So recently I was in an argument about how rats cannot be seen as pets, because they usually aren't kept as such. This in contrast to dogs and cats, which in the classical sense can be seen as pets

I then argued that rats indeed aren't seen as pets, because people used to do product testing on them, and they used to place rats in mazes to see their problem solving ability. You wouldn't do those kinds of tests on normal (household) pets

Now the fight has turned big and the friend group is disbanded. There are like different groups of people taking different sides.

Is this my fault?