BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids Why do I find it so unappealing?

Don't EVEN get me started on this....I volunteer with a rescue group and I've seen it all too often. Not even just because of allergies, but usually "We have kids now and we just don't have the time to give our pet the time it deserves!" There's thousands of animals in shelters because of this "reason".

To go in a positive direction, a great example of a family which keeps their pet after having children, despite the difficulty, is the book "Marley and Me". They even *GASP* move several states AND take their dog with them!

Cindy

Malamutes, your day with the 4-year-old story, complete with dialogue, made me laugh hard. Oh man...I would have gone batsh!t in the first two minutes.

I had a friend who brought over her 4-year-old, and so that the mom and I could chat, she suggested putting a DVD in the machine -- Shrek, which the kid had already seen 75 times but still likes. I put it in, and within two minutes, the kid came over to bug us.

Me: "Would you like a different movie?"
Kid: "No..." And it went back for two more minutes before returning to further erode my patience.
Me to the Mom: "I can put a different movie in..."
Mom: "No, it's okay, he'll settle down." Kid watches another two minutes then returns to us. My teeth were starting to chatter. So I calmly walked over to the DVD/TV and turned it off. The kid starts wailing, and the mom rushes to it, coddling it. She turned it back on, and the kid stayed for about 8 minutes. I got up again, and upon my first movement toward the DVD player, the mom finally got stern with her tot.

It makes my blood boil to hear of all the pets that are abandoned by their owners once the kids come along. I don't understand how people can adopt an animal, which includes being responsible for that animal's health, happiness and everyday care for the rest of the animal's life, and then just turn on a dime and abandon the animal because they're tired of the animal or they have kids and there's no time, etc. It's ridiculous. That is a kind of cruelty that I cannot even begin to understand, and it certainly doesn't set a good example for children when their parents are that irresponsible about animals.

To me, our 6 cats are somewhat "kids" to us. We're not crazy people, but they light up our lives and make even the most difficult days at work or problems with friends/family just fade away. I can't imagine ever giving any of them up for any reason whatsoever. 6 is a lot, and it's probably the most we feel comfortable being responsible for at one time, but if it were up to us, we'd rescue each cat we meet and take them in! Luckily, it seems that more and more no-kill shelters/foster/adoption groups are showing up in our area, and I certainly hope that trend is spreading, so that all the beautiful cats & dogs (and other animals!) out there have a home of sorts and are not punished for their stupid owners not caring for them!

You're right that not only cats and dogs get abandoned...there is a guinea pig rescue group in my area that has around 130 guinea pigs needing permanent homes...the usual reason is the G.P. was bought for a kid, the kid lost interest, parent didn't want to take care of the G.P. (they can live 7 years and longer) so they give it up to the rescue group, or drop it off at the animal shelter...very sad!

Cindy

Haha, Angela, that's great!

Cindy - I was going to make the same point, to look at the What We Look Like thread!

My pets are my babies, too. (They are not "baby replacements," they are my family!) It drives me crazy when people don't take care of their pets the way they would a child (I don't mean treat it like a child.)

You know what also gets me? I hate the fact that there are still pet stores in malls, even with what I think is widespread knowledge of puppy mills and the horrible conditions that animals are kept in who are at pet stores or will be sold at pet stores one day! We had a couple of malls around here a couple of years ago that had Humane Society of MO stores in them, where you could purchase items that were pet-related or for your pets and the proceeds would benefit the Humane Society - there were also cats and dogs in those two stores available for adoption from the Humane Society. I thought that was a magnificent idea and that those types of shops should replace pet stores everywhere, but instead, I guess it got too expensive to keep those Human Society mall shops in operation on top of the other shelters, etc., that they run, so they closed, and guess what? There are still malls in this area with pet stores. It makes me so sad to see that. Those stores attract exactly the type of people we're talking about - the parents will buy whatever cat, dog, rabbit, guinea pig, etc., that the kid wants in those stores, and then when the kid grows tired of it, those animals wind up in shelters, waiting for re-adoption for as long as it takes (if they're lucky enough not to be in a kill shelter), when they once had a home to call their own.

It literally makes me tear up just thinking about it.

I HATE pet stores! We've always gotten our pets from the humane society, or found them. Even one of my gliders is a rescued glider.

Now, the woman next door has SEVEN rescued pets. And ten birds. It's like living next to the animal kingdom, and I think it's ridiculous! They have a smaller house than us, and there are 3 people living there. I think that's going a bit overboard, don't you think?

Don't forget about the bunnies!!! People get them for their kids at Easter, the kids lose interest/don't take care of them, the bunnies grow up/etc. The list goes on and on. That's why we created the "Make Mine Chocolate!" campaign (shameless plug alert) to encourage people to give kids candy or toy rabbits instead of real ones! www.makeminechocolate.org

Rabbits are great pets if you know what you're getting into, but they are NOT low maintenance, nor are they good with young kids or easily handled. Easter is a HORRIBLE time for rabbits - most of them end up dumped/abandoned/neglected/abused/dead within months after the holiday. (think black cats = Halloween, also not good.)

Seriously though, check us out. That's why I bust my butt for the bunnies!

<steps off soapbox>.

Great site, tbunny! My friend has two rabbits, both are getting up in years (they are named Dusty and Quincy.) I have bunnysat a few times and really enjoyed it, but rabbits are not for everyone. I also had a friend who had a dwarf rabbit, he was fun, too. Very well taken care of.

Thanks! I always love hearing about other people's beloved, well-cared-for bunnies!

We're getting ready to jump into the campaign again this year (our "official" launch date is always Feb. 15). No, rabbits are not for everyone, which is the main thing we're trying to get across.

My own buns are named Lucy and Quincy (we're on Bunspace.com, too). They are 8-9yrs old. I love them dearly. Quincy is my snuggle bun right now (he's the one with glaucoma) and Lucy is ALL sass and attitude.