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For years, people have debated if cats or dogs are better and according to EHHS students and staff, there are various reasons for people to both like and dislike cats. Science teacher Ms. Ellery Riccio shares that she doesn’t like cats. Her reasoning is that “they are too unpredictable.” She says she has dogs and she would never consider owning a cat. Ms. Riccio also adds that cats are much more independent animals, which is why she wouldn’t want to own one. Senior Glerys Ramirez feels a similar way, saying cats are “boring.” Glerys also says that cats do have many bad stereotypes, which is why people may not like them. Juniors Dayanna Uzcha and Daniella Orozco disagree, saying they both love cats. Despite never owning cats, both of them would like to own cats one day as they are “cute” and “less work.” Senior Gabby Gaetano owns both a cat and a dog and prefers cats over dogs.
People say that cats and dogs are meant for different types of people. Dayanna says independent people would prefer a cat over a dog. Daniella agrees and says some people don’t have time for a dog as they are more work than cats.
Numerous people say that their lack of experience with cats contributes to their dislike. Gabby says the dislike is because “people never had cats so they don’t have connections with them.” Glerys, despite her dislike, agrees with this, saying she doesn’t like them partly because of her “lack of experience.” In a video by BuzzFeed, people who claim to hate cats try to live with cats for a week. As it turns out, all of them ended up adopting the cats. One of the girls even said “After one week I’m in love with this little guy” and “You’re not a cat person until you get a cat.”
Despite many people claiming to dislike cats, the Smithsonian Magazine states cats are actually the most popular pets in the U.S.. Around 34% of homes in the U.S. have cats. Scientists believe cats have been domesticated for around 12,000 years. It is believed that cats “domesticated themselves” by inviting themselves around humans who gave them food in return for killing pests like rats. Cats were also beloved in ancient Egypt. Along with the many relics of cats, the Egyptians even had a large gravesite filled with over 300,000 mummified cats. Around the middle ages, specifically 14th century Europe, cats became associated with the devil and witches. People began to kill cats for this, leading many pests to roam free as the cats were no longer hunting them. Scientists say that this may have contributed to the spread of the plague because it spread through rats. Over time, the view on cats began to change to a positive one once again. However, the cat is still associated with the devil and witches to this day which may contribute to people’s stereotypes about cats.
