I Cannot Believe the AUDACITY of some People!

[3furbabies]

Originally Posted by jusjim

This is one reason I would like to see a change from pet ownership, to pet guardianship. It's the word 'owner' that I think gives people the idea that they have the right to dispose of an animal; throwing them out like a piece of unwanted furniture. I think guardianship would tend to carry an attitde change and stronger legal responsibilities and perhaps (hopefully) better care for some mistreated animals.

Yes! That is exactly right. When I worked for a no kill shelter this happened alllll the time. It was not uncommon for dogs and cats to be dumped off at around 1 year of age because they out grown the cute kitten/puppy phase and the people(or kids) got bored of them. Usually they made excuses like there was a problem or the entire family suddenly developed severe allergies(all the while they were holding the animal with no reaction). It's sad that people disgard animals like they are objects... they wouldn't do it to a child so why an animal? It's still a living creature.

Good for you for calling local rescues to warn them about her. You are right, chances are whatever she wants to adopt next she will make another excuse to dump it when she gets bored (meowing too much? Come on lady, a 1 year old could have made a better excuse).

[binkyhoo]

Selfish person! I want, I want, I want.

There are a few of them out there. My Aunt Gave away her shih tzu (Cody) that she had for 7 years. And a few month later she had a Maltiese puppy. What!!! She had him put down because he pooped in the house. So sad. What is more sad I would of taken that dog If she did not want him.

[Konotashi]

What I don't get is that she's 70 years old and wants a dog between 1-2 years old, which is PRETTY MUCH their prime TERROR stage.
Before we found out that she dumped her cat, we found one female. 4 years old, calm and quiet in the house, leash trained, potty trained, crate trained, gentle - sounded perfect for her. Nope. She wants a juvenile. UGH.

I could understand if there was a legitimate reason for her rehoming him. But as far as I'm concerned, MEOWING is NOT anywhere close to a good reason.

And sometimes, due to the fact the shelters are so full and by law, they must keep any strays turned in for a minimum of 72 hours, sometimes they take owner surrenders straight to the back to euthanize simply because there isn't any space for them.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by Konotashi

What I don't get is that she's 70 years old and wants a dog between 1-2 years old, which is PRETTY MUCH their prime TERROR stage.

Oh no, how long more can she live? The dog would probably outlive her, though it may not necessarily be the case. I wish I can outlive ET not the other way round, so I know he is well taken care of till his last day. I can't even trust ET with my hubby cos he can't handle ET.

Though its just a crying cat, but I believe some people just don't tolerate noise very well. Anyway, if it were ET, she would have dumped him long ago, cos he is a biting and scratching cat, a very insecure one. I am proof that it takes time and patience to get a cat to adapt, especially a problematic ones. It took me approx 7-8mths, I believe some will take longer. But then again, I believe there are cats that are beyond help, just like human, the hardcore type. That is why, time is important to determine if a cat can be helped or a cat behaviourist should come in.

[Carmel]

Originally Posted by Konotashi

What I don't get is that she's 70 years old and wants a dog between 1-2 years old, which is PRETTY MUCH their prime TERROR stage.

70 isn't that old these days. My grandparents got a puppy when they were 78, there was not an issue training or raising her even though she was only 6 weeks old when they got her. The dog has brought a lot of love to them and the whole family, she's still alive at 12 years old and so is my grandfather at 90. I certainly wouldn't want to dictate to someone an age cutoff on when you're too old to handle a younger animal. Maybe if you do not have family that will care for the dog when you are gone it is not as wise a move, but even so, adopting an animal in need of a home is not a bad thing, and if an older person feels they want to go all in and take on the exuberant puppy-years, so be it. I can see with this woman's track record how you'd be less thrill with the idea of them wanting a younger dog, but in general, that's not a good blanket statement to make just based on the woman being 70.

Of course meowing to us is not a legitimate reason. We're cat lovers that spend time on cat forums. Some people can't stand it. I would not own any sort of cat that's known to be highly vocal; to me a lot of meowing is annoying. My aunt's Balinese meowed way too much for my taste. I still liked the cat, but not the constant meowing. Lots of meowing is definitely not something on my list of must-have cat traits.

[Ozzy1919]

I just wanted to add something to this topic.

About 6 months ago i had to surrender my dog to a shelter because we had to move and didnt have a home to go to yet (long story)

I loved that dog to death. I would give anything to have him back, and even now i get sad when i think of him and what kind of home he has now.

Not everyone who surrenders their animals are bad people. I know that a lot of people do it for the wrong reasons. But there are some who had no other choice (my sister did try to take him, but her rotty didnt accept him and was causing fights)


He was such a sweet dog though, he used to play with my brothers cat, and never even so much had nipped him. Even when he was getting claws in the face lol.

If you want to give me flak for having to surrender him ill understand. Just know that i really did try to find him a home, the shelter wasnt my first choice.



(watching birds together in our old backyard, thats my brothers tabby)

[Konotashi]

I've surrendered an animal to the shelter.

I adopted a ferret and later that day, I found out she had adrenal disease. (Cancer).
I couldn't afford to pay for a terminally ill ferret at the time, so my options were to either take her back to the shelter knowing they'd put her down, or keep her and let her suffer a slow, painful death.
THAT, to me, is a legitimate reason.

That being said, if one of my ferrets I have right now was terminally ill, I would have him/her put down when the time came, either because I can't afford treatment and s/he is suffering or if s/he gave up after being on treatment for however long.

[Ozzy1919]

That i can understand. A terminal illness is just something thats hard to handle, both emotionally and financially. We had a ferret when i was really young and an illness took her away in the span of a day. We dont know what happened, we suspect she fell from the top of her cage and landed wrong, she couldnt walk and was hardly drinking, not eating at all. By the time we woke up and found her in this state there was nothing we could do but make her comfortable. She died that morning curled up in a towel.

Cash was the first animal weve ever had to surrender. And weve always had dogs/cats in the house.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by Konotashi

That being said, if one of my ferrets I have right now was terminally ill, I would have him/her put down when the time came, either because I can't afford treatment and s/he is suffering or if s/he gave up after being on treatment for however long.

I know of many who prolonged a cat/dog's life even after the vet had suggested PTS. One case, where the owner took up the vet's recommendation, but another animal lover thought its not right and took it home, only to have the cat passing away something like 1wk later. My question is, is there really a need to prolong an animal's suffering? Why not just let them go peacefully without the need to suffer the pain?

Both my in-laws suffered much before their death. My father-in-law died of renal cancer, we witnessed the pain he went through, all the screaming and such, even morphin was unable to relieve his pain. For both my parents-in-law, docs have advised against further treatment, cos they are already beyond cure. All we can do is to keep talking to my parents-in-law to let go of this sick body. Animals suffer the same pain, can't we just let them go? I have always been afraid to say this, cos I know many many animal lovers I know will certainly curse me.

I admit, the reason why my hubby let me keep ET, is, he made me promise to put him to sleep if he ever become incurable cos he is FIV+. It is everybody's dream to have a healthy (both physically and mentally) ones as their 1st pet. ET is FIV+ plus he isn't the most beautiful cat and on top of that, a very insecure one.

[Ozzy1919]

(Sorry for being off topic, but is that ET in your avatar?)