I'll grant you that in most cases they did not choose to be with you on the day you brought them home. But aside from cases where they're constantly inside, fen

I'll grant you that in most cases they did not choose to be with you on the day you brought them home. But aside from cases where they're constantly inside, fenced in, leashed, or the like, can you explain why they can't choose to leave? Plenty of animals stay when there's no external force preventing them from leaving. As a personal anecdote, at a previous place where I lived (a large property), one day a cat showed up off the street. Plenty of cats would come and go relatively often, and they'd bolt if you got too close. This one was okay with being around humans. It looked hungry, so I gave it some food, and saw it again soon after. It wasn't long before it was living on the property full-time, outside. I fed it, and took it to the vet. It turned out she was pregnant, likely from before she arrived, and she ended up having the litter there. Did I own that cat? If so, at what point did that ownership begin?