That was a very nice apology. I’m still waiting to hear your feedback on post 236 (page 5).
Even though I am a cat lover I think that settlement is WAY too high. And bear in mind it was a result of her trauma…not the monetary value the animal was purchased for.
I would have handed out a settlement of, say…$3000 total, no jail time.
I asked you more than forty posts ago to leave me alone, but you just won’t stop. You don’t want to hear from me? — then don’t talk to or about me. It was you who brought up my name, you who butted into my discussion with Boldface Type, you who keeps addressing posts to me. I honestly think you need counseling. Meanwhile, just shut the fuck up.
This is what I said in an earlier post on page two:
“I love my pets dearly, I have never said they WERE HUMAN but that they filled the void of not being able to have children (but with less responsibility). The rewards I get from having a pet will never match what having a child would do, but that’s how life has played out for me.”
I would never compare pets to children. I do not have any children (yet) so it would be very disingenuous if I tried to compare the two not ever knowing what one is like. I want children, dearly, just one and my life would be complete for me. I beg and pray every month this is it for us, but we have yet to get lucky. So I have to put my motherly instincts into my husband and pets for now. I know things will be completely different once we do have children, I’m not trying to kid myself. But what I have NOW is the closest I’ve had to being a mother at this point in my life.
And I realize it was the clarifying I was having trouble with. I wouldn’t go and seek out the person who did something to my animals. I doubt they’d leave their contact information for me anyways! I would do my best to restrain that individual if I witnessed it and do as much damage as I could to ensure this. I’d want to try to keep them from leaving my yard so the cops could come and get said person.
Now, my adrenaline would take over and I’d have a hard time not at least leaving that person in a puddle of piss and blood if they hurt my doggies, but I never said I’d hunt someone down or I’d go after someone if my dog ran out into the road and someone drove over it. I never said that.
I appreciate that you are being reasonable and trying to take this as a heat of the moment thing. I really hate being piled upon and when people who don’t know me try to pass judgement upon my mental state (especially over a touchy subject) over something I said in anger, just pushes me even further into rage. I bet I could find something on nearly everyone who’s been around here for a while to show that they were crazy or had a meltdown. It’s one thing when it’s a pattern, another thing entirely when it’s just a particular subject you’re passionate about. Granted, in my head things seem more clear and eloquent, just sometimes when emotion is involved it doesn’t come out as I wanted it to.
But there ARE some people here who take advantage of every opportunity to tear someone down, and they are just as bad as the activists! It seems some were too eager to call me crazy and probably have not even read any of my posts previous to this thread or spoken to me directly. No one has a perfect track record around here and I’ve had my ass handed to me before, but that’s all a part of getting to know your new community and testing your boundaries. Sometimes I go off of things I hear or have always thought were common knowledge and there’s someone always there to correct me when I do that, but that’s absolutely no reason to start harassing someone.
And I never once said that I would drop a baby to save a pet. Never. The only thing I said, which is what I thought we all were arguing about, is if another dog (or any animal for that matter) or a person were to come onto my property I would try to protect my dogs from harm. Like I said, I don’t think I could take someone out of their misery for that, but I would do my best to make sure they got punished for it. If it involves a nice little beating from my husband, so be it. It would definitely involve a court case and jail time for that person!
The likelihood of a person doing this is nil, I understand, but originally my intent was another dog, a bigger dog. I just happened to add humans in there to cover my bases and that’s where I went wrong with my argument and I realize that now. It’s far more likely another animal could come after my pets considering they do not go out without a short leash. My little guy is ballsy and he thinks he’s a big dog, so I know he would take off at some other pet and lose, miserably. I have to make sure he is protected, not just from other animals, but from himself.
Thank you. That’s all I was asking for was for someone to recognize this.
I also think it serves a greater purpose by showing repeat offenders that if they take a blase attitude about what their pet is doing, they can and will be punished severely. I just hope this stands as a warning to them.
I really, really appreciate this. I have been very upset the past couple days over this and I had to fight from being emotional at work. Every time I think about my animals’ lives being ended abruptly the same way when I was a child, it breaks my heart. I try to think ahead of what I would do if I were ever in that situation again, and sadly, I’d take a few bites from a pit bull if it meant I could have them just a little longer. I took the responsibility of owning a pet, and I intend to fulfill that promise to them. Even if it means I’m an overprotective pet-owner (see I refrained from using pet-mom there 
) !
So from the bottom of my heart Excalibre, I really thank you for being mature and reasonable and taking the time to read my apology. I really think you’re a class-act for this and you have my respect for this, whatever that means to you. It means a lot to me though.
May I point out the irony in addressing a statement to some one and ending it thusly?
I’ve given up hope that either of you would simply start another thread to which the two of you could post endlessly “you shut up” “no, you shut up first” "I clearly told you to shut up first, as you can see here, here, and most recently, here etc ad infinitum.
