It's a Lifetime Commitment
Getting a dog (or cat) that is. We volunteer at our local pet rescue (link on the right) and have fostered three dogs. We are adopting our most recent foster tomorrow!! Being around the shelter/rescue environment you learn about what people do to their animals. And the things they do to assuage their guilt.
Our little angel was brought to an outlying shelter because she supposedly urinated all around the house when she was scared. We were her second foster home and neither of us had that problem. What we did notice, though, was how skittish she was. Especially of males. It took her a couple of days to come to me. And, when I made the mistake of taking my umbrella out of the trunk of my car (we were going for a walk in the rain) she was absolutely terrorized. She had never backed away and tugged at her leash so much.
Needless to say, she had obviously been hit by a male, likely with an object. Yet, the person who gave her up went so far as to call the director of our shelter and tell her about the supposed urination issue. Feel guilty much?
Other dogs come to the shelter covered in fleas or worse. Our first foster came to the shelter covered in her own feces. Luckily she was not emotionally scarred (maybe because she was a puppy) and has since gone on to a good home (hooray for Keisha!). Our other foster was brought in because after seven years the family had tired of him.
It's amazing to me how little people care for their animals. And how some just do not realize that they are making a lifetime commitment. Outside of Rotties, which tend to have a shorter lifespan, dogs are a 12-18 year commitment. So, please, if you can't handle the responsibilities of caring for something other than yourself for that many years, go get a pet rock instead.
Our little angel was brought to an outlying shelter because she supposedly urinated all around the house when she was scared. We were her second foster home and neither of us had that problem. What we did notice, though, was how skittish she was. Especially of males. It took her a couple of days to come to me. And, when I made the mistake of taking my umbrella out of the trunk of my car (we were going for a walk in the rain) she was absolutely terrorized. She had never backed away and tugged at her leash so much.
Needless to say, she had obviously been hit by a male, likely with an object. Yet, the person who gave her up went so far as to call the director of our shelter and tell her about the supposed urination issue. Feel guilty much?
Other dogs come to the shelter covered in fleas or worse. Our first foster came to the shelter covered in her own feces. Luckily she was not emotionally scarred (maybe because she was a puppy) and has since gone on to a good home (hooray for Keisha!). Our other foster was brought in because after seven years the family had tired of him.
It's amazing to me how little people care for their animals. And how some just do not realize that they are making a lifetime commitment. Outside of Rotties, which tend to have a shorter lifespan, dogs are a 12-18 year commitment. So, please, if you can't handle the responsibilities of caring for something other than yourself for that many years, go get a pet rock instead.
posted by Anonymous at 5:34 PM
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