To Those Pet Owners Who Decide They Can No Longer Look After Pet
Spend any time on boards that advertise pets and you'll see a recurrent theme: "We have a new baby/job/another pet and just don't have the time for Fido/Fluffy that we used to have."
Someone posted this ad this morning on craigslist:
HELP NEEDED ASAP:
Please help!!!! After two long years of being on a waiting list for an agility dog, we have been notified by the breeder that, at long last, our number has come up and ... WE ARE HAVING A PUPPY!!!
We must get rid of our children IMMEDIATELY because we just know how time consuming our new little puppy is going to be and it just wouldn't be fair to the children. Since our little puppy will be arriving on Monday we MUST place the children into rescue this weekend!
They are described as:
One male - His name is Tommy, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), light blonde hair, blue eyes. Four years old. Excellent disposition. He doesn't bite. Temperament tested. Does have problems with peeing directly in the toilet. Has had chicken Pox and is current on all shots. Tonsils have already been removed. Tommy eats everything, is very clean, house trained & gets along well with others. Does not run with scissors and with a little training he should be able to read soon.
One female - Her name is Lexie, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), strawberry blonde hair, green eyes quite freckled. Two years old. Can be surly at times. Non-biter, thumb sucker. Has been temperament tested but needs a little attitude adjusting occasionally. She is current on all shots, tonsils out, and is very healthy & can be affectionate. Gets along well with other little girls & little boys but does not like to share her toys and therefore would do best in a one child household. She is a very quick learner and is currently working on her house training-shouldn't take long at all.
We really do LOVE our children so much and want to do what's right for them; that is why we contacted a rescue group. But we simply can no longer keep them. Also, we are afraid that they may hurt our new puppy.
I hope you understand that ours is a UNIQUE situation and we have a real emergency here!!! They MUST be placed into your rescue by Sunday night at the latest or we will be forced to drop them off at the orphanage or along some dark, country road. Our priority now has to be our new puppy.
Labels: neglect, Pets
San Antonio's Pet Population
Last year in June,
iMuse (AKA my Hubby Terry) blogged regarding the sheer number of strays in San Antonio. There are several shelters here in town, many of them small, privately owned and struggling to make ends meet; several no-kill shelters and yet others that have a 48-72 hour hold on animals before putting them to sleep.
Even with organisations like
SNAP, and assistance from many local vets to help low income families spay and neuter their pets, the number of stray cats and dogs is staggering. Unfortunately here in San Antonio there is a very prevelant attitude of machismo, defined by Merriam as: a strong sense of masculine pride :an exaggerated masculinity, AND an exaggerated or exhilarating sense of power or strength. I have talked to several 20-something young men about neutering their animal (cat or dog, but most often their dog), and they all get a pained look on their face, crouch protectively and say, "Oh no. I am not putting my animal through that!" One young man said to me that since he watched
One Night With The King he will NEVER neuter an animal because he saw eunuchs in the movie. He seems to think (as do many men) that the same feelings the eunuchs have are the same his animal will have! It is so frustrating dealing with that mentality; even more so since he saw how little
Drake's neutering affected him. The kitten came home from his surgery and bounded around the house that same evening.
I 'preach' spaying and neutering wherever I go because every animal we have in the house now (except for the snake) has been picked up off the street - literally. Remember my blog about
Puma? Terry almost ran him down, and the kitten was so petrified he sat in four lanes of traffic quaking.
On Friday morning I met a woman who lives not far from me and she was carrying a small kitten. She had just found it in her yard, and decided that she would keep him. (Thank God for people like her!) I didn't think too much of it, although I mentioned to Terry that evening that she had found this kitten. On Saturday evening Hayley and I were driving home from church, along the same street and a little black streak bolted across the street, right in front of my van. I skidded to a stop and Hayley and I got out and tried to catch the tiny feline. I briefly touched it before it was off again. We drove the last 1/4 mile home and told Terry about this kitten.
On Sunday morning I was driving back from church, along the same street, and about 3 houses down from where we'd seen the kitten the night before when deja vu struck! Ony this time it was an off-white kitten, and it bolted across the street into the drainage ditch. I stopped the van, and caught it. This little male looks like he is
siamese, with big blue eyes, and traditional markings. I brought him home even though I promised Terry I would not bring any more animals into the house!
Terry and the kids returned home about 2 hours later. In that time the kitten had already made himself at home. Drake and Puma, our other two kittens (Drake is now 6 months old, Puma 4 months) had given him a bath, played with him and were curled up on the couch with him. Chloe, the old lady of the group gave him her usual disdainful look and strolled away. The kids were understandably excited about a new arrival. We had all missed Cody, the kitten we only had for four days so much. But I wasn't sure about Terry's reaction. He immediately pulled out some kitten food (I had an extra can left) and fed him. As the kitten was eating, Terry looked at me and said, "His name is Pewter." His fur is almost the exact colour of pewter. So, now we have Puma and Pewter.
As happy as I am to have another kitten (I have been teased that if I were not married, I would be the stereotypical cat lady!) I am distressed at how he came into our lives. It is no coincidence that in the span of three days three different kittens were spied in the same area. My bet is someone dumped these kittens in our neighborhood, not caring what would happen to them once they were abandoned. At least two of the three are now safe. And there are now three animals (Drake, Puma and Pewter) who will never be able to reproduce and add to the pet population problem that is rampant here in San Antonio.
Labels: Chloe, Drake, Pets, Pewter, Puma, spay and neuter
What a sweet gesture
Yesterday in the post I received this letter:
Dear Smelker Family:
Dr. Ben Kyzar of Community Pet Health Center has sent a generous donation in memory of
Serena to the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University. This thoughtful contribution was directed to suport the Class of '99 Endowed Scholarship Fund.
Financing the cost of a professional education can be challenging. Tuition costs have caused a tremendous financial burden on our students with an average debt upon graduation of over $79,000. Every dollar makes a difference to these dedicated young men and women.
We cannot think of a more fitting tribute to a faithful companion. As animal lovers, we can fully sympathsize with your loss. At the same time, we greatly appreciate the benefits from pet memories which will ultimately mean better health care for our animal friends.
May Serena always remain a beautiful memory for you.
Sincerely,
H. Richard Adams DVM, PhD
Dean
O.J. Woytek, Jr., DVM
Senior Director of Development
Nothing can replace Serena - she was a special cat, but to know that our vet is so thoughful, generous and kind just reinforces our decision that he was the best choice for our animals.
Labels: Pets, Vet
