Dear Mr. and Mrs. Average Pet Owner:

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

The following 'letter' written by an unknown person shows greatly the feelings and emotions of rescuers who see animals every day. Please do not take offence, but read it with an open mind.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Average Pet Owner:  Thank you for contacting us animal rescuers, shelter volunteers, and  foster-homes about your inability to keep your pet. We receive an  extremely high volume of inquiries and requests to accept surrendered  animals (and none of us is getting paid, OK?). To help us expedite your  problem as quickly as possible, please observe the following guidelines:  1. Do not say that you are "CONSIDERING finding a good home" for your pet,  or that you, "feel you MIGHT be forced to," or that you "really THINK it  would be better if" you unloaded the poor beast. Ninety-five percent of you  have already got your minds stone-cold made up that the animal WILL be out  of your life by the weekend at the latest. Say so. If you don't, I'm going  to waste a lot  of time giving you common-sense, easy solutions for very fixable problems,  and you're going to waste a lot of time coming up with fanciful reasons why  the solution couldn't possibly work for you. For instance, you say the cat  claws the furniture, and I tell you about nail-clipping and scratching posts  and aversion training, and then you go into a long harangue about how your  husbandwon't let you put a scratching post in the family room, and your ADHD  daughter cries if you use a squirt bottle on the cat, and your congenital  thumb abnormalities prevent you from using nail scissors and etc., etc. Just  say you're getting rid of the cat.  2. Do not waste time trying to convince me how nice and humane you are.  Your coworker recommended that you contact me because I am nice to animals,  not because I am nice to people, and I don't like people who "get rid of"  their animals. "Get rid of" is my least favorite phrase in any language. I  hope someone "gets rid of" YOU someday. I am an animal advocate, not a people therapist. After all, for your ADHD daughter, you can get counselors,  special teachers, doctors, social workers, etc. Your pet has only me, and  people like me, to turn to in his or her need, and we are unpaid,  overworked, stressed-out, and demoralized. So don't tell me this big long  story about how, "We love this dog so much, and we even bought him a special  bed that cost $50, and it is just KILLING us to part with him, but honestly,  our maid is just awash in dog hair every time she cleans, and his breath  sometimes just reeks of liver, so you can see how hard we've tried, and how  dear he is to us, but we really just can't. . . ." You are not nice, and it  is not killing you. It is, in all probability, literally killing your dog,  but you're going to be just fine once the beast is out of your sight. Don't  waste my time trying to make me like you or feel sorry for you in your  plight.  3. Do not try to convince me that your pet is exceptional and deserves  special treatment. I do'?t care if you taught him to sit. I don't care if  she's a beautiful Persian. I have a waiting list of battered and/or  whacked-out animals who need help, and I have no room to foster-house your  pet. Do not send me long messages detailing how Fido just l-o-v-e-s blankies  and carries his favorite blankie everywhere, and oh, when he gets all  excited and happy, he spins around in circles, isn't that cute? He really is  darling, so it wouldn't be any trouble at all for us to find him a good  home. Listen, we can go down to the pound and count the darling, spinning,  blankie-loving beasts on death row by the dozens, any day of the week. And,  honey, Fido is a six-year-old Shepherd-Lab mix. I am not lying when I tell  you that big, older, mixed-breed, garden-variety  dogs are almost completely unadoptable, and I don't care if they can whistle  Dixie or send semaphore signals with their blankies. What you don't realize  is that, though you're trying to lie to me, you're actually telling the  truth: Your pet is a special, wonderful, amazing creature. But this mean old  world does not care. More importantly, YOU do not care, and I can't fix that  problem.  All I can do is grieve for all the exceptional animals who live short,  brutal, loveless lives and die without anyone ever recognizing that they  were indeed very, very special.  4. Finally, just, for God' s sake, for the animal's sake, tell the truth,  and the whole truth. Do you think that if you just mumble that your cat is  "high-strung," I will say, "Okey-doke! No prob!" and take it into foster  care? No, I will start a asking questions and uncover the truth, which is  that your cat has not used a litter box in the last six months. Do not tell  me that you "can't" crate your dog. I will ask what happens when you try to  crate him, and you will either be forced to tell me the symptoms of  full-blown, severe separation anxiety, or else you will resort to lying some  more, wasting more of our time.  And, if you succeed in placing your pet in a shelter or foster care, do  not tell yourself the biggest lie of all: "Those nice people will take him  and find him a good home, and everything will be fine." Those nice people  will indeed  give the animal every possible chance, but if we discover serious health or  behavior problems, if we find that your misguided attempts to train or  discipline  him have driven him over the edge, we will do what you are too immoral and  cowardly to do: We will hold the animal in our arms, telling him truthfully  that he is a good dog or cat, telling him truthfully that we are sorry and  we love him, while the vet ends his life. How can we be so heartless as to  kill your pet, you ask?  Do not ever dare to judge us.  At least we tried. At least we stuck with him to the end. At least we never  abandoned him to strangers, as you certainly did, didn't you? In short, this  little old rescuer/foster momma has reached the point where she would prefer  you pet owners to tell her stories like this: "We went to Wal-Mart and picked up a free pet in the parking lot a couple of  years ago. Now we don't want it anymore. We're lazier than we thought.  We've got no patience either. We're starting to suspect the animal is really  smarter than we are, which is giving us self-esteem issues. Clearly, we  can't possibly keep it. Plus, it might be getting sick; it's acting kind of  funny.  "We would like you to take it in eagerly, enthusiastically, and immediately.  We hope you'll realize what a deal you're getting and not ask us for a  donation to help defray your costs. After all, this is an (almost) pure-bred  animal, and we'll send the leftover food along with it. We get it at  Wal-Mart too, and boy, it's a really good deal, price-wise.  "We are very irritated that you haven't shown pity on us in our great need  and picked the animal up already. We thought you people were supposed to be  humane! Come and get it today. No, we couldn't possibly bring it to you;  the final episode of "Survivor II" is on tonight."  Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Pet Owner, for your cooperation.  Author Unknown, but could be any shelter worker or rescuer.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

