stretch every once in a while pets do too. That's why you should walk your pets.  

Answer 6

Put a budgie in a cage with a bit of a temper and you'll know pretty soon he doesn't like it. If he has a calm disposition he won't be able to communicate how he feels but compared to whether he prefers flying around verdant green trees and blue skies to living in a cage is a no brainer - he'll take the wide open spaces every time I'll bet!

However, put a gerbil in a cage, give him security from being eaten by predators, a comfy life, warmth, regular clean bedding and then let him out - what does he do? After he's had a little adventure around the home he goes back in his cage, has a whizz in his wheel, snuggles under the shredded paper and goes to sleep.

Its not quite as black and white as you make it out to be I'm afraid.

Answer 7

Caging animals is fine.

For small animals it's beneficial for them to be caged because they can get seriously hurt if they are not supervised.

My rabbit lives in a cage, and when I'm home, his door is open and he's free to go in and out at his own as he pleases.

During car rides my cat is caged when the car is moving because he is terrified of the moving car.

As long as animals aren't always caged, I think it's fine.  

Answer 8

I can see where you are coming from but i absolutely love animals and i do everything i can for them i do voluntary work and my future is with them. Caging an animal like a rat or hamster is fine as long as it is looked after correctly, putting animals in zoos is hardly cruel either, lets face it they are in enclosures not cages and they are helping with keeping the species alive with on going conservation projects. Do you think that if humans hadnt have taken pandas out of the wild they would still be alive?? the fact is they would be extinct. So this is not cruel however keeping bears for example in cages for peoples entertainment or to remove thier bile is completely wrong and so is animal testing when an animal is forced to be there.

Answer 9

well lets put it like this

1. if i told you to "SIT DOWN" VERY LOUDLY you would sit ya?

2. if i walked in to your house bearfoot would i sit down on your poo? or accidently walk in your pee?

3. if i brought my new born baby in to your house and you were in a bad mood would you bight her?

if i bought a leather couch that cost me €3000 would you sniff the corner and pee on it then jump on the expencive sofa and rip it to oblivion???

if i walked you would you sniff my but? or some eles???

if i walked you and you saw a hot bird would you run accross 10 lanes of traffic to meet her??

NO i think not. animals are dumb.. not all of them..... just some of them so some times its better to put them in a cage. go to youtube or google dangourose pets and see for your self

wn

Answer 10

cont listen to them its not cruel as long as its comfy and there is enough room for it its fine they see it as there own little place like a bedroom allthough it depends on the animal

Answer 11

i believe its wrong.. unless you are not home and crate training like a dog Buh yeah.

i believe its wrong when you are at home and your house and your pet is locked up? whats the point of getting a pet if they're in a cage all day?

Answer 12

I crated my dogs until I could trust them to have run of the house. They loved their crates and even when I was home, they would go in there to take a nap or chew on a bone. It became their "den" where they knew they would be safe and no one would bother them.

When I wasn't home, it became a way to keep them safe from chewing or eating something that could make them safe or even kill them. I never left them in the crate for a long time, and it was not used as a punishment.

Pets are domestic creatures and can't really be compared to wild animals. A tiger, who is used to living in a forest, would not be happy living in a cage, since that is not their environment. They can't be caged for some of the day - it has to be all the time. Dogs live with us and have been accustomed to living in our homes, sleeping on our furniture and having their meals handed to them. Crating them is no different than putting a baby in a playpen for a short time while mom cooks dinner.  

Answer 13

would you let your goldfish just swim around anywhere in your house that it wanted? i dont think so.

Answer 14

Well, it depends on the animal,

If you have a hamster, and its in a decent sized cage, where it has a lot of room to exercise, its fine..

but if you store a rabbit in a 10 gallon tank, with like..little room, its very wrong..

I saw they did this at my local Petsmart. :( I almost cried, I felt so bad..

Animals like..dogs and cats, shouldnt ever be caged. Either tided up with lots of space..or loose/free.

Animal that are usually caged are fine in cages, only if they have enough room to eat/drink/exercise/wonder around.

Answer 15

We have 2 beagles and the sleep in a cage, but it is a massive cage with plenty of room 4 them 2 do what ever they want. We had to put them in a cage though cos they ate everythin :P. Whenever we tell people that they wre in a cage, they gve us dirty looks. i understand y they do, its just it gets annoyin after a while.

Answer 16

Caging pet animals is absolutely nothing like caging a wild animal...

The thing about "pet" animals is that they are domesticated! This means that over many, many countless generations, they have been bred in captivity. As they were bred in captivity, they slowly evolved to not survive in the wild, but survive in captivity. This means that a captive bred animal cannot survive in the wild because it will hardly have any of those original instincts its wild ancesters did. As they evolve, they do not have a need for their natural instincts, so all those instincts slowly die away. Through evolution over many years, they become completely dependant on people. If you release say a budgie or a rat from a pet store into the wild, it will die because it has not instincts to survive. It can only be a pet in a cage, or die.

Wild animals are wild animals. They have all those natural instincts that enable them to find food, shelter, avoid danger, and reproduce. These are the animals never to be caged. If you catch a wild animal and cage it it is definately cruelty because it does not benefit the animal, only stresses it out.

This is why the ONLY pets that can be pets are those born in captivity. Wild animals stay in the wild.

The next question is the quality of care the pet recieves. Sure someone can leave a caged animal in its cage for its entire life, but this is just a bad pet owner.  I own many caged animals, and I make sure they all have large enough enclosures, proper mental stimulation, and if appropriate, get to run or fly around my house for exercise.

Answer 17

I think it generally is cruel. I used to have pet rats and I let them out at night - admittedly they did damage, but they liked wandering around.  They didn't mind going back into their hutch to sleep during the day.

If my bf stayed over, he didn't like them out the cage, so I used to lock them in and it was heart-breaking to see their poor little faces, as they shook the bars - they really looked like innocent prisoners who were furious at being looked up.  

Rats are very sensitive animals.  More so than cats, as I've had both and observed differences in their behaviours. When one cat died, the others acted like nothing happened.  When one rat died, the other one wouldn't come out - wouldn't even eat for 3 days, as he was so upset.

The reason rats are used for experimentation so much is because their brains are more similar to human brains than most other animals - plus they are cheaper than using non-human primates.

I mention this as I don't wish to sound anthropomorphic.

I expect other rodents are similarly sensitive.