Dogfree is a hygienic, environmental and social movement based around people who dislike domestic pet dogs and dog ownership in general.
People who identify as "dogfree", generally speaking, do not support the abuse or mistreatment of domestic dogs but strongly disagree with the concept of dog ownership, Western culture's integration of dogs into media, relationships and public spaces, dogs in areas such as restaurants, beaches and commercial shops, the ecological impact of dogs as an invasive domestic species artificially perpetuated by humans, and the lack of hygiene exhibited by dogs (for example their licking of their own genitalia or anus). Dogfree people also do not believe in the concept of dogs providing "unconditional love", and believe that dog owners who consider this a virtue are actually narcissistic and looking for endless affirmation and validation to avoid personal growth and betterment. The term "dogfree" attracted attention initially after the Reddit group r/Dogfree was brought up in news articles examining the Dogfree community phenomenon. The movement is contentious, with supporters arguing that a cultural love of dogs is automatically presumed and that society does not accept anyone who expresses dislike, fear or disgust regarding dogs, and critics arguing that the movement is mean-spirited and too extreme. The Dogfree movement has some overlaps with the "Childfree" movement, criticism of the phenomenon of self-diagnosis in relation to "therapy dogs" and "emotional support animals" (not to be confused with service animals or guide dogs), and also with the criticism of pit bull advocacy groups.
The origin of the term "Dogfree" is unknown.
Support
In 2013, Slate writer Farhad Manjoo released the article "No, I Do Not Want to Pet Your Dog" in which he discusses the largely American phenomenon of dog ownership and notes that dog owners are often unable to accept or understand why anybody would not like dogs, or assume by default that all people love dogs. Manjoo was particularly critical of dogs being brought into unnecessary spaces such as offices, workplaces and gyms. Journalist Ryan Kearney of The New Republic agreed with Manjoo's sentiments but while identifying as dogfree, Kearney noted that he was more troubled by dogs as a reflection of western human culture than he was about dogs themselves, stating:
"Few of us, relative to our ancestors, use dogs for hunting. Which means that, aside from several obvious niche uses (guiding the blind, sniffing for bombs or drugs, chasing down criminals; I draw the line at "therapy dogs"), we now rely on dogs for only one thing: to be our living stuffed animal, something to cuddle with when we're feeling sad or wistful or lonely. That is all we ask of them—that they always be there when we need them—and they happily oblige, since we also happen to feed them in the process. Some find poetry in the simplicity of this transaction. I see human neediness, if not weakness, and perhaps even exploitation. "Dogs don't talk back" is a common refrain, and meant to be positive. But we are the most intelligent beings, ever—capable of profound, complex thoughts, which we can express to each other thanks to the hundreds of intricate languages we have developed over our species’ history. Why not use these wonderful words we’ve invented? Instead, after a rough day, a dog owner might lie quietly on the couch with his pooch, and somehow this makes him feel better, as if through osmosis the dog had somehow helped him work through his complicated feelings. Or the dog owner will talk to the dog, knowing full well that the dog does not, and never will—unlike babies—understand what they’re saying. Talking to humans can be exhausting, and threatens to further complicate one’s feelings. Another human would talk back, and the dog owner would have to sit there and listen, and maybe reconsider what he’s feeling. With a dog, it's one-way conversation: I talk, it listens, and whatever I say is implicitly accepted as truth. Conversing with dogs, we’re always right."
— Ryan Kearney, I Hate Dogs for What Their Popularity Says About Us
In the 2020s, journalists and writers began exploring the Dogfree movement, with author and commentator Olga Khazan coming out as dogfree in an article for The Atlantic in 2023 and admitting that she herself had joined the r/Dogfree Reddit group. Khazan stated, "as I read my same unpopular views, reflected back by other people, I was overcome by the thrill of being truly known, by the unmistakable gasp of catharsis... let’s just get this out of the way: I don’t like dogs. I don’t like the way they smell. I don’t like the way they jump on your dry-clean-only pants. I especially don’t like the way they “get to know you.” (I generally don't like to be poked down there unless it's so someone can tell me whether I have HPV.) I don't believe animals are equal to people; I can't believe $15,000 pet surgeries exist in a country where not every person can get health care. I’ve long kept this feeling to myself, because in America, saying you don't like dogs is like saying you think the Taliban has some good ideas."
