JGuitaristR - Well, the reason we use a crate is so Mickey stays out of trouble when we're away. For his safety as well. (However, when he is left alone for a long time he gets confined to the kitchen.) He's been using one since he got here and he loves it. We don't make him use it for anything else except to sleep and then he doesn't even care if he's locked up or not. He just sees it as his little bedroom. I used to see it in a bad way as well but then I realized it's not so bad. He likes it. If he didn't, I wouldn't make him use it so much.

What I think is cruel is like what someone I knew (ex-friend, I just hate her now ) did to her dog. It spent all day in its cage locked up in the garage. Everyone either went to school or work all day. Then when they let her out, she went crazy cause it needed excercise and they yelled at her for it. So silly. Now that's poor use of something that is really not so bad after all.

Just my opinion