Birds in Cages; Who Came Up With That?

Started by Kura November 8th, 2010 8:35 PM
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  • 18 replies

Kura

twitter.com/puccarts

Age 33
Female
London, UK (orig. Toronto, Canada)
Seen August 30th, 2021
Posted August 24th, 2021
10,993 posts
18.7 Years
Here's a comment I came across recently:

"I'm by no means an animals activist, but keeping birds in cages has got to be the cruelest thing in the world ever, seriously.
I mean, if you ask any person on the street what birds do, the answer will be "fly!". So, by keeping a bird in a cage you're essentially robbing this animal from the only thing it can do. Might as well staple the feet to the wooden crossbar so it doesn't move around inside the cage."

What are your thoughts on this? Is it essentially cruel to keep a pet like this? Is it cruel to keep any pet? (What about fish, for example?)

Discuss!
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Kura

twitter.com/puccarts

Age 33
Female
London, UK (orig. Toronto, Canada)
Seen August 30th, 2021
Posted August 24th, 2021
10,993 posts
18.7 Years
Would you consider sitting in a full bathtub swimming? Isn't that essentially what you're doing to fish? @[email protected] It's like house arrest when you think about it..
Sure they can swim a little.. round and round in circles...
Do you think they really care, though? So maybe it's not actually cruel or anything ._.!

Haha I don't mean to pinpoint you, though :3 Just felt like it's a bit mind-blowing @[email protected] Haha.. humans..
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Alice

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Age 31
Female
Oregon
Seen April 30th, 2015
Posted April 29th, 2015
3,077 posts
14.2 Years
Yeah, it's true... that is pretty cruel, but if you let them fly free, they probably will never come back, and you can't just let them fly around your house, because they can't be potty trained.

Best solution seems to be... don't have birds as pets.
Seen January 4th, 2013
Posted October 21st, 2011
1,804 posts
13.8 Years
i feel bad for animals that are confined in absurdly small spaces, a lifetime of just pacing back and forth has to be excruciating. my bird has been stuck in a cage for longer than i've been alive, and if it wasn't for me that's all he would know- i let him out as much as i can; in fact, i haven't done so in a really long time and now i'm inspired to spend more time with him :0

as for bounding an animal to your household, that isn't something i consider cruel- i do that with my dogs because if they ran off they'd likely get into in a dangerous situation, which i can't bear the thought of (but i let them explore outside of the house under my watch). in any case, i do feel some guilt in limiting an animal's setting, whether i'm holding a fish in a tank or keeping a cat free to roam within the premises of a building. obviously the degree of my guilt depends on an animal's level of consciousness and the measure of their confinement.

Yuoaman

I don't know who I am either.

Age 30
Male
Ontario, Canada
Seen January 28th, 2023
Posted December 12th, 2018
4,582 posts
17.8 Years
Fish usually live far better lives while caged, believe it or not, what with being fed on regular intervals instead of when they find food. And the only pet bird I've ever seen is my uncle's birds and since I'm deathly afraid of birds I try to stay away - but the bird seems fairly happy, since the only time he doesn't get to fly within the house from place to place is while someone else is watching him. I think it's kind of cruel, but only if you never let it out at all.
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PlatinumDude

Nyeh?

Age 29
Male
Canada
Seen July 31st, 2020
Posted May 30th, 2020
12,958 posts
12.7 Years
Keeping birds in cages does make sense in a way because it stops them from flying out of the house. But at the same time, it's restricting because it doesn't give them enough space to fly around. For me, as long as you let the bird out of its cage occasionally, but not letting it fly out of the house, you should be fine.

Male
Seen 4 Days Ago
Posted August 21st, 2021
5,853 posts
17 Years
Fish usually live far better lives while caged, believe it or not, what with being fed on regular intervals instead of when they find food. And the only pet bird I've ever seen is my uncle's birds and since I'm deathly afraid of birds I try to stay away - but the bird seems fairly happy, since the only time he doesn't get to fly within the house from place to place is while someone else is watching him. I think it's kind of cruel, but only if you never let it out at all.
It is cruel to an extent, but I suppose the fact that they won't get eaten by other animals or starve to death due to the regular forces of nature mitigates it just a tiny bit. It really depends on the living conditions in general.
Pretty much this. We provide food, shelter and what not in exchange for entertainment. Heck, we're going overboard with this nowadays, trying to save species that have failed to adapt and are now going extinct.

Not that I really care about animals anyway. If they could eat us I'm sure they would :P

Stellar

Minior used Cosmic Power!

Age 31
Female
outer space.
Seen December 7th, 2022
Posted November 27th, 2022
870 posts
14.1 Years
I think it depends on the species of animal, but generally... I don't find it cruel. Animals have ways of showing distress just like people do, whether through vocalization or body language. If they really disliked being contained, they would make it known. That's why you can't domesticate some wild animals - we've come to realize that they just can't thrive in small spaces.

