Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, always have. Heck, I just love animals in general. But as someone who also loves cats, I think the average person's view of dogs vs their view of cats to be a little unfair:
Many people hate cats because of that one jerk cat your friend had back in the day that hissed and scratched you that one time, despite the vast majority of cat encounters being positive. Meanwhile, people love dogs unabashedly, though I've had WAY more negative dog encounters than cat encounters. E.g.: how many times has a dog lost its mind barking at you as you walked by someone's house and startled you, stepped in their poop, or they acted aggressively (charged at you, as mentioned in the thread), maybe nipped you, etc. But people just discount that and don't factor it in ("that's just instinct/dogs being dogs"). As mentioned, just go to a dog park and you're almost guaranteed to see a negative dog encounter there somewhere.
I just think many people will have one negative encounter with a cat and just hate all cats forever, whereas they could have 10 times as many negative encounters with a dog and always give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe because cats are standoffish and solitary, whereas dogs are more social and needy/attention-seeking, which is seen as cute and silly...idk. Just my semi-off topic 2 cents.
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