Draft:Dogfree

Not to be confused with Cynophobia, a pathological and psychological fear of dogs and canines.

Dogfree is a hygienic, environmental and social movement based around people who dislike domestic pet dogs and dog ownership in general.

People who identify as "dogfree", generally speaking, do not support the abuse or mistreatment of domestic dogs but strongly disagree with the concept of dog ownership, Western culture's integration of dogs into media, relationships and public spaces, dogs in areas such as restaurants, beaches and commercial shops, the ecological impact of dogs as an invasive domestic species artificially perpetuated by humans, the cruelty to dogs that many owners exhibit (for example dog fighting, physical abuse and neglect of the dog's care), and the lack of hygiene exhibited by dogs (for example their licking of their own genitalia or anus, or having anal scent glands that emit a yeasty fecal smell). Dogfree people also do not believe in the concept of dogs providing "unconditional love", and believe that dog owners who consider this a virtue are actually narcissistic and looking for endless affirmation and validation to avoid personal growth and betterment. The term "dogfree" attracted attention initially after the Reddit group r/Dogfree was brought up in news articles examining the Dogfree community phenomenon. The movement is contentious, with supporters arguing that a cultural love of dogs is automatically presumed and that society does not accept anyone who expresses dislike, fear or disgust regarding dogs, and critics arguing that the movement is mean-spirited and too extreme. The Dogfree movement has some overlap with the "Childfree" movement, criticism of the phenomenon of self-diagnosis in relation to "therapy dogs" and "emotional support animals" (not to be confused with service animals or guide dogs), and also with the criticism of pit bull advocacy groups.

The origin of the term "Dogfree" is unknown.

History

It is unknown when the Dogfree movement started. r/Dogfree was created in 2012.

Prior to the existence and recognition of a formal Dogfree movement, historical cases of a movement of disliking dogs or not believing that dogs should be pets were often linked with hygienic factors and moral beliefs. China after the Chinese Civil War in 1949, banned dogs in many parts of the nation under the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP considered dog ownership "a symbol of decadence and a criminal extravagance at a time of food shortages", and considered dog ownership to be indicative of bourgeois behaviour. Legitimate concerns over rabies outbreaks and feces kept the bans going throughout most of the Mao Era.

In 2013, Slate writer Farhad Manjoo released the article "No, I Do Not Want to Pet Your Dog" in which he discusses the largely American phenomenon of dog ownership and notes that dog owners are often unable to accept or understand why anybody would not like dogs, or assume by default that all people love dogs. Manjoo was particularly critical of dogs being brought into unnecessary spaces such as offices, workplaces and gyms. Journalist Ryan Kearney of The New Republic agreed with Manjoo's sentiments but while identifying as dogfree, Kearney noted that he was more troubled by dogs as a reflection of western human culture than he was about dogs themselves,

In the 2020s, journalists and writers began exploring the Dogfree movement, with author and commentator Olga Khazan coming out as dogfree in an article for The Atlantic in 2023 and admitting that she herself had joined the r/Dogfree Reddit group. Khazan stated, "I don't like dogs. I don't like the way they smell. I don't like the way they jump on your dry-clean-only pants. I especially don't like the way they “get to know you.” I don't believe animals are equal to people; I can't believe $15,000 pet surgeries exist in a country where not every person can get health care. I've long kept this feeling to myself, because in America, saying you don't like dogs is like saying you think the Taliban has some good ideas."

In 2023, environmental historian Troy Vettse of the European University Institute, interviewed by The Guardian, argued a moral case against pet ownership in general, citing ecological concerns, dog attack statistics of physical injury inflicted on people, the lack of social stimulation that most pets receive in an urbanized or enclosed, artificial environment, the cruelty of breeding mills, and the practice of aesthetic "artisinal inbreeding" to perpetuate certain desired traits and appearances. Vettse noted the lack of control that domestic pets have over what is done to them, as well as the relative lack of mobility, the mortality rate of domestic pets being shipped from one location to another, and domestic pets appearing to engage in acts of self-harm due to boredom, loneliness and mental distress. Vettse was particularly bothered by the number of "designer breed" dogs being sold online from apparent backyard breeders and the enforced confinement required to keep a pet.

