Inspired by, and borrowing the graphic from, an earlier post from @LadyButterfly@piefed.blahaj.zone
this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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Incredibly irresponsible, it’s so simple to do and keeps your animals safer if something happens. Not to mention if a burglar gets in or your house starts on fire.
It also gets your dogs used to it, and do your dogs a favor and walk it with a harness anyways. Walking them with a collar is just bad practice, hurts their necks at a minimum, it also leads to excessive lead pulling.
Let me worry about my own dogs, yeah? We do walk with a harness, putting on shoes (me) and collars (dogs) before we go out has been a literal routine for years, and they do always wear their collars when they're new and in training for exactly the reasons you all are harping about. We even do emergency drills for things like tornado warnings where I say "danger, danger" and they know to head to the basement (where I keep backup collars + ID tags and vet records).
For fuck's sake, it's a cute dog meme and y'all are pouncing on one trivial line in the caption like I'm the worst animal abuser in the world for wanting my dogs to be comfortable around the house. There are too many miniscule-chance-of-that-ever-happening "what if"s to worry about that I'm not going to live my life in a safety bubble. The yard is fenced, we're in suburbia, they're both chipped, they're both trained, they're both socialized, the neighbors all know them, and we're doing just fine thank you very much.
Geesh, the number of people around here who always have to be right is staggering and extremely off-putting.
I'm pretty shocked at the way you've been piled on for something so unimportant.
Most days, I hate the internet. This community us usually a nice antidote to all that (pictures of dogs!) but every now and again you get interactions like the one you've just experienced that make me just want to pack it all in.
I'm sorry this happened for you. You sound like a responsible and loving dog owner.
You can justify it all you want it’s just plainly being irresponsible, being a pet owner comes with responsibilities, like keeping them safe in worst case scenarios. It can be the same as being an abuser, you just don’t realize it until it’s too late and happened, but guess what. It’s preventable, don’t be that one. It would be abuse to not collar your dog and thatswhy it was lost or hurt. But defend this I guess.
Also your dogs not uncomfortable with it on, that’s pure BS, if it is, get a better one. Yeesh, of course something worn infrequently isn’t comfortable, same for humans. Wear a shirt too small, you’re gonna want it off too.
It’s also in case you dog gets out and hurts someone, so they can hold you accountable too, so yeah, your also not doing your public duty to protect them either.
Dogs are almost always microchipped.
Anyone can scan a dog and see who its owner is.
You have to catch a dog to read the collar anyway.
You folks are being way too hyper critical.
Not mandatory.
Need a device, so no.
Yeah and?
No, it’s basic pet responsibility.
You have no idea where OP lives, and what the requirements or relevant legislation are there.
You're making a huge issue out of something that really isn't one, and accusing OP of being irresponsible because they don't do things exactly the way you do. This is bad faith and projection on your part.
Please stop.
You don’t need to know where someone lives to know doing certain things are responsible or irresponsible.
Doesn’t matter what the legislation is, you should have visible identification on any animal that can get outside.
It’s your public responsibility incase it causes damage for one thing.
But thanks for coming in with the ad hominem.
You've invented hypothetical scenarios so you can accuse the OP of being irresponsible without having access to all facts.
OP has stated dogs are always collared when they're taken out.
OP has stated dogs are secured at home.
You don't know what area OP is in or if it requires microchipping.
If, in your invented scenario that OP's dog escapes and causes damage, the dog isn't caught, then what practical difference does it make whether the dog has a collar or not?
In the case of a microchipped dog without a collar, you just take it to any veterinarian or whatever your local equivalent of an animal control office is.
This is obviously (I hope) a very irresponsible and negligent reasoning, no?
People always justify their negligence, tale as old as time.
Stuff can just be responsible or irresponsible without any additional context, sorry.
That's a false equivalence and a bad faith argument.
No, it’s about being prepared for the possibility.
Leaving your dog home uncollored because ABCDE, is the same justification. I don’t need an extinguisher, I have water, my dog doesn’t need a collar, I have a fence. Same things
It’s all about preventative measures and responsibility. If something happens, and your dog DOES get out, you’re now not being responsible, I think we can agree on this. So if the chance can happen, prevent it. Like having an extinguisher.
You only think that, because you don’t want to believe it’s irresponsible to have animals at large without visual identification.
Bad faith is saying all of my very real and things that have happened, are hypothetical. Yes I agree the chances are low, that doesn’t mean you can neglect it at your whim. Just like my house catching fire, it can hypothetically happen, so I have an extinguisher, and so should you!
I mean it’s something you don’t need to worry about if it’s always on them, and that’s also exactly why they are on them. It’s no different than having a fire extinguisher, I don’t plan on burning my house down, but its responsible to have it, and irresponsible (illegal in places too) to NOT have them.
I’m sorry you feel being a responsible pet owner is a burden. You’re also the one making a mountain out of a simple question, your link even agrees with it being irresponsible, so reap what you sow mate.
You’re also the one defending being a nonresponsible pet owner, so who’s the one fighting to be right…?