What exactly is the point of..... - Page 2

Delirium · 03-19-04, 03:43 PM

Ya, I promised myself many a moon ago that at my first opportunity, i'd haul *** down to the pound and take home the ugliest little mutt I could find, take him home and hug him and love him and call him...er...George.

Well realistically, after doing some research, I realise that there are requirements to think about like size, temperment, needs etc. I've had zero experience with large dogs so need to limit myself to a small-medium breed. Also, i've read that for a first time adopter, a rescue dog as opposed to a shelter animal is better because they've had time to work out "some" of their issues and there is more info to be had about them as they have been observed closely for a period of time. Finally, even getting a dog out of foster is helping the system because it opens a door for a shelter dog to take his place with that family. All part of a cycle. I've got a short list of people i'm working with as well as the THS, EHS and MHS so we'll see what happens. Nothing is for sure. This beagle, Oliver, sort of found me so maybe its destined

.

He's a great boy it seems. He's had a tough time of it, including a period of time locked in a garage, sitting in his own filfth so he's got some confinement issues. He's survived Kennel Cough, a suspected case of Cushings (he's recently been cleared) and there are two lumps on his chest that we need to watch. I have a good house to bring him to so i'm hoping we can make him as comfortable as possible.

Dee

Jeff Hathaway · 03-19-04, 05:49 PM

I'll take a different tack- it bugs me to hear about people 'rescuing' sick animals (often paying a pet shop which encourages them to get more) and spending lots of money and resources trying to rehabilitate these individual animals. Might it not be better to euthanize the animal in question, spend a fraction of the cost of vet bills on a healthy CB specimen (assuming that you want one) that will likely not need to see a vet in its lifetime if kept appropriately, and put the balance of the money towards something useful like conserving wild populations, saving habitat, educating keepers, etc.?

What's the point of 'saving' dozens of iguanas (or savs, burms, etc., pick your throwaway herp of the month)?

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

claycoke11 · 03-19-04, 07:04 PM

Yah its true that some rescues do that type of thing, and don't take care of the aminals they rescue thats one of the reasons I opened mine, that and there isn't one around here. Every animal that gets brought in we do probably 4 hrs research on just to make sure we make it the perfect home.

Lisa · 03-19-04, 07:49 PM

I have no problem with taking in free animals but I have to take into consideration the other animals I have first... Last thing I need is a sick boa passing something on to my other boas, sure there's quarintine proceedures, but some animals can be carriers and never show a symptom of an illness and while I try to keep things seperate, there's always a chance of cross contamination.

As for taking care of 20 adult snakes or even sub adult, it definetly is an experience, and the time involved can be surprising. record keeping, cage cleaning, feeding. never mind treating for mites, bad sheds, etc.

HeatherK · 03-19-04, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vengeance
Well as long as everything was cared for I don't see a problem with having allot of animals. Were they not being cared for?

Absolutely not, there were way too many of them. I have a lot of animals myself, and am not discouraging it, however it's no where even close to this. I've never seen a house like that in my life, there wasn't an inch uncovered. Picturing an overcrowded pet store is still better. A lot of the time it was an "I felt sorry for it" case, and bringing the animal home, without care to resources. It was like an obsessive behaviour, animal after animal. She would say that she needs to sell some off (no kidding!) but wouldn't, yet would still keep acquiring more. She brought home an aquatic turtle without knowing how to care for it, but when informed, still didn't improve it's living conditions. Then bought another one.

What can you do