Jun 3, 2025
Ask Redditors what’s the worst subreddit, and a few names always come up. /r/atheism and /r/childfree are unpopular, but if I read them with an open mind, I always end up sympathetic - neither lifestyle is persecuted in my particular corner of society, but the Redditors there have usually been through some crazy stuff, and I don’t begrudge them a place to vent. The one that really floors me is /r/petfree.
The denizens of /r/petfree don’t like pets. Their particular complaints vary, but most common are:
- Some stores either allow pets or don’t enforce bans on them, and then there are pets go in those stores, and they are dirty and annoying.
- Some parks either allow off-leash pets or don’t enforce bans on them, and then there are off-leash pets in those parks, and they are dirty and annoying.
- Sometimes pets attack people.
- Sometimes inconsiderate people get pets they can’t take care of and offload some of the burden onto you.
- Sometimes people are cringe about their pets, in an “AWWWWW MY PRECIOUS WITTLE FUR BABY” way.
- Sometimes people barge into spaces that are about something else and talk about their pets instead.
These are all valid complaints. But the people on /r/petfree go a little far: