> then the answer is no one should have pets

That is definitely the more ethical answer, then.

I do not have a pet because despite having the space and working from home, I would be asking an animal to be lonely with me when it could be happier elsewhere, I would have to leave that animal in kennels if I needed to travel, and as a non-driver there are too many ways I have to travel where it is IMO inappropriate to take a pet.

This is not a thing that makes me personally happy. But it's the more ethical answer.

> Accidents happen, partners leave, life conditions change, it is totally unavoidable.

And pets can be found new homes in those rare situations.

> And pets can be found new homes in those rare situations.

The average lifespan of a dog is 10-13 years.

The average lifespan of a cat is 13-17 years.

The average tenure for a job in the US is 4 years.

It isn't rare. Can I guess you'd give up your child too if your job changed?

[flagged]

Could you please stop posting inflammatory/abusive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for.

If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.