ladysprite (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladysprite) wrote2004-03-27 11:35 am
ladysprite) wrote2004-03-27 11:35 am
A Heaping Handful of Righteous Ire
Someday, when the last pet store in the world has been burned to the ground, I will gather together every child who has ever suffered and lost a pet from their callous and mercenary attitude, and we will dance the hokey-pokey on the store's ashes as we sow the earth with salt.
I have had it up to my eyebrows with pet store puppies dripping with mange and kennel cough and worms. I am fed up with half-starved lizards and rats with pneumonia. And yesterday, euthanizing a bird that had only been out of the store for five days because it was too sick to move, too weak to perch, and so emaciated that I could use it's keel as a cheese knife - the third bird in this situation within the past three months - it took all of my willpower and then some to avoid marching down to the pet store myself and unleashing my wrath on the manager there.
I am a nonviolent person. I have no intentions of beating him black and blue, though that does hold a certain appeal right now. All I want to do is grab him by the ear, march him back to the clinic, and sit him down in front of the four-year-old boy who was sobbing his heart out and asking me if his bird was dying because he was bad. And Mister Marvelous Pet Store Manager can explain to this child that no, he was a good boy, and the bird was just dying because the store didn't care, and knew they could turn a profit anyway. I'm sure that'll make the kid feel much better.
The store's involvement ends when the animal leaves the door. They don't have to deal with the frustration and the heartbreak and the pain that comes when people get attatched to an animal that winds up in ICU less than a week later. They graciously offer to take the animal back and give them a new one - they don't understand, I guess, the difference between a living creature and a slipcover. And this is why slipcovers should be sold in chain stores, and living creatures shouldn't.
Meanwhile, I mop up their messes, and I call their managers, and I tell them about the problems. And they recite the carefully-worded statements they're given from on-high, pointing out that since I didn't see the animal when it was sold, I can't prove that it was sold in that condition, and no formal action can be taken. And I sit, and I seethe, and then I move on to my next appointment and hope that maybe at least now there's one more family that will never buy from a pet store again.
Damnit.
I have had it up to my eyebrows with pet store puppies dripping with mange and kennel cough and worms. I am fed up with half-starved lizards and rats with pneumonia. And yesterday, euthanizing a bird that had only been out of the store for five days because it was too sick to move, too weak to perch, and so emaciated that I could use it's keel as a cheese knife - the third bird in this situation within the past three months - it took all of my willpower and then some to avoid marching down to the pet store myself and unleashing my wrath on the manager there.
I am a nonviolent person. I have no intentions of beating him black and blue, though that does hold a certain appeal right now. All I want to do is grab him by the ear, march him back to the clinic, and sit him down in front of the four-year-old boy who was sobbing his heart out and asking me if his bird was dying because he was bad. And Mister Marvelous Pet Store Manager can explain to this child that no, he was a good boy, and the bird was just dying because the store didn't care, and knew they could turn a profit anyway. I'm sure that'll make the kid feel much better.
The store's involvement ends when the animal leaves the door. They don't have to deal with the frustration and the heartbreak and the pain that comes when people get attatched to an animal that winds up in ICU less than a week later. They graciously offer to take the animal back and give them a new one - they don't understand, I guess, the difference between a living creature and a slipcover. And this is why slipcovers should be sold in chain stores, and living creatures shouldn't.
Meanwhile, I mop up their messes, and I call their managers, and I tell them about the problems. And they recite the carefully-worded statements they're given from on-high, pointing out that since I didn't see the animal when it was sold, I can't prove that it was sold in that condition, and no formal action can be taken. And I sit, and I seethe, and then I move on to my next appointment and hope that maybe at least now there's one more family that will never buy from a pet store again.
Damnit.
no subject
I don't like them. Sorry, know they're a member of the species of Earth too, but just don't like them. Birds, iguanas, etc just don't have the ...um...hate using this term..."durability with children" that something somewhat mammalian does.
Hopefully, we can get her to deal with the fact it will be a dog or a cat or nothing. Hubby and I have grown up with dogs and want to wait until the kid is out of "love them to death...almost literally" mode. He remembers their beagle almost getting strangled to death when he'd hug her and doesn't want that to happen to an animal we bring here.
Any recommendation on age when bringing a pet into a home is appropriate? We don't plan on having any more children and Sandra will be 2 on May 1.
What do you recommend parents do to acclimate both the pet to the kid and the kid to the pet, age group wise?
I know this sounds silly, but would you mind writing a post about kids and animals and what is appropriate behaviour and what parents need to be aware of.
OR, would you recommend some books on the subject?
Thanks!
Faith
no subject
no subject
Rats are more social, friendlier, and generally more durable than hamsters (which I refer to as 'goldfish with teeth'). If properly handled and socialized, they can be incredibly sweet, affectionate companions with a very good grasp of appropriate behaviour. I would never recommend a hamster for a child; I recommend rats all the time.
Also, most areas have 'ratteries' -- private breeders who keep their rats as socialized and healthy as possible. A little research before purchase can get you a small, healthy, happy caged companion animal.