this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2023

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Animals and Pets

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Any other harness wearing cats out there? (beehaw.org)

submitted 3 years ago by Seathru@beehaw.org to c/animals@beehaw.org

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This is Conan. Gets into too much trouble on his own so he has to wear a leash out on walks.

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[–] communist@beehaw.org 11 points 3 years ago (22 children)

I'm going to have to take a moment to discourage outdoor cats, they're wrecking havoc on the ecosystem, I understand this is a controversial stance because we as a culture have grown to love doing this, but in areas where they're not native, they're causing great harm.

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[–] KingPyrox@beehaw.org 3 points 3 years ago (21 children)

Well first off, they are indoor cats that I let out my own yard. Secondly, this article is entirely a personal view.

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[–] communist@beehaw.org 9 points 3 years ago* (20 children)

It's good that they are indoor cats, but whether or not the article is personal is irrelevant, the point is the amount of havoc they're causing. They're an invasive species, they kill 1.4-3.7 BILLION birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

They are in fact, the most damaging invasive species in history, and we feed and house them to ensure they keep going, the fact of the matter is we're letting loose efficient little murder machines, and that isn't the cats fault, its ours. We shouldn't allow people to keep invasive species outdoors, the ecosystem is vital.

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[–] LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org 7 points 3 years ago (1 child)

You raise a good point WRT the ecological impacts, and there are plenty of studies that can show those relationships. There's an opportunity here to presume that @KingPyrox@beehaw.org is monitoring their cats without losing the impact of your concerns and have a more productive conversation.

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[–] communist@beehaw.org 6 points 3 years ago*

Yes, I agree, I should've done that.

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[–] KingPyrox@beehaw.org 3 points 3 years ago (17 children)

Cool story bro. Don't really care though, humans will more than likely kill the birds before cats do 😉 guess we should rid the world of that invasion species too

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[–] alyaza@beehaw.org 6 points 3 years ago (4 children)

it's not like anyone can stop you from letting your cat outside unharnessed, but this is a weird way to respond to the objective fact that cats do a huge amount of harm to environments they're introduced to--and that at the very least we shouldn't encourage that behavior and people who do it should know the harm it's causing

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[–] KingPyrox@beehaw.org 3 points 3 years ago (3 children)

The fact that a mod decided to respond to my comment and not the overall post with the same context is a weirder way to respond then what I've put forward.

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[–] communist@beehaw.org 7 points 3 years ago (2 children)

That cat is harnessed.

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[–] KingPyrox@beehaw.org 4 points 3 years ago (1 child)

Oh so a cat in the wild harnessed is okay but a cat without one in a backyard is not? Contained is contained. But sure make your opinion be known

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[–] communist@beehaw.org 3 points 3 years ago*

Unfortuantely not all containers are created equal. A harness is guaranteed safety for wildlife, a backyard is not. That is why your post was singled out.

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[–] SemioticStandard@beehaw.org 6 points 3 years ago (2 children)

As others have already said to you, please try to be respectful and engage in good faith. We’re trying to build something different than what we left. If you’re honest with yourself, you can see that you’re being flippant. Choose grace instead, friend.

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[–] KingPyrox@beehaw.org 4 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

No, no I don't think I will.

I wasn't trying to argue or engage. This whole thing could have been over after my second comment. The rest was an attack on me for disregarding the mod opinion that could've been handled in more tackful ways if they wanted it known

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[–] LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org [M] 7 points 3 years ago*

For what it's worth we don't have great tools to toggle posting as a mod or not. I understand that it likely looked like a show of force to you, and that's why I stepped in and addressed everybody involved in escalating it, and did it respectfully. We can all choose to act and speak tactfully, which in my experience includes not rising to something you no longer need to.

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[–] LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org 5 points 3 years ago (8 children)

Let's remember to be(e) accountable for how we converse with each other. I think you posted a lovely picture, and hope that you regularly bring your indoor cats, well, indoors when you're not able to keep an eye on them in the yard like a responsible human.

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[–] KingPyrox@beehaw.org 3 points 3 years ago (7 children)

Accountable for what? Saying that humans are an invasive species? We are

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[–] LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org 7 points 3 years ago* (2 children)

It's about participation in a group conversation, and one where we recognize that it's not generally okay to continue to shout at each other when there's other folks trying to have a nice time. I'm willing to presume that you keep your cats monitored, and nothing you've said here would suggest that's not the case. You could, given the circumstances, suggest people take an active role in monitoring a species many of us love that is also notably dangerous for other animals.

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[–] KingPyrox@beehaw.org 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

You do realize that the majority of users have come from Reddit right?

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[–] LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org 9 points 3 years ago

That's a different space, with a different set of expectations. There will obviously be some overlap in online behaviors, but escalation-as-conversation on the internet is nothing unique to reddit. It's just not a necessary comparison here, or at least not germane to our interaction here. You're not the only one I've reminded to be accountable in this thread, and I intentionally tagged you to show that. You can see @communist@beehaw.org responded to my reminder, and I think if it can't be hashed out I'll have to.

You're both free to disengage here too.

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[–] communist@beehaw.org 4 points 3 years ago (3 children)

This does not seem like an argument made in good faith.

You must know there's a difference between people living places, and encouraging the spread of invasive species.

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[–] KingPyrox@beehaw.org 3 points 3 years ago (2 children)

I wasn't trying to have an argument. Give the context of the post I was just trying to showcase my own pets for the sake of joining in the joy of animals. You are the one that decided to try to force your own views on to my comment. I truly do not care about what you've presented. Hense the antagonistic responses

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[–] Notnotmike@beehaw.org 10 points 3 years ago

I don't know if it'll help or not, but I think a lot of this boils down to a misunderstanding

OP has a cat on a harness, which allows the person holding the leash to prevent the cat from killing birds or entering dangerous areas
You posted a picture of your cats (which are adorable by the way) but without context, outdoors off-leash
Communist saw cats off-leash outdoors, and wanted to advocate for keeping cats indoors, since they weren't aware your cats are indoor

They just didn't know that your cats are indoor cats, and wanted to advocate for something that they (and myself) are passionate about (keeping cats indoors to help prevent ecological damage).

It seems to have escalated from there, and I'd love it to get back to square one and get the conversation back to positivity! We can all be friends :)

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[–] communist@beehaw.org 6 points 3 years ago*

It seems odd to me to antagonize something you don't care about. The point was not to upset you, or to say that you're doing a bad job, I simply believe it is important to raise awareness about the subject of keeping cats outdoors.

I'm not trying to attack or upset you. I'm sorry it came off that way.

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