Two months later, in April 2023, Vox writer Kenny Torrella followed with a similar piece to Vettse's, arguing for "a world with fewer but happier pets" and noting that he himself had been bothered by considering the implications of owning his own dog, a pit bull mix and a "rescue" named Evvie: "Evvie instantly added so much to our [Kenny and his spouse's] lives, and for a while, I assumed our relationship was reciprocal and that [Evvie] gets just as much from our bond as I do. But recently I’ve begun to wonder if she’s a lot more bored and frustrated than I previously thought. That led me to read the stirring 2016 book Run, Spot, Run: The Ethics of Keeping Pets by author and bioethicist Jessica Pierce. Pierce wants to show people like me the shadows beneath the sunny narrative of pet ownership, things like physical abuse, animal hoarding, puppy mills, dog fighting, and bestiality." Torrella was especially disturbed by the implications of a "$136 billion dollar" pet industry and the spike in pet ownership during the COVID-19 pandemic, coming to the conclusion that while he personally would feel very sad in a "world without dogs", this was a self-centered thought and the gradual phasing out of domestic pet ownership would be ideal.

"Dog culture"

Abigail Weinberg, writing for Mother Jones in 2023, argued that it may not necessarily be dogs themselves that dogfree people have a problem with, but rather "dog culture", a phenomenon in 21st century North America and Europe in which dogs are treated as equal to or more valued than other human beings ("members of the family"), oversaturated in media and public spaces, allowed indoors and forced upon people who don't want to be near them. Interviewed for Express, journalist Helen Carroll discussed her annoyance over "dog culture" and stated, "if your face gives away the fact that you'd rather not be licked by a tongue recently used to clean a bottom, they [owners] look at you like you're a psychopath." She noted at length the rapid and unprecedented increase of domestic pet dog ownership in the United Kingdom and also shared experiences such as being knocked over by a large dog and owners constantly sharing dog-related content on social media.

Lauren Vinopal of MEL noted that the reasons underlying in the Dogfree movement are not irrational or wrong, contrary to "dog culture", stating, "rest assured, they [dogfree people] have many, many reasons for not liking your canine companion — whether it's the barking, the smell, the literal shit they track into the house or the fact that they'll shamelessly lick your face right after licking their butthole... the community objects to people who prioritize animal rights over human rights, people who treat their dogs like people, people who bring fake service dogs into public spaces and the general assumption that they're total sociopaths about all of the above. Essentially, the subreddit [r/Dogfree] serves as a safe space for everything from admitting that you're not exactly sad that someone's dog has died, to venting about a significant other who allows their dog to sleep in their bed."

Ableism

"Dog culture" in relation to ableism has also been a point of interest in the Dogfree movement, especially the imposition of pets in indoor public spaces where people may have an illness or psychological condition that affects their tolerance of dogs. A dogfree person can also suffer from cynophobia. Many autistic people have a fear or hygienic aversion to dogs, particularly unpredictable off-leash dogs. According to researcher Shannon Tyner, who studied the interactions between dogs and autistic children, an estimated 30% of individuals on the autism spectrum have a strong fear or aversion to dogs, something often ignored or overshadowed by the growing market for "autism dogs" and "therapy dogs", a point of contention in the autistic community as some autistic people claim to strongly benefit from interaction with dogs on a regular basis. Some psychologists studying cynophobia have suggested that sensory intervention - forcibly exposing an autistic person to dogs until they interact with them and learn to accept them - is one way in which autistic people can come to appreciate dogs. There is little to no input existing on how autistic people with a dislike, fear or aversion to dogs think of this issue, as the topic is taboo and debates are mostly relegated to autism-themed social media forums.

Childhood trauma

Some dogfree people have cited bad childhood experiences with dogs as the reason behind their attitude, according to Janine Israel of The Guardian. Writer Tatiana Gallardo of The Fordham Observer concurred and shared her own bad experience when her parents purchased a pet dog for her family.

Hygiene

In 2017, Canadian parenting magazine Today's Parent put out an article titled "Pets are gross: Science confirms it!" in which writer Emma Waverman stated, "even though our dog smells like a garbage dump, my kids still smother him with kisses and hugs, and he reciprocates by licking them all over their faces. Which, to be honest, I find really gross." She noted that while she believed personally that there were potential benefits to owning a family pet and that she wasn't entirely against pet ownership, she did not appreciate being treated as a "curmudgeon" by fellow parents whenever she would react in disgust openly at something repulsive or viscerally unpleasant that the family dog was doing. She also highlighted numerous studies confirming that pets spread diseases and parasites.