"Dog culture"
Abigail Weinberg, writing for Mother Jones in 2023, argued that it may not necessarily be dogs themselves that dogfree people have a problem with, but rather "dog culture", a phenomenon in 21st century North America and Europe in which dogs are treated as equal to or more valued than other human beings ("members of the family"), oversaturated in media and public spaces, allowed indoors and forced upon people who don't want to be near them. She noted a rising attitude among her peers of politicizing the issue, trying to align those who loved dogs with left-leaning values and those who disliked or were averse to dogs with right-leaning values, particularly in relation to Donald Trump and then-President Joe Biden. Weinberg argued, "some will read this and pretend they don’t know what I’m talking about. Come on. You’ve experienced dogs’ indiscretions. You've stepped on their shit in the street. And it's not their fault: Behind every misbehaving dog is a human victim of "dog culture", an individual whose mind is too warped by dog-love to consider the well-being of their fellow humans or the dog itself. In a world of doggy day care, dog parades, and dog spas, can you really blame some people for starting to believe that dogs are a little better than the rest of us?" Interviewed for Express, journalist Helen Carroll discussed her annoyance over "dog culture" and stated, "if your face gives away the fact that you’d rather not be licked by a tongue recently used to clean a bottom, they look at you like you’re a psychopath." She noted at length the rapid an unprecedented increase of domestic pet dog ownership in the United Kingdom and also shared experiences such as being knocked over by a large dog and owners constantly sharing dog-related content on social media.
Lauren Vinopal of MEL noted that the reasons underlying in the Dogfree movement are not irrational or wrong, contrary to "dog culture", stating, "rest assured, they have many, many reasons for not liking your canine companion — whether it’s the barking, the smell, the literal shit they track into the house or the fact that they’ll shamelessly lick your face right after licking their butthole... the community objects to people who prioritize animal rights over human rights, people who treat their dogs like people, people who bring fake service dogs into public spaces and the general assumption that they’re total sociopaths about all of the above. Essentially, the subreddit serves as a safe space for everything from admitting that you’re not exactly sad that someone’s dog has died, to venting about a significant other who allows their dog to sleep in their bed." "Dog culture" in relation to ableism has also been a point of interest in the Dogfree movement, especially the imposition of pets in indoor public spaces where people may have an illness or psychological condition that affects their tolerance of dogs. In a campus newspaper article for Western University in 2018, student Katrina McCallum shared her negative experience as a person with a dog allergy attending school in a "dog-friendly" building, saying, "for people with allergies, a dislike of dogs is serious; it can be a debilitating and life-threatening condition. While dogs in the UCC atrium or puppies in lecture halls might offer emotional support for some students, they can bring physical discomfort to others. There’s no getting around how debilitating a dog’s presence is for me when I’m on campus. Allergy medication makes me feel drowsy to the point where I can't keep my eyes open, while the effects of my allergies harm my ability to learn and take notes. Allergy attacks are both mentally and physically consuming; my hands are occupied with tissues as I blow my nose and I struggle to see as my eyes water and itch. Rather than concentrating on taking lecture notes, I’m concentrating on trying to breathe." Her article received an overwhelming negative response from readers.
Childhood trauma
Some dogfree people have cited bad childhood experiences with dogs as the reason behind their attitude, according to Janine Israel of The Guardian. Writer Tatiana Gallardo of The Fordham Observer concurred and shared her own bad experience when her parents purchased a pet dog for her family: "Instead of adoration, I felt excessive apathy. I didn’t care for Romy at all. Hearing her aggressive howl mid-morning to be taken outside for a walk didn’t exactly motivate me to feel love and affection. Standing outside in the freezing cold every morning with a doggie bag in my hand while awaiting some fresh, warm animal poo didn’t give me a rush of excitement that an owner might feel.... After owning her for two years, I realized the undeniable: Most dogs are dirty and smelly. You can literally smell when someone owns a furry creature. Maintenance of their hygiene requires time and money that I do not have. On top of that, dogs never leave you alone. Maybe it’s my inner introvert talking, but I don’t want to come home to a dog sticking its nose in my business and begging for attention." One man (anonymous) was covered in an article for Fox News after coming out as dogfree and describing an incident in which multiple unleashed dogs approached his child and wife in the park, causing the man and his wife to pull their child away and shout profanities at the owner of the dogs. The incident received a mostly negative response and critics argued that they took offence to the unidentified man's verbal expression of "hating dogs" and his prioritization of his child over the dogs. This being said, the unidentified man did receive commendation as well, with some supporters pointing out that the man had the right to protect his child from a potential attack and arguing that the dogs should have been leashed.
