Question: For Orthodox Jews what are the implications of having pets?
especially dogs or birds, I want a dog or a parrot but my parents told me no way, we are Orthodox Jews and my parents have never gotten us any pets. What would be problems with having a dog or a parrot and are there ways around the problems? (only answer if you know)
Relation Questions:
Answer:
There shouldn't be a problem from Judaism. Are you Sephardic or Mizrahi? Then custom is to not have dogs. They picked it up from their Muslim neighbors.
There are rules about feeding the animal first & caring for it properly. That's about it. Do you have the right space for these animals?
I'll star & see if any of my Orthodox contacts see it. If not, then ask Allonyoav.
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Hum, no one Jewish has come by. However Mark S & Tehilla in link someone provided are knowledgeble.
You should ask your parents for the religious reasons as to why you cannot have a pet.
I have a friend who is Orthodox Jew, and while I've never spoken to her about the subject of pets, she has two pomeranian dogs.
Ask them. Then look up the reasons they give to find out some more in the way of explanation. You don't really have a choice if your parents say no pets, but if they're wrong in deciding this, it doesn't mean you can't later own them when you're an adult.
There are various rulings about this- depending on which posek you go by. So depending on which sect of Orthodox Judaism you are in, the answer varies.
Modern Orthodox generally does not have an issue. Birds and fish especially are easy to keep since you can easily look after them on Shabbos. Dogs and cats can be an issue- especially long haired dogs. How come? On Shabbos we do not even use a brush or comb which may pull hair out- a shedding dog of cat would come under this same ruling- with the additional problem that merely touching them could cause hair to come out when they are shedding!
An additional problem with all pets is that they are considered to be muktze by many poskim, meaning they cannot be touched. However, there is also the issur of "ever min hachai" which while more often used for not allowing physical cruelty to animals, can be understood to refer to psychological cruelty. Denying a pet affection on Shabbos would thus be forbidden. Stacking "Ever min hachai" against muktze would have "ever min hachai" take precedence since it is d'oraiso vs d'rabbanan- so in theory you can avoid the problem. however- it is even better to not have the problem and thus be able to avoid having to break either law!
That all said, I know Modern Orthodox Rabbis and a Chabad Rabbi who have dogs as pets.
The issue of feeding the animals is not really a problem during the year; we are not forbidden from owning non-Kosher food, just from eating it. So pet food that is not kosher is not an issue. however, Pesach does create problems since we are not allowed to own or even benefit from Chametz- regardless of whether it is kosher or not. There are ways around this- in most countries the Beis Din will publish lists of pet food for dogs, cats etc that does not contain leaven and can be used over Pesach. Birds are easy since there food seldom contains Chametz.
So, you have two issues here
1) You may be in a community that goes according to the strict poskim that do not allow pets
2) Your parents may just not like pets.
The first can be easily found out by asking your local Orthodox Rabbi. The other; well, that involves negotiation with your parents
this is your parents issues, there is NOTHING wrong with having pets, ...Pets are G-ds creatures and deserve to be cared for. So again, its your parents, ...dogs are not clean ....(dog spelled backward??...=) ).....
dont worry, when you grow up and leave home, you can get a pet, a dog, and keep him/her indoors and safe, clean and happy and loved.
People that dont like animals, or pets....well, there is something wrong with them, so again, this isnt a Jewish thing or any other religion thing.
good luck
No disrespect meant but could it be that your parents are looking for an excuse?
I know lots of Orthodox jews who have pets. The only halachot (Laws) are about feeding the animal before you eat (gotta get up early) and about taking good care of it (because of the prohibition of causing pain to an animal- "tza'ar ba'alei chaim")
For those who hold that animals are muktze, the usual halachic ruling is that this does not apply to their owner or caregiver. Since the reason for it being muktze is that it has no use on shabbat, if it's yours and you love it... that's a good use for it.
I do know some people who struggle with the poop-scoop issue on shabbat- poop is definitely muktze and carrying it is also a problem if you don't have an eruv. But that doesn't mean you can't have your dog go in a corner of the backyard and go out after shabbat to clean up after it.
Anyway, it is a lot easier and less complicated to get a low-maintenance pet like a fish, bird, rodent or even a cat.
I'm not Jewish, but I don't know if there are many Orthodox Jews on Y!Answers.
But I imagine there might be a problem with having to care for the pet, and observe the 'no working on the Sabbath' belief?
this question has been asked before on Yahoo! answers here´s the link
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?…
The truth is that there is no problem with birds
dogs and cats have associations with ancient paganism , so some Jewish familes do not like them as pets source Jewish
I had never heard that before. I also am interested in knowing if there is a culture norm here.
The dog is unclean and the parrot may spill the beans or talk too much.