The Sign

[active_apathy]

This entry is about the sign that I saw, which was advertising Westfield gift vouchers. It's last so that it's higher up on your friends pages, because I'm sneaky like that.

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On the poster, there was a listing for 'pets'. Seemingly, this refers to the presence of pet shops in a number of Westfield stores. Someone buying a pet for themselves with a gift voucher is, in my opinion, fair enough - it's likely to be a decision they've come to themselves, after appropriate consideration.

That said, on first reading the sign looked to me like a list of gift ideas - which is why I'm posting this.

Friends, lurkers, other readers: Pets are never any kind of casual gift idea.

While I very much hope that most of you already firmly believe this, it deserves to be restated as we approach xmas; a time when, traditionally, irresponsible people see the cuteness but not the commitment and love that are due to any pet - a comitment to provide food, to look after their health, to play and interact every day, to provide access to shelter, to provide adequate space, and to provide an interesting environment for when there's no people to play with.

Don't give pets as gifts, suggest pets as gifts, or sit idly by if you know someone who thinks animals can or should be wrapped up with pretty bows, given away, and then put away and neglected after a week or two like a salad bowl or a robot dinosaur. It's not fair and it's not right for anyone to let it happen.

Also, consider adopting a pet from a shelter or similar, rather than buying from a pet shop or breeder. Not only do they take care of desexing your pet and ensuring they've had all their shots, you get to give an animal the kind of life they deserve but missed out on the first time - and for that, they'll love you more than you'll ever know.

Comments

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I kick and scream whenever anyone suggests this. It's only possible to buy a pet as a gift if you KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that a) the person was about to buy one anyway and b) you can replicate the person's desires exactly in terms of breed, temperament, etc.

Visiting a shelter in late January would have cemeted this, if I hadn't believed it already. (So would the fact that two of our cats were abandoned by their first owners when they stopped being "kitten-cute.")

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

*nods* All kinds of exactly, but I'd replace (b) with 'if you're taking the person along so they can decide for themselves'.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I would've said that, too, before discovering just how many people there are for whom one purebred kitten or puppy is indistinguishable from any other. (Sure, half the time they don't like the animal when it grows up, but that sort of person would abandon a creature they'd picked out themselves, too....)

It's not how I work, mind you, but I've boggled fairly often at people who adopt or buy sight unseen.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I hadn't considered Those People. They who believe in generic pets of perpetual youth should be banned from pet ownership, anyway.

I didn't think you would work like that, just from your first comment. And I'll add unhugged, unwatched and unplayed-with to the list of things to boggle at. I watched Murphy wander about and fall over and snooze and play for hours before buying him.

[one-bullet-left.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more, and thank you for posting this. Mind if I link to it in my own lj? Or C&P with credit? (I can't remember if you're Friends Only or not.)

I've dealt with unplanned pets on many occasions (mind you, a lot of them were my own fault for being a sucker... I know I'll take care of a pet and I can't bear to leave it with someone who might not) and I can tell you they are a LOT of work, especially when you're not prepared for one.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Link, repost, copy wholesale, whatever you feel like. (It's all open and public and such)

Oh, of course. I've lived with pets all my life, and I don't quite know what to do with myself when there isn't all that work to be done.

My entire experience with unplanned pets was an octet of purebred standard poodle puppies, and every one of them went to people who could and would look after them properly.

BRAVO!

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

Also: Please do not go to a pet store to get your pet. Go to the humane society (or comparable organization), where they'll have been neutered/spayed and have all their shots taken care of. Shelter babies appreciate a home, and they will appreciate you more than you know.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Also: Yes. I was meaning to add something along those lines, but lost the whole paragraph revising somewhere. *shuffles off to the Temple of Edit*

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

Amen.

[laurenmitchell.livejournal.com]

This is why Danny and I went to the RSPCA to get Ruri, and why we waited until we could afford to properly support her. We didn't factor anti-psychotic medication into the costs, but maybe we should've. Also, the RSPCA mislabelled her. She's female, yes, but her species is definitely not feline. She's a small, grey, furry, purring velociraptor.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

The good news is that velociraptors aren't as prone to suddenly but inevitably betraying you. Always a good thing, when you're discovering This Land.