Criticism
The Dogfree movement has received little to no in-depth research or attention into the phenomenon, remaining largely anonymous and contained to social media.
The business community has expressed some criticism of the Dogfree movement. Sam Basso, who founded his Pheonix-based company SamTheDogTrainer in 1996, expressed extreme criticism of dogfree people and referred to them as "anti-social nutcases", arguing, "they will try and ban dogs from housing, hiking trails, family cook outs, the workplace, beaches, any off leash areas, parks, etc. These people will not tolerate any audible dog barking. Dogs are going to bark, and we have to have reasonable rules to allow dogs to be dogs, and for dog owners to have a dog." Olga Khan, while an admitted dogfree person, suggested in her article "I Don’t Like Dogs" that while she did find solace in the Reddit group r/Dogfree and agreed with most of it, she found some of the posts there overzealous. Business Holiday Barn Pet Resorts released a post critical of those who disliked dogs but offered a more neutral view of the situation, noting that some people may have been traumatized by a bad past experience with dogs, may not have grown up with dogs, and admitted that dogs had poor hygiene and could at times be dirty.
According to Lauren Vinopal of MEL, part of the reason why the Dogfree movement may not have had much research or investigation into it may be in large part due to misconception about what the movement is about, as well as the relative anonymity of dogfree people, who fear social backlash if they publicly admit that they dislike dogs. Vinopal had reached out to the moderators of r/Dogfree for an official interview, but the moderators declined and encouraged the Reddit group's followers to also refrain from speaking to the media, pointing out that any time the media has done any coverage of the Dogfree movement, r/Dogfree has been met with intense internet backlash rather than genuine curiosity and compassion. The moderators of r/Dogfree use anonymous usernames and cannot be identified by the public. Writer Luke Winkie also noted the misconception that the Dogfree movement supports abusing animals as one potential reason for backlash against it, but argued that while the topic of humane euthanasia is sometimes discussed, the Dogfree movement does not condone, glorify or support animal abuse or harming dogs.
Janine Israel of The Guardian noted that while attempting to do research on people who hate dogs, all participants wanted to be interviewed anonymously for fear of public backlash, saying, "tellingly, none of the dog dislikers interviewed for this story wanted their real name used. Many said their (often undisclosed) aversion to dogs affected their professional relationships, dating life and friendships." One girl whom she had interviewed, going by the anonymous moniker "Jess", explained that she was troubled by the struggle to attempt dating when so many of the online dating profiles she was looking at featured dogs in them; Israel said, "Jess is aware her dislike of dogs is limiting her dating prospects. “When I’m scrolling through a dating app, if there’s a dog in the photo, or reference to a dog in a prompt, I quite quickly swipe left,” she says. That consigns a significant chunk of eligible heterosexual males – and the pooches they are pictured smooching – to the doghouse. “I don’t want to deal with it, particularly if it’s one of those really muscular-looking dogs,” Jess says. While she acknowledges “being able to nurture a pet is a nice quality”, she is simply “not a dog person and I’m a bit allergic”, which she makes clear on her dating profile. “That way we’re the same type of weird.” The public backlash against the Dogfree movement was discussed by Brittany Wong, a writer for The Huffington Post, who noted the prevalence of statements online such as "I can’t trust someone who doesn’t like dogs", “I like dogs more than I like people” and “If my dog doesn’t like you, I don’t like you”, also pointing out that part of the reason why the r/Dogfree Reddit page may be controversial is because it challenges the validity of the relationship between dogs and humans as anything more than need-based and challenges dog owners to self-reflection about their motive for dog ownership altogether.
