As jews, what pets aren't we allowed to own?

33055

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 8:51 am

gp2.0 wrote:

I wonder how this worked, practically, when many people had non-kosher working animals like horses, mules or camels. There's always bound to be at least one person around who was kicked or dropped by a horse etc. as a child and has a terrible fear of horses etc.

Or does this not apply to working animals?

I sort of remember that it doesn't apply to working animals, but AYLOR.

My children were broken hearted when halacha was explained to them. They were told every single person around must be OK with this. Perhaps if there wasn't phobia of cats and dogs in my community they could have a pet.

simchat

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 9:32 am

Thanks for clarifying bkind. I'd never heard of the pregnancy thing. As far as baby gifts, in general I try not to get with a non kosher animal on it unless I know that family is fine with it. As I said, most of my extended family and a lot of chabad families I know, are. I did not know the reason for this minhag, so that was interesting.

33055

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 9:53 am

gp2.0 wrote:

I don't know how accurate or out of context this is, but the consensus here seems to be that owning a pet dog is not an issue, especially if it is a small dog or large gentle hunting dog. An "evil" dog who barks and bites (some say only bites, some say even if it has loud scary bark without bite) is against halacha. http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/eng.....1.htm

So breeds like rottweilers, chow chows, akitas, huskies, eskimo dogs, malamutes, mastiffs, pit bulls - basically large, territorial dogs who were bred for strength, protection, fighting ability, loud barking and extremely hard "mouth grips" are not okay.

But small breeds like chihuahuas and terriers, as well as hounds, herding dogs, hunting dogs (these include labradors, retrievers, standard poodles - just for context of what hunting dog means) who are either too small to scare people or have been bred to be very gentle and quiet with a "soft mouth" are okay to own as pets.

AYLOR because I got the opposite answer.

gp2.0

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 10:12 am

Squishy wrote:

AYLOR because I got the opposite answer.

You didn't get the opposite answer. The opposite of what I wrote would be that the only dog allowed according to Halacha are territorial fighting dogs. Lol.

I guess this means that it's not so clear cut and definitely open to interpretation depending on who you ask.

33055

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 10:41 am

gp2.0 wrote:

I got the opposite answer since you can have a dog albeit with conditions. My family can't have a dog at all. Dog for you - yes. Dog for me - no.

gp2.0

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 11:29 am

Squishy wrote:

I got the opposite answer since you can have a dog albeit with conditions. My family can't have a dog at all. Dog for you - yes. Dog for me - no.

Oh I see what you mean.

Dog for me - I wish!!! Not yet, sadly. Smile

But anyway as to the OP, this whole issue is irrelevant. Owning a parakeet or rabbit is in a different category and the reason her rav gave for not owning one is totally different.

aaisrael

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 1:25 pm

Sometimes this website breaks my heart. What have we Jews become!? Is this allowed; is that allowed? There are so many "rabbis" who need to get some fresh air and stop claiming "Da'as Torah." A parakeet is "not good" ??? "Oh, it must be Kabbalah." Halachah has become like "abracadabra": don't do anything without consulting the Rav so you get it exactly his way and then everything will be good like magic. The more rigid and closed-minded the better. Help! Every little rabbi with a little shul is now a rebbe to be consulted before we breathe. It's insane. And now...watch how other women will jump all over me for this. Just watch.

sequoia

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 4:33 pm

There's an akita in my neighborhood and it's the gentlest dog ever. The owner told me a lot of little kids pet it and play with it and thus get over their fear of dogs.

The only dog that I definitely wouldn't own is a pitbull. They look like bodybuilders Smile

Chows are... adorable but yes can be aggressive.

gp2.0

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 4:44 pm

sequoia wrote:

Chows are... adorable but yes can be aggressive.

Sure Akitas can be good with kids, however they do tend in general to be very territorial and not trust strangers. Pitbulls can actually be great with kids too. It's the squinty pitbull eyes that I find sort of menacing. They always seem like Twisted Evil

There's a saying that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners. While I do agree with that, it's also true that either through nature or selective breeding some breeds of dogs tend towards more dangerous behavior than other breeds of dogs.

gp2.0

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 4:55 pm

sequoia wrote:

Yeah but would you WANT a dog that doesn't protect you, that gets all friendly with the burglars breaking into your house?

Sort of in between. I'd go for a watchdog type rather than guard dog. That way the dog barks if there's an intruder but doesn't clamp down on his leg with a death grip. Smile

gp2.0

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 8:40 pm

amother wrote:

Chihuahuas have the highest rate of biting others of any breed.

Yep. All toy and small breeds can develop the tendency to get nippy if certain factors come into play. But I don't think a chihuahua has ever mauled anyone badly enough that they died. Correct me if I'm wrong.

You can pretty easily throw a chihuahua across the room if he tried biting you. A mastiff, not so much. (Not that anyone should be throwing dogs!! Just saying as a level of halachic indication of "evil" dog a small dog, even a small nippy dog would probably be lower on the list than a malamute.)

Gun dogs are the best. I want a standard poodle. In my dreams!

sequoia

Tue, Nov 24 2015, 8:49 pm

All northern breeds (laika, husky, akita, malamute) are quite philosophical and docile. They just want snow Smile

Little nippy dogs are disloyal, annoying, bitey, yappy, and more like rats than canines, in my view Wink

amother

Cerulean

Wed, Nov 25 2015, 2:47 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

When we lived in rbs a while ago, whenever I walked to my bus stop for work, I would always hear......a goat Smile

So people have all kinds of pets.
I know a family who own turkeys. (thats fun for the neighbors Wink

)

That might be the goat who appeared in my sister's Dira, they looked after it on the mirpeset for a week (kids loved the kid goat!) before working out who it belonged to - the owner then asked if they wanted to keep it because she didn't want it anymore! (She declined, it was a bit smelly, but her barmitzva son keeps asking to get one;-)) Confused