I feel like the only person that doesn't either love pet clothes or hate them. Seems they evoke strong emotions in people. You either get the type that dress their pets up with no regard for their feelings or you get people that refuse to consider that they have their uses (obviously they're necessary for some dogs, for instance, and also some medical problems, and some hairless animals). I just don't see the big deal with clothes, don't really have strong opinion on them either way, they are what they are. Obviously I don't agree with people that really do treat their animals like infants or dolls, but they're an extreme case.
I do think a lot of people are either too fussy with rabbits or too careless though (careless people being causal pet owners, not people on here). like they're not delicate china that might break at the slightest touch. Yes they can get easily stressed but they aren't all like that. I do wonder whether some people's rabbits are so stressy partly because they keep them in bubble wrap, afraid to do anything with them in case they go into stasis or something. Any animal can be stressy in those circumstances, any animal might be anxious of new things (like clothes).
I reckon my rabbit Jack is more outgoing about new places and situations than my 2 maltese. Heck, my maltese can't even stand a slight change (as in, something as small as the food bowl not being in the exact same spot when the food is poured in it) in routine shortly before they're fed or they refuse to eat for hours and start displaying OCD traits. My maltese are also terrified of being picked up or carried while my buns just dislike it but usually aren't too bothered. Yeah, I know that rabbits are prey, vastly different from dogs etc etc but my point is that not all rabbits act the same and not all dogs act the same.
Makes me think of several years ago when people on here thought rabbit show jumping was cruel (perception of that seems to have changed some) and their excuse was always that SOME rabbits are easily stressed. Yes, "some" is the key word there... You can't judge a whole species so broadly.
I don't know. I hate stressing animals out (like when giving them meds and such) but at the same time I don't think you should worry about it with every little thing. It's possible to consider their feelings without over analyzing them. I think people on the 'clothes are cruel' side sometimes anthropomorphize animals just as much as the clothes lovers do. They seem to project their feelings of pet clothes onto animals, imagining them becoming mentally scarred from it when at most they probably only experience slight discomfort/nervousness/annoyance from this strange new thing.
To me it looks like the rabbit is wearing a random t shirt, nothing very "dressed up" looking (if that's referring to the picture)? We don't even know if perhaps the rabbit got a cut or bite and required a shirt so it didn't lick the medicine. Probably not, but you can't assume the worst with every picture you see.
Wow I didn't expect anyone to agree with me!
Yeah.
Like I said above I didnt expect anyone to agree. Just wanted to voice my opinion on the matter as I don't think people are being very fair. But then I don't see most things as black and white, to me theres a lot to consider with it...while I wouldn't advocate clothes on rabbits I also wouldn't flame someone for it, depending...