In Search Of /r/petfree

Astral Codex Ten Podcast

Ask Redditors what’s the worst subreddit, and a few names always come up. /r/atheism and /r/childfree are unpopular, but if I read them with an open mind, I always end up sympathetic - neither lifestyle is persecuted in my particular corner of society, but the Redditors there have usually been through some crazy stuff, and I don’t begrudge them a place to vent. The one that really floors me is /r/petfree.

The denizens of /r/petfree don’t like pets. Their particular complaints vary, but most common are:

• Some stores either allow pets or don’t enforce bans on them, and then there are pets go in those stores, and they are dirty and annoying.
• Some parks either allow off-leash pets or don’t enforce bans on them, and then there are off-leash pets in those parks, and they are dirty and annoying.
• Sometimes pets attack people.
• Sometimes inconsiderate people get pets they can’t take care of and offload some of the burden onto you.
• Sometimes people are cringe about their pets, in an “AWWWWW MY PRECIOUS WITTLE FUR BABY” way.
• Sometimes people barge into spaces that are about something else and talk about their pets instead.

These are all valid complaints. But the people on /r/petfree go a little far:

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/in-search-of-rpetfree