I adopted your pet today

**CarolsCritterCare** · 09-16-2007, 01:20 PM

I adopted your pet today...
The one you left at the pound;
The one you had for ten years
And no longer wanted around.

I adopted your pet today...
Did you know that he's lost weight?
Did you know he's scared and depressed
And seems to have lost all faith?

I adopted your pet today...
He had fleas and a little cold;
Guess you don't care what shape he's in
You abandoned him I am told.

I adopted your pet today...
Were you having a baby or moving away?
Did you suddenly develop allergies,
Or was there NO reason he couldn't stay?

I adopted your pet today...
He doesn't play or even eat much;
I guess he's very sad inside and
It'll take time for him to trust.

I adopted your pet today...
And here he is going to stay;
He's found his FOREVER home
And a warm bed in which to lay.

I adopted your pet today...
And shall give him all that he will need
Patience, love, and security,
So he can forget your selfish deed.

Author Unknown

Kelly68 · 09-16-2007, 02:22 PM

That is so sad. I can't see how people can do that anyhow. A new baby, moving....so what. Way back when, when I only had the one cat, fresh out of high school...seems like you never stayed in the same place for too long. Every place I rented either accepted my cat or I kept looking. They are part of the family. They are my kids. No one can take them from me, as I will never leave them either.

**LinksToThePast** · 09-16-2007, 02:43 PM

I can understand how sometimes some people just can't care for a pet. Problem is, those folks probably shouldn't have had it in the first place!

Accidents do happen though.
My friend thought a rat would be a nice member of her family....little did she know her new baby was pregnant! Of course I had to adopt one of the babies....and then adopted another littermate from her later. (are rats in litters?...hmmmm have to check that one)

A few months ago I was at the shelter and this couple came in with 3 kids under the age of 4 and then a little older child. They wanted to adopt one of two littermates. The family was doing the meet and greet thing with the dogs and all of a sudden I heard a yelp and one of the dogs came running back into the pen and then tried to hide in the corner. Don't know exactly what happened, but it didn't make me happy.

I am not saying they shouldn't adopt a dog. It could have been just a one time incident...But I thought to myself this is the kind of family that likely will return the dog because they failed to make a good decision before they started the adoption process.

Links-

Kelly68 · 09-16-2007, 02:49 PM

I agree with you there. Owning a pet is a huge responsibility and not a spur of the moment decision. Speaking of rats...the petstore I worked for was a one sex only store...all the small pets that came in this store was one sex...and their sister stores carried the other sex. That way, we didn't have babies.

BUT.........one of the female kept getting bigger and bigger and had a litter. I took them home to foster them and man they are the cutest little things let me tell ya.

**LinksToThePast** · 09-16-2007, 02:59 PM

George, aka Mr. Sass, passed away a few weeks ago. He was the last of the litter. His sister, Claire, passed this winter.

I guess they live only to be about two years old. The litter was born in April 2005, so I guess we did well for keeping him happy....and healthy for as long as we could. He was filled with tumors at the end. Probably on account of inbreeding.

Great Idea on the only selling one sex.....that is if you have competent people to sex them, which I suspect was the problem with Sophie (George's mother).

Kelly68 · 09-16-2007, 03:20 PM

When we took them in, we had to look at everyone to see if any additional "parts" were present. If they did we had to keep them seperate from the others to make sure they weren't pregnant. It worked, most of the time. Rats people think are gross. But actually rats are very very smart. Can be trained to do all sorts of things.

**LinksToThePast** · 09-16-2007, 03:34 PM

Ours was trained to eat healthy treats and be cute. <grin>

He succeeded at both very well.

**Kris10** · 09-16-2007, 08:21 PM

I was the one that adopted the pregnant rat! I was looking for one rat, maybe two... in a few day's time I had 11! I had done a lot of research before getting my rat so I knew what I was getting in to. They are smart little creatures, not the creepy vermin people think they are.

Some of the reasons that people give pets away make me ill. My first cat was dumped at the shelter because he didn't listen or come when called. That's because he's a CAT!