My dear, animal loving dad is forever "taking in" other people's cast-offs.  The last one is a large mixed breed dog that has a horrid diease that makes it's brain shrink away.  The dog's head is very concave in several locations, has trouble eating, etc.  Yet my elderly father continues to love and care for this sick guy.  The love bug before that one got to where it couldn't go up and down the stairs to the front door, so my father would pick up and carry 60lb of love to and fro.  My dad is 76.  For every person that goes the extra mile for these guys - there surely is a special place in Heaven.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I had customer who was complaining the L.I.D. food she was buying was too expensive. She hopes that once they find out whats causing her dogs problems they can find something cheaper. "its killin me" were her exact words.  Her bag of food, which would last a month, cost $19 AFTER tax! If she cannot afford $20 a month she shouldnt have a dog

[Adrianne Matzkin]

The excuse list gets longer and longer. Sad.

Kaytlin - thank you for sharing!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I can't tell you how many people give up a dog because it's "too big". That's the single reason they give. I always want to say, "Too big for what? Like, it can't get through the door into the house?"

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

So sad, but so true.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I absolutely HATE hearing people go on about how much they love their pets and how absolutely amazing he/she is, but they just have to give them up as much as they hate to.

"She needs to be with someone who has more room for her to run" or "She just can't control her bladder anymore and she really needs to be with someone who can address this problem." If you REALLY loved your dog like you claim to, those things wouldn't matter. People who genuinely take care of their dogs and love them WOULD NOT give them up when things got tough. Ever.

 

I really wish there was a strict test that would screen out all of these pet owners. If you aren't willing to exercise your dog or pay for medical expenses, then don't get a dog! I know someone who told me something very disturbing a while back. Their limit for expenses at the vet is 200 dollars. After that, they would decide to put the animal down rather than pay for treatment. This person should never be allowed to own a pet in my opinion.

 

I just found out that my good friend's parents give away their older shitzsu. They gave her away because she was having problems controlling her bladder and kept pooping on their carpet. It breaks my heart to hear about pets tossed aside because their owners are too lazy and uncaring to take care of them. I am positive that in their old age, they will want and expect someone to show them more care than they showed their "beloved" family pet.

I wish every "average pet owner" could read this, bravo to whoever wrote it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Amen.

[Pat and Traveler]

This brought tears to my eyes.  I know it's true--I've seen it happen with people I know well.  For many people, a pet is a toy, and when it stops being 100% cute and actually needs some kind of care or attention, out it goes.  With love, of course.  With the greatest of love.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

It is harsh, but the reality of many pet owners.  Makes me sad because I just can't imagine feeling that way and ever giving up a pet for those reasons (I do understand valid reasons like health and economic troubles).

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Wow!