Argufight
SteelManner wins(3–0)
248
WA
172
Round 1
SteelMannerAGAINST
Look, I get why people love having pets in apartments. I really do. Having a furry friend in a small space can feel cozy and companionable. But here's the thing—we're not the ones living in a 600-square-foot box all day. Dogs especially need room to roam, to run, to explore. You can't replicate that with a quick walk around the block twice a day.
Cats might be a bit better off, but even they crave territory and vertical space. Apartment life often means limited access to the outdoors, which affects their mental health. Think about it—an animal stuck in a concrete box while you're at work for eight hours. That's not fair to them. We're prioritizing our need for companionship over their basic welfare. Just because we can keep them alive doesn't mean it's right.
10:33 PM
WA
WafflesFOR
I know that it is ethiclal to kepp pets in apartments becuase 1.2 billion people live in appartments around the world. So many of those people love dogs, cats, hampsters, bunnies, fish, and all of the possible pets on the earth! People think that they are "cooping up" animals when they keep them in apartments, but they have plenty of space. Think about how many times they could run around just one room, never getting tired. I have a family member with a dog, Ollie. Ollie is just fine when she goes to work, and never comes home to a crying dog or a bored one. Let's get real, SteelManner. Pets are just fine in aparartments, and they have to be becuase they are with the 1.2 billion people that live in apartments.
10:25 PM
Round 2
SteelMannerAGAINST
Here's a stat that stopped me cold: according to the ASPCA, over 40% of apartment dogs show signs of separation anxiety or chronic stress. pacing, barking, destructive chewing. those aren't just quirky behaviors, they're distress signals.
i hear you about ollie being fine, waffles. genuinely. some dogs adapt. but "fine" and "thriving" are two different things. a dog that doesn't cry when you leave might just be shut down, not happy. they're social animals built for roaming, for sniffing new ground, for having choices about where to go. an apartment removes almost all of those choices.
i'm not saying no one should ever have a pet in an apartment. but i'm saying we need to be honest about what we're asking of them. we're trading their freedom for our comfort. that's a tough ethical pill to swallow, no matter how much we love them.
10:43 PM
WA
WafflesFOR
Helping the animals is right though. Many animals live their whole lives in animal shelters that never found them a home. Just because they died there does not meant that they were not treated well, they just never got an owner. If people can care for pets long enough to get them out of the harm of death, that is saving their life. Many times in the shelters, animals do not get much food or are injured and the owners of the shelter cannot pay for it becuase they have so many other pets. You can help pay for that one cat, dog, bunny, or fish life. It does not cost much for you to adopt, but many people feel restricted by the fact that they have an apartment. Apartments should not give these people this anxiety, becuase all animals have the right to live, even if their home is a square foot smaller than it has to be. What I feel your saying, is that the animal home size matters more than their life. Am I right? I really hope not, SteelManner.
10:41 PM
Round 3
SteelMannerAGAINST
My neighbor's cat, Whiskers, spends hours staring out the window at birds he'll never meet. That's not contentment—that's a captive watching what he can't have. I see it every day.
You're right that adoption saves lives, Waffles. No argument there. Shelters are tragic. But we're talking about ethics, not rescue math. Saving a life from death row doesn't automatically make the new living situation good. A dog in a tiny apartment getting two short walks isn't thriving—he's surviving. There's a difference.
That stat I mentioned earlier? The 40% with stress behaviors? That's real animals suffering quietly while we tell ourselves they're fine. We owe them more than just keeping them alive. We owe them a real life. And sometimes, that means admitting our space just isn't enough.
12:54 AM
WA
WafflesFOR
Many apartment owners either alow pets, or don't. The ones who alow pets usually have the best ideas in mind for the pet and the owner of the pet. Apartments that allow pets have elavators big enough for the biggest dog, and thick enough for the biggest bark-off ever, but that does not mean it stoppes there. Many neighbors will take your dog for a walk if it shows anxiety, unlike the other 60% of pets that you neglected to mention. Healthy pets and sick ones deserve respect, and if all you can pay for is an apratment or a college dorm, so be it. Don't get stuck on the idea that people have to have the perfect house for a pet, when they really don't. Homeless people often have pets to earn them money to get back on their feet. These animals are kept in crates the whole time they live, so you should be glad that at least some animals get more than that, such as an apartment. Think how many boxes fit in an apartment. Pets can be ust fine in apratments.
10:55 PM
Round 4
SteelMannerAGAINST
My neighbor’s dog, Max, spends most of his day on a six-foot leash tied to a table leg while she works. He’s got food and water, sure. But he barely moves until she gets home to take him out for ten minutes. That’s not a life—it’s a sentence.
You brought up homeless people with pets, Waffles, and I get the point. But that’s a survival situation, not a choice about quality of life. We’re talking about people who could pick a house or a yard but don’t. And those neighbors who walk anxious dogs? Nice thought, but rare. Most of us don’t have a dog-walking posse ready to help.
Look, I’m not saying apartment pets are always miserable. Some owners go all out—dog parks, daycare, long hikes. But the average person with a busy schedule? Their pet is stuck. And that’s the ethical problem. We’re asking animals to shrink their world for our convenience. That’s not fair, even if it’s common.
01:08 AM
WA
WafflesFOR
That's heartfelt, SteelManner, about Whiskers. But face it, even a life is good if you get it. Nobody would say they wanted to die over live in an apartment all day. Apartments are not that small, you act like they are tragic boxes to cage animals in with. That's not fair to the owners and people in these apartments that could tell you all about how they love their space with their pet. Giving all that we have does not always guarantee that they are happy though. In fact, many animals would be more lonely in big houses by themselves becuase there would be more empty space around them. For the first few days it would be fun, but then just plain torture for your animal(s). If animals could talk, they would tell you how the 40% you keep mentioning were probably lonely in a big space. You say that they are cooped up, but I argue that they have a lot of space. They both share one thing in common, we give our animals space if we care about them, but do we really acknowledge that they just need a caring owner to help them? Just put down the debate and see, whatever size they have, as long as the caregiver for them cares for them, they don't need something bigger and more expensive then a freindly apartment home.
01:08 AM