Sometimes we compare the responsibility that a pet involves to that of babies. But it is not really the same. Babies need constant support from their mother. They are fed and cherished by them. They almost can't breathe if it weren't for their mothers. With pets is not exactly the same. After 45 days of life, most animals are able to get away from their mother, as they don't need anything directly from them. So, luckily, their care will fall to a human being. But that doesn't mean that the human now has the role of the pet mother. Sentimentally, they do, but not according to nature, as they do not have the same responsibilities over them.
As a cat and dog owner, I can say that taking care of them is a time-consuming activity. You have to keep them fed and clean, with all their vaccines up to date, and their spaces also need to be clean (their bed and the place where they do their necessities). This takes time, and even I had to once ask for a day off work to take them to the vet. But it's not comparable to the time and energy that taking care of a baby consumes. That is far more intense.
Where I'm going with all this is that, even though it is not that hard to take care of a pet, it doesn't mean it is not time-consuming. So if you had any kind of machine that helped you out with the task so you could spend less time cleaning and more time with them, why wouldn't you use it? There is no need to suffer when you already have a machine that helps you out. With all these you may realize that I'm in fact in favor of u/Sherry_Cheng in this story. She's right about using what she has to spend less time doing chores. That man had no business giving his unsolicited opinion about the matter.