A long time ago we Humans befriended non-Humans like wolves and it was a true friendship one of mutual agreement to stay with one another so that we may both benefit from each other.~
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At some point we stopped treating our 'non-Human friends' truly as 'friends' and instead they become some thing in-between what they once were "true friends" and what the animals we capture from the wild or raise from birth out of the wild to kill and to eat "are".~
Something in between companion and food? Which is what, exactly?
And how does "you perform for me and I will give you warmth and sustenance" equal friendship? If my cat stops mousing, does the agreement end? No, because companionship and affection has become part of that definition.
How is "you do nothing, and I will STILL give you warmth, sustenance, and affection" worse than that?
How do we get back to that: the times when a long time ago Humans and certain non-Humans were 'truly friends'?~
What does that even mean? The dictionary definition of friend begins with
a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard., not "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Truly affectionate, or using each other for benefit of some kind?
Do you feel "friendship" equals the relationship between humans and working animals (horses, sheepdogs, etc.), and not the companion aspect?
I believe we have both nowadays. You seem to not agree.
Many Humans would most often refuse to face the truth, but the truth is many "Pets" that can not be allowed to roam without dying are a direct result of "horrible parenting or caregiving": they are often never raised to navigate the dangers of life in 'civilization'.
Pointing fingers aside, what would you see as the solution? The damage, as you noted above, has been done. Who here is qualified to teach a cat or dog to hunt or survive on its own? Hell, who here is qualified to survive on his/her own without modern amenities?
It's all well and good to point the finger emphatically and say "BAD," but it does nothing to fix the problem, and alienates many who are doing their best to care for those animals who seem to WANT companionship.
~ So not only are many "Pets" not ever allowed to roam on their own, but if they ever to just happen to do so they have not been prepared for a world (civilization) they have often been born into.~ Would this be 'justifiable' with a "Human" child?~
Bad analogy.
Humans of the modern day ARE equipped to raise human children of the modern day.
Most humans of the modern day are NOT equipped to raise human children to survive without amenities such as store-bought food, running water, electricity, heat, etc.
Evidently, this is justifiable, as most first-world families have lived like this for decades.
What about the ones no Human is taking care of but have been captured and are put into cages at a 'pound'?~ Would it be best to release these 'surplus' 'Pets' into the wild?~ Not all of them would die in the wild, is that a better life than spending the rest of their lives in a cage made short when 'their time is up' because they have not been 'adopted' and are each for sure killed for circumstances taken out of their control?~
But not all of them die in a cage, either. Not sure what the statistics are, though, in comparing the mortality rate in shelters versus the mortality rate when turned out into the wild. Remember diseases will also contribute to this, although not immediately.
I do understand the heartache of shelters that need to euthanize their animals. I'm lucky enough to live near an MSPCA facility that can keep animals without having to do so. They also rescue and rehabilitate animals that have been mistreated (including farm animals and horses), so I would like to believe they are doing the animals a service, as opposed to turning them out to the wild (although wild horses in MA/NH would be pretty cool).
The reality of things and the truth of things may not always be pretty, but is any one even willing to even seriously think about these questions?~
Sure.
But, then there's this question:
You're just going to ignore the posts responding to your outsized reaction? Just gloss over that? Pretend it didn't happen?
Just as valid, no?