Fairly early on in the game, the animal screen becomes a complete mess, filling up with animals, their babies, and the random pets brought in by migrants.
Ideally, I would start an animal eugenics program, and butcher everything except a few dogs, cats, chickens, and pigs.
However, it is impossible to butcher the pets, and they continue to clutter the screen.
Is there any way to kill the pets, or manage the animals?
Best Answer
While you can arrange for unfortunate accidents for your pets, their deaths can be problematic for fortress morale. Another way to manage their reproduction is gelding male animals. This will control their reproduction. Birds cannot be gelded, but since they require protected nest boxes to reproduce their reproduction is much easier to control.
While you cannot cage pets, you may assign them to pastures. This will control their movements, but not their reproduction. Use both techniques and they become much more manageable.
Hopefully that helps some.