As for my cat, I think she's very happy here. She sleeps on the furniture like she owns it, gets played with daily, and eats whenever she's hungry. We've left the door open before, and if anything she seems repelled by it. I think the case with some animals is that they're smart enough to know they'll be safest with us, and because survival is their top instinct... it's just logic. Doesn't apply to all species, because I'll admit - most of them just need to move, and that's why they're out there rather than in here.

I think it all comes down to being a responsible owner and having the correct accommodations for a given species. You can't keep a siberian husky in an apartment building, but a little shiba inu would feel right at home.

Zeffy

g'day

Male
Seen December 1st, 2022
Posted January 30th, 2021
6,395 posts
14.1 Years
Its the same as keeping a child locked up in the house. Can't go outside and have fun. BUUUT!~ it depends on the child if he/she likes being inside. I don't think its cruel, and I don't think its right either. Everyone has their own reason why they keep animals in cages--mine is to not let them run away. I still treat them normally--I feed them right and let them wander around outside of their cages occasionally. I once tried to release a bird of mine--which I found hurt in the sidewalk--and he came back. Whenever I try to release him again, he would come back and fly to me. It really depends on the owner, which is you.
Age 29
Female
Outta the kitchen.
Seen December 28th, 2010
Posted December 23rd, 2010
2,216 posts
12.9 Years
That person doesn't get the bigger picture. He moans about birds being stuck in a cage.. well my late parrot did have wings and flew around (took some time to educate him though)... did I rob him from his ability to fly? Nope.
There's other factors, but if he thinks that putting it in a cage is a cruel act or such.. I don't really know what to say to him. I hope he does know that human-raised birds are used to being there and consider it their home.

TRIFORCE89

Guide of Darkness

Age 33
Male
Temple of Light
Seen November 25th, 2017
Posted October 21st, 2016
8,122 posts
19.1 Years
Would you consider sitting in a full bathtub swimming? Isn't that essentially what you're doing to fish? @[email protected] It's like house arrest when you think about it..
Sure they can swim a little.. round and round in circles...
Do you think they really care, though? So maybe it's not actually cruel or anything ._.!

Haha I don't mean to pinpoint you, though :3 Just felt like it's a bit mind-blowing @[email protected] Haha.. humans..
But, in terms of the size relationship...

The bath tub sure isn't going to go past my head. I'm lucky if it goes past my belly button. XD

So, if you gave a fish a half filled tank of water (or less), you'll have a dead pet.

Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
I work at the Petstore, where we have several birds. Once one of our finch's got out of his cage, and promptly flew into a window and died. Had he been in his cage, he would still be alive.

But that being said, birds do not care about being in a cage, the same way my fish don't care that they're in a tank. What matters is how well you take care of them. Don't get me wrong, we let them out often to get exercise, but they still live in a cage. Comfortably I might add.

Captain Fabio

Age 33
London, UK
Seen November 4th, 2021
Posted November 2nd, 2021
12,193 posts
17.1 Years
Well, a cage is used so they DON'T fly away.

Yes, there could be bigger enclosures for them but that is a lot of money and when you already have a bird, it is still a lot of money to look after it, never mind shelling out a lot of money on an enclosure.
Age 23
Male
USA
Seen July 26th, 2011
Posted March 16th, 2011
202 posts
12.6 Years
well,i never thought of that. its kind of cruel,but we give shelter and food all the time.if oyu htink its cruel give your bird a 5 yard long cage.


But, in terms of the size relationship...

The bath tub sure isn't going to go past my head. I'm lucky if it goes past my belly button. XD

So, if you gave a fish a half filled tank of water (or less), you'll have a dead pet.
fish are small,so the actually have more living space than you think or(what i think)its kind of like living in one room. all you can do is
WALK
BACK
AND
FORTH.
HOW
BADDDDDD....

IT WOULD BE DECENT,JUST NEED A COMPUTER ANDA TV ANDA VIDEO GAME SYSTEM AND FOOD. you'd be come fat eventually.
and you wouldn't fill a fish half full with water( unless your extra cruel)>:)

edit:fish tank

lol its huge

Here's a comment I came across recently:

"I'm by no means an animals activist, but keeping birds in cages has got to be the cruelest thing in the world ever, seriously.
I mean, if you ask any person on the street what birds do, the answer will be "fly!". So, by keeping a bird in a cage you're essentially robbing this animal from the only thing it can do. Might as well staple the feet to the wooden crossbar so it doesn't move around inside the cage."

What are your thoughts on this? Is it essentially cruel to keep a pet like this? Is it cruel to keep any pet? (What about fish, for example?)

Discuss!
by the way, who said that?

Kura

twitter.com/puccarts

Age 33
Female
London, UK (orig. Toronto, Canada)
Seen August 30th, 2021
Posted August 24th, 2021
10,993 posts
18.7 Years
by the way, who said that?
Just someone from another forum I go to :3 Thought it'd make for interesting discussion here.
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Age 34
Male
Australia
Seen April 10th, 2012
Posted January 7th, 2011
217 posts
12.7 Years
I don't think its a bad thing to let birds roam around the house. Birds are smart, they can be trained.
My uncle had a pet cockatoo. It never saw the inside of a cage. It roamed free around the house and lived for about 10 years. Never ever thought about flying away.
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