The hygienic risks of domestic dogs to young children had been an earlier point of contention in the United Kingdom from the 1970s to the 1990s; University of Kent writer Neil Pemberton considered the fear of the Toxocariasis roundworm parasite, passed on through dog feces to humans unwittingly touching the feces if it was left and not cleaned up after, to be a moral panic caused largely by "propaganda". Pemberton argued, "there was an explicit willingness to attach disgust to dogs... footage showing children playing on parks soiled with feces and where dogs freely wandered was joined by footage of children cuddling and touching dogs. [This imagery is used to suggest] the dark side of the companion species relationship and to stigmatise [sic] dogs as impure, dangerous and dirty to the touch."

Criticism

Olga Khan, while an admitted dogfree person, suggested in her article "I Don't Like Dogs" that while she did find solace in the Reddit group r/Dogfree and agreed with most of it, she found some of the posts there overzealous.

According to Lauren Vinopal of MEL, part of the reason why the Dogfree movement may not have had much research or investigation into it may be in large part due to misconception about what the movement wants, as well as the relative anonymity of dogfree people, who fear social backlash if they publicly admit that they dislike dogs. Vinopal had reached out to the moderators of r/Dogfree for an official interview, but the moderators declined and encouraged the Reddit group's followers to also refrain from speaking to the media, pointing out that any time the media has done any coverage of the Dogfree movement, r/Dogfree has been met with intense internet backlash rather than genuine curiosity and compassion. The moderators of r/Dogfree use anonymous usernames and cannot be identified by the public. Writer Luke Winkie also noted the misconception that the Dogfree movement supports abusing animals as one potential reason for backlash against it, but argued that while the topic of humane euthanasia is sometimes discussed, the Dogfree movement does not condone, glorify or support animal abuse or harming dogs.

Janine Israel of The Guardian noted that while attempting to do research on people who hate dogs, all participants wanted to be interviewed anonymously for fear of public backlash, saying, "tellingly, none of the dog dislikers interviewed for this story wanted their real name used. Many said their (often undisclosed) aversion to dogs affected their professional relationships, dating life and friendships." One girl whom she had interviewed, going by the anonymous moniker "Jess", explained that she was troubled by the struggle to attempt dating when so many of the online dating profiles she was looking at featured dogs in them; Israel said, "Jess is aware her dislike of dogs is limiting her dating prospects. “When I'm scrolling through a dating app, if there's a dog in the photo, or reference to a dog in a prompt, I quite quickly swipe left,” she says. The public backlash against the Dogfree movement was discussed by Brittany Wong, a writer for The Huffington Post, who noted the prevalence of statements online such as "I can't trust someone who doesn't like dogs", “I like dogs more than I like people” and “If my dog doesn't like you, I don't like you”, also pointing out that part of the reason why the r/Dogfree Reddit page may be controversial is because it challenges the validity of the relationship between dogs and humans as anything more than need-based and challenges dog owners to self-reflection about their motive for dog ownership altogether.

In 2024, some public controversy arose when it was announced in the media that Wales was considering designating some spaces as "dog-free zones" where no domestic dogs would be allowed to enter, in an effort to curb "racism" (some ethnic and religious minorities arriving via immigration considered dogs unclean or did not want to be near them). This idea would have involved designating certain public greenspaces, forests and indoor commercial areas as "dogfree" - not legally accessible to domestic pet dogs. The concept was met with strong criticism including from GB News political commentator Mike Graham, who considered the idea "crazy!" and an attempt at Islamic "virtue signalling". It is unclear if Wales will continue to consider the implementation of "dog-free zones" in the future. In November 2024, the Government of Wales argued that the dog-free zone suggestion was a hoax amplified by the leader of the Senedd Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies, who shared news articles on his social media channels and appeared as a guest to talk about the issue on GB News. Davies and GB News did not respond to this allegation.

Environmental impact of dog ownership

In recent years, especially with increased awareness of climate change and rapid urbanization of natural and rural spaces, there has been attention to the damage that domestic dog ownership has on the planet. Some scientists and environmental activists have made note in particular of the impact that dog feces has on the environment, the factory farming behind the modern dog food industry, the killing of wildlife by dogs, the increased prevalence of dogs on ocean beaches, and the impact of puppy mills (which is also connected with the separate issue of animal cruelty).

See also

• Human–canine bond
• Cynophobia
• Pet culture
• Pet humanization
• Pet industry
• Unclean animal

References

This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.

Categories:

• 21st-century controversies
• 21st-century social movements
• Culture-related controversies
• Dogs as pets
• Dogs in culture
• Dogs in popular culture
• Environmental movements
• Hygiene
• Internet-based activism
• Internet-related controversies
• Popular psychology
• Social media campaigns
• Subreddits