History Main / ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare

** In both ''The Sims 2'' and ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', small and "minor" pets (which itself carries the suggestion that any animal that isn't a cat, dog, or horse isn't important) that are no longer wanted can be "set free" into the wild. In reality many abandoned pets lack the skills needed to survive in the wild and die to starvation, exposure, sickness, predation, or accidents. Even for those who survive, if they manage to form a feral colony they can wreak havoc on the native ecosystem. In many juristictions it's considered animal abuse to dump pets this way. ''The Sims 3'' is slightly better in that many minor pets must be first caught from the wild and thus theoretically have better chances to survive reintroduction, but also much worse because of its similarity to the illegal capture and sale of wild, exotic animals.

* In ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' Abigail, has a pet guinea pig named David, however she keeps it alone in its cage when guinea pigs are very social animals, it also visibly has a running wheel which can be very damaging for their spine.

** In "The Teacher," Bolt describes having been snuck a large piece of cheese at the dinner table. It appears to have has only given him a bothersome bout of constipation as opposed to something worse.

** In "The Insomniac," Mittens mentions having been snuck food not appropriate for pets to eat by Penny's mother in the past such as Hawaiian pizza and salt-and-vinegar potato chips.

** In "The Teacher," Bolt describes having been snuck a large piece of cheese at the dinner table. It apparently has given him a bothersome of constipation.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Frequently averted in these fanfics:
** Bolt is aware of and avoids foods he shouldn’t consume (alcohol, onions, garlic, chocolate), and when he purposely drinks a lot of coffee in "The Coffee Shop," he does so knowing it will make him sick. In this story, he also starts eating table scraps from the garbage and begging for coffee shop treats, but gains weight doing so. Penny scolds him and puts him on a diet, returning the dog’s weight to normal.
** Mittens drinks spiked punch in "The Wedding Reception" after falling headfirst into a punch bowl, ending up with severe HangoverSensitivity the next morning.
** It's however played straight with Rhino, who also imbibes alcohol in "The Wedding Reception" and eats copious amounts of pastry in "The Cakes" while apparently suffering no ill effects.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' taught generations of children how to kill their pets through poor diet:

** In "Who Gets to Keep Togepi?", Meowth takes Togepi's egg into the bath with him. This is a very bad idea; eggs are porus, and submerging a fertilized egg in water risks drowning the embryo.

** Princess Carolyn (a cat) is shown downing dozens of bottles of cream in “Escape from L.A.” Cats are lactose-intolerant, and would get severe digestive issues if they consume enough dairy products. In the same episode, Charlotte (deer) makes eggs and bacon. To be fair, half of her family is human.

* Averted in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/LouAndLouSafetyPatrol'' in which the titular characters teach their friend safety tips regarding caring for pets, one of which is not to give a dog chocolate (which said friend was stopped from doing).

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyDadTheRockStar'', Mosh the Komodo Dragon is walked on a leash like a dog, but the leash is attached to his collar. It should be attached to a harness if you're going to walk any type of pet that isn't a dog, as their neck shape is different and they can slip out of a normal collar.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Bolt'', Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino enjoy a meal of thrown out buffet food in Las Vegas, which includes donuts and french fries. Rhino is lucky to still be alive as that food is toxic to hamsters, and it isn't great for cats and dogs either. The occasional fry is fine for a treat, but donuts have too much sugar and fat for a pet's digestive system. Not to mention that some donuts have chocolate, which is toxic to animals.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "Fools in April", [=SpongeBob's=] first prank is tricking Gary into thinking they're moving and becoming peasants; he swaps out Gary's food bowl with scalloped clam shells, and adds salt as the topping. In real life, the salt would've killed Gary because salt is extremely dangerous to snails when ingested or absorbed; Gary started crying right when [=SpongeBob=] was adding the salt, likely referencing this.

* ''Film/HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney'': Chance has to have a few porcupine spines removed from his face by vets. However, the vets choose to do this with Chance still conscious with a few vets holding him down. Chance should have been anesthetized before a vet went anywhere near him.

* Videos of people removing barnacles from turtles are rather popular and receive praise. However, forcibly removing live barnacles from turtles [[https://www.facebook.com/turtle.rehabilitation/photos/please-dont-remove-barnacles-we-have-just-received-this-juvenile-hawksbill-we-ar/1528847990478456/ only hurts the turtle and damages the shell]]. In addition, turtles having too many barnacles is usually a symptom of an underlying health problem, as healthy turtles in nature are capable of removing their own barnacles. The best way to treat them is to keep them in fresh water for at least 2-3 days (which kills the barnacles and makes them easier to remove).

** The Penguin keeps a bird in a small, round cage with nothing but food and a perch. This would be neglectful, but it also serves ac to ds a CallForward to when [[spoiler:Max gets put inside a human-sized version of the cage]] later on.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyDadTheRockStar'', Mosh the Komodo Dragon is walked on a leash like a dog, but the leash is attatched to his collar. It should be attatched to a harness if you're going to walk any type of pet that isn't a dog, as their neck shape is different and they can slip out of a normal collar.

* ''Manga/DinosaurSanctuary'' focuses on a zoo in a world of dinosaurs that is stated to be struggling with funds. However, since the whole plot of the manga focuses on showcasing dinosaurs and the troubles that zookeepers might have to deal with when taking care of them, the zoo has a pretty diverse collection (twenty-two different species, and often multiples of each), and many of them are also large species that would not be easy for a zoo to take care of on the best of days. A ''Camarasaurus'', for instance, weighed about as much as three bull elephants and would presumably have not-dissimilar food requirements. A struggling zoo trying to take care of such expensive creatures would probably have downsized long ago.

** At the beginning of the movie, Linda puts human toothpaste on a toothbrush for Blu. Human toothpaste is toxic to birds (or any pet for that matter)

* WesternAnimation/TheSecretLifeOfPets2:
There are a few times where Katie and Chuck are oblivious to Max's physical and mental health.

* Several openings in the ''Anime/{{Toriko}}'' anime have animals eagerly eating chocolate. Unfortunately TruthInTelevision in that some animals, especially dogs, can taste and as a result, ''really'' enjoy chocolate. This just makes it more unfortunate that it's very fatal to them. Justified InUniverse, as many animals, especially those with potent Gourmet Cells, can actually keep in shape and become stronger/tastier by eating delicious food (regardless of the source) compatible with their cells.