If you have seven children, then the oldest of the bunch is plenty old enough to have as a chore a daily “poo-patrol” to clean the piles so others don’t track the stuff everywhere.
Cats messing up the house? Really? A few stray hairs is a huge mess?
I’m willing to wager that you didn’t grow up with pets (fish and birds don’t count).
As others said, if your hubby’s dog and companion of years bit you, there has to have been some action or signal from you that triggered such a response. Dogs don’t just “decide to bite”, they have a reason (in their little pea-brain). It may not make sense to us, but many things we do don’t make sense to them either.
The cats aren’t that bad. They just try to escape outside on a regular basis. The dog had an ear infection and I was giving him his medicine. I know why he bit me. It was still scary and extremely painful. I just don’t need that kind of extra concern/hassle in my life. Not right now. I’d rather concentrate on the humans already in my life. So many of you saying you don’t like or trust people who don’t like dogs is a bit narrow-minded and silly.