Perhaps one of you would be kind enough, adult enough, mature enough, whatever enough, to simply stop responding. I swear by all that’'s good and holy that I’ll regain a smidge of respect for you if you simply ** stop responding!** But as long as each of you keeps on coming up with yet another bon mot, it’ll never end.
Inasmuch as a smidge of respect from you is worth more than a river of it from some other man, I will do as you ask. I won’t respond to him again.
Tell me, how can a newborn baby “reciprocate”?
Actually, not being the parental type, I’m fairly sure only hormone-induced dementia motivates parents to tolerate the first, say, 7 years or so of a child’s life.
Others would disagree. 
Usually with farts and giggles.
According to my Great Aunt (now 94, no children), you should relish changing your baby’s shitty diapers because “it’s the only gift they can give you.”
Personally I think I would rather wait until they’re old enough to get a gift card.
It is mystifying, isn’t it. Instinct: That’s the only rational explanation for the irrational urge to parent. What sane person would do it? “So, how’s the baby?” “Oh! His shit now stinks so bad it makes me dizzy, I’ve gotten approximately 14 hours of sleep over the past month, lugging him around has given me a slipped disk, I never see any of my friends anymore, I have no money, no time, no life except to sit there with him muckled onto my teat and wait for it to come squirting out the other end…He’s wonderful!”
None of the above applies to my cat! I give him food, he gives me lots of fun and attention. And I’m nuts unless I love him less? We humans are KRAZY!
cats give dead rodents.
(aside - thanks, Lib)
:: looks abashed ::
I feel really bad for my conduct towards you in this thread. Obviously this is an issue that’s really hard for you, and for multiple reasons. That’s one of the problems with doing these things online; in real life, there’s a subconscious pressure to find common ground with people - the argument between you and me, at least, probably wouldn’t have happened at all because I would have taken the time to figure out what your real beliefs were instead of just sort of using you as an ‘opponent’ in an argument. (I do enjoy arguing, probably moreso than is healthy.) For some reason, when online, everyone seems to have the opposite instinct: minimize whatever points you agree on (agreement shows weakness!) and attack on all fronts, at all times.
I’m deeply flattered, for what it’s worth, to have your respect, because I don’t think I really deserve it here. I’ll try to remember this whole event in the future. And I truly hope you’ll have the children you want someday.
And I will always remember how nice you have been - even for a Michigan guy! (born and raised Buckeye here)
Thanks again for taking the time and again, I truly apologize for coming across as a nut. I’m really not . . . okay, maybe a little, but aren’t we all? Sorry again!
You’re talking about the fully-trained therapy dog that was “responsibilitied” so much it took to using its home as a bathroom, right? I do not think that word means what you think it means.
Cats are much cleaner than babies too
Don’t forget prize bulls and hogs too. One champion, and you’re possibly set financially for life.
Of course, you have to invest a lot to get that champion. Start with breeding or buying a top prospect – see my post above:
If you buy rather than breed, you’re paying for (a) a youngster with a fine pedigree and superb conformation but no proven record, and taking the risk he’ll prove to be a dud in the show ring/on the track; or (b) a proven performer, who’ll have a very large price tag. Champion Thoroughbred racehorses are syndicated for millions of dollars. Here’s a page with the details of a syndication package for one relatively obscure TB stallion. Then there’s Spectacular Bid, who
When you buy a share in such a stallion, you can (a) send your mare to that stud to be bred, or (b) sell your right to a breeding to whoever wishes to purchase it, for whatever sum you can negotiate. If the stallion proves to be less than stellar as a sire, the worth of shares in him can and will diminish. If he has only a few breeding seasons before dying or no longer being able to breed, tough luck.
Okay, let’s assume you’ve bought a young, untried stallion prospect. Now you have to make a name for that horse if you want to demand big stud fees. That means paying for the services of a topnotch trainer, paying the expenses of showing or racing the prospect, paying the expenses of advertising him both during his show/racing career and afterwards when he’s at stud, and the normal costs of caring for him.
If you stand him at your own property you need the facilities and staff to care not only for him but for the mares sent to him to be bred, as well as the foals they’re likely to have at their side from last year’s breeding. Then too…
Well, you get the picture. I don’t know how it is for champion bulls, hogs, dogs, sheep, etc., but I daresay anyone involved with them could trot out a similar list of expenses involved. I can’t dig up a cite for it, but I recall reading the comment of a prominent Quarter Horse breeder (was it Carol Rose?) who said you don’t really make big money on stud fees unless you’re charging in the $25,000 range – and she’s in an industry where stud fees for good stallions commonly run to one or two grand, and a fee in five figures is uncommon.
You’re right, and it is a huge gamble. My eyes were blinded by the possible value at the end, but by that time, you’ve spent a hell of a lot.
Oh, yeh, a gamble with a dizzying array of ways to go sour.
I found a link that will give you an idea of the expenses involved in producing purebred cats – in this case, Maine Coons, but I’m sure the info is applicable to other breeds as well.