How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I have three adorable cats and one uber goofy dog (who is now 27 kilos, not the 7 kilos he was in that picture.)

So I am one of those pet owners. Two of the cats are Cat Protection Society kitties, and the third was a genuine rescue - she came to me half starved having been left alone in an apartment for days on end with little food and human contact. The dog is from the RSPCA. They were planned for (well, except for Charlie, the rescue tortie/black kitty). Cats are indoor, all are desexed, best of food, frequent vet visits, etc., etc. I suppose the point is that we didn’t just get up one morning and decide we needed pets, and we have done our research on how to properly care for the ones we have.

(And please, I’ve seen the trainwrecks around how to keep a cat, don’t wanna go there, just saying this is what we do, YMMV.)

Because of this, I usually avoid pet stores that sell animals. It depresses me. But Saturday we were out waiting for my son to be finished with an activity and my husband and I walkd by a pet store. Out the front was THE most adorable puppy.

I’m always torn. There are so many lil guys out there deserving of a home that will never have one, I can’t see supporting pet stores. And this store was awful. The pup (a smal dog cross) was in one of those wire hutches usually reserved for cavies and rabbits (and don’t get me started on that either, since I used to have several piggies!) It was clean, he had fresh water, all that, but it was far too small and he wasn’t getting anything in the way of socialization or affection.

And who buys these guys anyway? They would be impluse purchases. And because they aren’t properly socialised, its very possible they will be problem pets, and then what happens?

I had to be talked down from buying him on the spot. (My husband is far more sensible than me some days.) The little guy was great, too - not doing that frantic “let me out of my cage” puppy dance you see in pet stores, but not lethargic either. And I support the argument that you shouldn’t buy from pet stores because it encourages them, only from resuces or responsible breeders if you want a specific type of animal.

But here was this gorgeous little guy with a decent temperment, sitting in a tiny cage with no toys on shredded newspaper. Given the condition of the rest of the store, unless the owner takes the puppy home, my bet is he’ll be there till someone buys him. And that’s so sad.

No real point, but it just made me :frowning:

Cheers,
G

2

Industrial-scale production of animals leads to industrial-volume loss and wastage.

Thanks for doing the right thing.

Sailboat

3

Oh. Wow. That’s horrible. I hadn’t heard about that one here.

I don’t know if Australia has the same sort of large scale puppy mills, but still.

Depressed now,
G

4

I’ve had to fight the same thing on occasion. My favorite pizza place is right next to a pet store. They don’t deliver, so every time I go in to order a 'za, I end up going next door to look at the puppies.

My Hubby is more sensible than I when it comes to adorable puppies. Honestly, if I had my way, there probably wouldn’t be room to walk in my house. Every time I see a puppy give me that “I need someone to cuddle me!” look, I want to rescue the poor things.

The store I’m referring to also has a “pound rescue” program. They usually have about two puppies taken from local pounds. I was this-close to getting one of them once, but common sense won the day. The puppy which needed me the most was one who was still in the pound, not one in a pet store with a $200 price tag. (Yeah, you heard me right-- almost $200!)