Mental Health Thread #2 - Spring Forward

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Thank you for ADOPTING them from an animal shelter. (Adopt, don't shop)
 
Betty3 said:
Thank you for ADOPTING them from an animal shelter. (Adopt, don't shop)
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I agree, Betty! Almost all the pets I've ever had have just wandered into my life (homeless kittens that nobody else wanted, or our dog who was offered to us because the owner couldn't keep her and would've gone to the animal shelter if we hadn't taken her). The only one we actually went looking for was still adopted from the animal shelter.

A friend of ours bought a dog around the same time we got our dog....spent a lot of money and went to a lot of work to get it here from out of state because she'd always wanted a dog of this relatively rare breed. It didn't have particular traits that made it any more special than our Husky/Lab/Wheaten Terrier mix, but for her it wasn't a pet, it was a status symbol because nobody else around here had one. I have another friend who's buying a kitten from a breeder right now for basically the same reason...it's a kind of unique breed, and therefore I guess makes it more "special" than other people's pets. I don't understand it.
 
I don't understand the "special" either. There are so many animals at shelters that are so darn cute, sweet & friendly & in need of a loving home. Of course, I think everyone of them at a shelter is cute & "special" in its own way.
 
Puppeh came from the shelter, and we took in the kittehs because our #1 daughter's friend's Mom (!!!!!) had a cat who had given birth and was going to basically have them all put to sleep :(

Couldn't let THAT happen. <3
 
You're a good woman, Pro. :)
 
One of mine came from a pet store but I didn't purchase him, I kind of inherited him. The others were all free. I've never gone to an animal shelter though my parents have. They made it very difficult to adopt a pet. I don't understand that. It would honestly have been cheaper to buy one at a pet store or go through the classified ads. Hopefully, not everywhere makes it so tough.
 
I'm like Elle, either adopted them or they were given to me or they wandered up into my backyard. Our dog is a mixed breed mutt that we got from a friend and she is the smartest dog I've ever had.
 
Hi everyone! I'm a little late to the party, but am happy to have found everyone from AHI.
(MelissaM and MeliMoore from legalworkplace.com)
 
I like the new digs! I am seeing a lot of familiar posters over here. CBG, I loved the background story of the penguines in MH#1. And now I know the rest of the story....

Speaking of Penguins, in the last 12 hours in WI we have had hail, sleet, thunderstorms, 4 inches of snow. Blech!!
 
I've never gone to an animal shelter though my parents have. They made it very difficult to adopt a pet. I don't understand that. It would honestly have been cheaper to buy one at a pet store or go through the classified ads. Hopefully, not everywhere makes it so tough.
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Private shelters/rescues very often do make it difficult-it's a hot button topic. Unfortunately, while many shelters/rescue operations do wonderful work and do save lives, they tend to attract, for lack of a better word, fanatical types who are often completely devoted to their animals, and expect any potential adopter to have that same level of commitment. If we were talking about children, these people would be called helicopter parents. They have seen the consequences of bad pet owners, so they overcorrect and become so stringent and unreasonable in their requirements that people get fed up and go elsewhere, actually doing their animals a disservice.

In my case, we adopted from the SPCA-a government run facility that has to take every animal can't and won't be so choosy about who they let adopt (which has it's own problems). The two we adopted were $31 each, and that included spay/neuter and microchipping, and it couldn't have been easier. I was very impressed with how well they ran things given how many animals and the limited resources they had.
 
Our animal shelter is operated by the city, and it's pretty easy to adopt a pet from there. Last time I knew, they charged a $15 adoption fee and another relatively small fee to include spaying/neutering.

We can also adopt pets through the Humane Society. My sister got her cat there and she had to go through an interview process but it wasn't too difficult and they don't make it a huge hassle for people who want to adopt from them.

Our animal shelter posts pictures in the newspaper of dogs for adoption and I've seen several that just melted my heart. They always seem to manage to get such wonderful pictures of them looking at the camera with their big huge sad eyes and I have to force myself not to run out there and get another dog, but one 95-pound dog with occasional attitude problems is all we can handle or have room for!
 
I can't watch the commercial with the song "in the arms of the angel" and the big dog with the sad eyes. I was watching Pet Star a few years back and the winner was a big retriever and they were talking to the owner and she had rescued him from a neglectful owner. As they were talking to her the dog leaned over so that he was leaning against her leg. I started boo hooing it was so sweet.
 
I can't watch that commercial either. I mute the TV & look away or change the channel until I think it is over.
 
txls said:
I can't watch the commercial with the song "in the arms of the angel" and the big dog with the sad eyes. I was watching Pet Star a few years back and the winner was a big retriever and they were talking to the owner and she had rescued him from a neglectful owner. As they were talking to her the dog leaned over so that he was leaning against her leg. I started boo hooing it was so sweet.
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Using "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan was a very smart move by the ASPCA, it has apparently helped them to raise millions of dollars since they've been using it. It's such a sad-sounding song to start with, even if you don't listen to all the words (it was written about a musician who died of a heroin overdose). But then you combine it with the sad, abused animal pictures, I dare anyone to watch it without tearing up. (It's also made much sadder for me because my late son was a big Sarah McLachlan fan and that song came out the year he died.)

My dog leans against my leg all the time. Usually my bad knee, with all 95 pounds of her weight. I think she's hoping I'll fall down and she can force me to submit and then she can be the alpha female in our family.
 
That commercial just makes me angry. I don't like when organizations try to play on my sympathies for their own gain.

My parents didn't go through a fancy rescue organization, just the local animal shelter. It still cost over $100 for a kitten and they had to go for 3 interviews, including with my brother who was still living at home at the time. They also had to bring their existing cat over for "supervised play time". Well meaning but animals don't always act the same at home as they do in a strange place and shouldn't the owner be the one to decide if the existing pet can handle a newcomer or keep them separate? They had to sign a form stating they would not get him declawed, keep him inside only and various other promises. Makes me wonder how many animals are put down because they make it a pain in the neck to adopt. Even a less than ideal home has to be better than putting the animals down.
 
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