[laurenmitchell.livejournal.com]

She discovered the Back Door the other day. She can sit at the screen door and stare out at the birds. I'm sure she's got plans for them. She's not allowed outside until she's much bigger and can defend herself though, although judging by the state of my right arm, she's not doing too badly on the self-defence stuff already.

[daphyn.livejournal.com]

My Christmas present from Karen is going to be a kitten, which we're getting from a shelter, and I promise to take care of it. :)

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

You will be held to that promise. Also, when you get adopted by the shelter!kitten, the world demands a photopost. *nods some*

[daphyn.livejournal.com]

The world, also known as Linda? (And likely Dana, and Amy, and Lindsey...)

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

On this issue, I speak for the world. :)

[daphyn.livejournal.com]

Check. On cute!kitten photoposts Linda is the world authority :D

[mrmateo.livejournal.com]

You are preaching to the choir. Whenever a film like 101 Dalmatians comes out, kids always want one, and parents always get them one, but kids being kids, they haven't a clue how to take care of them, and so they end up being neglected, malnourished, and just plain being a miserable sight, until they either get fed up and run away or a parent takes them to a humane shelter.

It is absolutely callous for parents to do something so thoughtless and cruel.

Bottom line: You hit the bullseye.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Maybe, but I'd like for it to be a bigger choir. Even one neglected pet is far, far too many.

If parents plan on buying dogs for kids who've just seen a film, then they should pick one of two kinds - plush dogs, or robot dogs.

[leila82.livejournal.com]

I've heard so many stories of people who've bought pets for presents, especially for little kids. And then the pet, in January or February, gets taken to the Humane Society because the kids got bored with it, and the parents don't have the time to take care of it. And the majority of the Humane Societies end up putting the pet to sleep, if they don't get adopted quickly, because they can't handle the volume of pets that they get.

My aunt and uncle are considering getting a Golden Retriever for their kids. I can't tell you how many times I've enumerated the perils of buying purebreds (in terms of genetic mutations and disease), and mentioned how there are so many puppies at the local SPCA who need a good home, who will be killed otherwise. Deaf ears.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

It's quite the pity about the deaf ears, especially this close to January and February, when you virtually have your pick of whatever breed you might want from shelters and the like.

[leila82.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I know. But they want an animal with a pedigree, and I'm not really sure why. It's not like they're into showing their dog or anything.

I'm hoping they end up not getting one at all, really, because they can't handle pets. They had two dogs before, and my aunt just didn't have the time to really take care of them properly, since she had to drive the kids around everywhere. If anything, the kids take up even more time now. That poor dog isn't going to be trained at all, much less taken for walks or talked to or anything like that.

[belepherdria.livejournal.com]

very true, we foster kittens, so we see first hand how important it is to neuter your pets...
Shelter kitties rock!
=^-^=

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Yay for shelter kitties, and for kitten fostering.

[ryttu3k.livejournal.com]

YES. THANK YOU.

That's how we got one of our cats, by the way. She was abandoned at six weeks (which is barely old enough to remove from the mother - eight weeks is best) a few days after Christmas. She's still runty - nearly two, and she's still kitten-sized. She's also BATSHIT INSANE.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Wait... being BATSHIT INSANE is a problem because?

But yay for taking in abandoned pets. *nods some*

[ryttu3k.livejournal.com]

She attacks feet!

We couldn't resist - she was too damn cute. Oh, if only we knew the unholy terror she'd grow to be... her full name is Kitty Colonel Cabonker Funalias, though, we should have known! (We just call her Cerny.)

[agreenbunny.livejournal.com]

One or two of the rescue groups I've talked with even have blackout dates for adoptions around the holidays. I think that could be a good idea, if managed intelligently.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

One: I think that's quite a sensible idea. Yay for them - anyone who's going to get upset by something like that, and not understand why they'd do it, shouldn't have a pet anyway.

Two: Your icon amuses me greatly.