Actress Chloë Sevigny received both significant backlash and support after complaining publicly in 2024 about the increase of dog owners with off-leash pets in New York City, saying, "The athleisure and the dogs are taking over, and that’s really unfortunate... everybody’s in Lululemon and has a fucking dog and it’s driving me crazy. I’m sorry, dog lovers. There are too many of you." Critics responded in anger, with one commenter saying of Sevigny's statement, "the lack of empathy towards animals is so unsettling and disturbing" and another commenter saying, "hating dogs is cringe soymilk drinking behavior"; Sevigny's class status and career as an actress was equated with privilege and in turn with hating dogs, despite Sevigny having never identified as "dogfree" herself and never publicly stating that she hates all dogs or all dog ownership. Sevigny also received some support for her comments, with some commenters referring to her words as "so real" and saying of Sevigny, "she’s the bravest soldier for coming out and saying it.”
In 2024, some public controversy arose when it was announced in the media that Wales was considering designating some spaces as "dog-free zones" where no domestic dogs would be allowed to enter, in an effort to curb "racism" (some ethnic and religious minorities arriving via immigration considered dogs unclean or did not want to be near them). This idea would have involved designating certain public greenspaces, forests and indoor commercial areas as "dogfree" - not legally accessible to domestic pet dogs. The concept was met with strong criticism including from GB News political commentator Mike Graham, who considered the idea "crazy!" and an attempt at Islamic "virtue signalling". It is unclear if Wales will continue to consider the implementation of "dog-free zones" in the future.
Environmental impact of dog ownership
In recent years, especially with increased awareness of climate change and rapid urbanization of natural and rural spaces, there has been attention to the damage that domestic dog ownership has on the planet. Dogs, apart from their wild ancestors (for example wolves, coyotes and African-painted dogs), are a domesticated artificial species created by human beings through thousands of years of genetic inbreeding creating the purebred varieties within the species, as well as mixed-breeds (or "mutts'"), which are usually the result of accidental cross-breeding. Some scientists and environmental activists have made note in particular of the impact that dog feces has on the environment, the factory farming behind the modern dog food industry, the killing of wildlife by dogs, the increased prevalence of dogs on ocean beaches, and the impact of puppy mills (which is also connected with the separate issue of animal cruelty).
In popular culture
In fictional media, dogfree people are often portrayed as comedic, curmudgeonly, conservative and stuffy, or evil.
The fictional character Hyacinth Bucket (portrayed by actress Patricia Routledge) in the 1990s British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, does not like dogs and will not have them in her house. She believes dogs to be extremely dirty and finds that they have a habit of attacking her whenever she's around them, much to her chagrin since her working-class brother-in-law, Onslow, keeps a beloved dog in his old car as a pet. Hyacinth attempts to pretend to be a dog-lover in one episode titled "Let There Be Light", in order to impress the dogs' upper-class owner, Mrs. Drummond, and sarcastically remarks, "I'm never happier than where I'm frolicking with dogs" (with a low, disdainful note on the word "dog"). The two dogs, Labrador retrievers, bark noisily and drag Hyacinth up the street as she struggles to hold their leashes. Hyacinth is especially repulsed by an elderly neighbour who allows his small dog to poop throughout her flowerbed, and at one point forces a trowel and a bag into the neighbour's hands, making him clean it up. BritBox later uploaded a video for the official YouTube channel of Keeping Up Appearances titled "Hyacinth's Hilarious Experiences With Dogs".
The Hazbin Hotel character Alastor, according to creator Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano, is not afraid of dogs (contrary to fan theories) but instead actively hates dogs and anything resembling dogs (the character was mauled to death by hunting dogs in a past life). He refers to dogs as "mutts" and "rodents" and stays away from them. Medrano discussed this in further detail during fan video livestreams on YouTube.
The Simpsons episode "Dogtown" explores the phenomenon of "dog culture" and some of the common issues that the Dogfree movement has with this, including the prioritization of dogs over human beings even in situations of peril, legislation allowing dogs to enter spaces such as restaurants, people finding it endearing when dogs behave in a way that would normally be seen as foolish or disgusting (for example, as the Blue-Haired Lawyer notes while defending Gil Gunderson, "getting its head stick in an empty pickle jar" and "scooting its buttocks along the ground"). Critic Tony Sokol of Den of Geek noted the episode's accurate portrayal of "dog culture" ("Who doesn’t love cute puppies, playing piano, getting their snouts stuck in pickle jars or scratching their butts along the concrete to clean their fire hydrant debris?") and found the episode's end revelation comedic, recalling, "The dogs soon make Springfield’s mankind their bitches. They have no concern and no decency. They go around sniffing each other’s butts like they don’t stink and generally dominate and subjugate everything around them."
See also
References
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