3 ms·

I've got a friend who keeps an eye on the big humane society in town. She's adopted an iguana, some pigeons, and is trying to talk me into a couple quail. The

I've got a friend who keeps an eye on the big humane society in town. She's adopted an iguana, some pigeons, and is trying to talk me into a couple quail. The shelter has no idea how to house or home these animals. The pigeons were in a canary cage for example. So she takes them in and gets them the care they need and either rehomes them herself or gets in touch with rescue groups. Her last pair of pigeons is now raising abandoned mourning doves at a wildlife rehab center. I don't understand how people can purchase these animals on a whim without doing any research. Some of them really care and are just in over their heads, but many don't understand that these are living things. I rode horses, worked in barns, and took lessons for 7 years before I even thought about buying one. My mare ended up falling into my lap before I was even intending to purchase. And for all the hours I'd spent caring for and training them, I had no idea what I was doing half the time. Thankfully I had a lot of support in those early years. And don't even get me started on fish. I worked in a pet store for a couple years and it was the most draining job I've ever had. People just don't care or don't realize what goes into caring for exotic animals. The idea that those folks who wanted a bowl for their goldfish are also thinking about a parrot sends shivers down my spine.

jacquesm 5y ago
For a macabre experiment you could set up a nice ML project for counting the number of fish flushed down toilets in any major city. One person I knew had a death in the family, next thing you know she's buying a Samoyed pup as a 'life affirming' thing. Guess how that ended. People are completely dumb when it comes to having pets.
- msrenee 5y ago
  For all my effort and research, I'm sure I've flushed more fish than the average person. I don't even want to think about what percentage of the animals I sold during my time there lived their natural lifespan. Not many, I'm sure. Sometimes I think it would be better to give up fishkeeping altogether for the sake of the individuals. But if you've got an aquarium in your house and you're passionate about it, I'd think you're more likely to contribute to conservation efforts. Sometimes I think about opening a pet store and being the soup nazi for fish and rodents. And sending every spare dime to conservation efforts for those animals in the wild. In the meantime, I'll donate what I can where I think it will do the most good. It's not much, but I hope it makes some kind of impact.
- msrenee 5y ago
  A samoyed though? Beside being a spitz breed and not super social outside of the family, they don't seem like a bad choice. I have to admit that I haven't known too many though. The impression that I've gotten is that they're hairy shedding beasts, but are relatively low-maintenance as far as exercise once they're two or three years old. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that. It's a better choice than a siberian or many of the sporting dogs. I don't think I'd spend much time talking someone out of a samoyed unless they had a lot of visitors to their home. But I guess anyone who is buying an animal in a reaction to a big life event is going to be at high risk of having to rehome them. It's so foreign to me to consider buying a living thing without the intent to keep that animal happy and healthy for their natural life span. I just cannot get into that headspace. A big part of why I was hesitant to buy a horse was the idea that I either needed to be stable enough to care for an expensive animal for 25-30 years or be able to rehome it. I couldn't bring myself to even think about selling my mare, so she's traveled around the country with us. We're at about 12 years of her being part of our lives and nowadays my husband(not a horse guy) won't even consider the idea of selling her even though I don't have the time to ride. Oh, and the kingsnake, which I decided to take on out of a bad situation, has a lifespan of 25-30 years. My husband and I weren't married or even living together at that point and it needed a home, so I took it without consulting my husband. He was pretty upset because he doesn't care for reptiles. He was even more upset when he found out they live up to 30 years. But even the guy who doesn't like snakes was appalled when I explained what kind of living situation I got the animal out of. And now we've owned a snake for the last 6 years and it's kind of part of the family and part of the furniture. They sell for $30 as babies and people get them as easy starter pets. They are easy. Extremely easy. But I don't think most people realize that they're getting into a multi-decade commitment when they buy a snake at 18 years old.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    Small apartment, person has full time job, leaves dog unattended in the apartment. A Samoyed is a working dog, it needs to be kept busy or it will turn to boredom and destruction. It chewed its way through a set of furniture before it was dumped at the human society.
    - 5y ago

jacquesm 5y ago

For a macabre experiment you could set up a nice ML project for counting the number of fish flushed down toilets in any major city. One person I knew had a death in the family, next thing you know she's buying a Samoyed pup as a 'life affirming' thing. Guess how that ended. People are completely dumb when it comes to having pets.

msrenee 5y ago
For all my effort and research, I'm sure I've flushed more fish than the average person. I don't even want to think about what percentage of the animals I sold during my time there lived their natural lifespan. Not many, I'm sure. Sometimes I think it would be better to give up fishkeeping altogether for the sake of the individuals. But if you've got an aquarium in your house and you're passionate about it, I'd think you're more likely to contribute to conservation efforts. Sometimes I think about opening a pet store and being the soup nazi for fish and rodents. And sending every spare dime to conservation efforts for those animals in the wild. In the meantime, I'll donate what I can where I think it will do the most good. It's not much, but I hope it makes some kind of impact.
msrenee 5y ago
A samoyed though? Beside being a spitz breed and not super social outside of the family, they don't seem like a bad choice. I have to admit that I haven't known too many though. The impression that I've gotten is that they're hairy shedding beasts, but are relatively low-maintenance as far as exercise once they're two or three years old. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that. It's a better choice than a siberian or many of the sporting dogs. I don't think I'd spend much time talking someone out of a samoyed unless they had a lot of visitors to their home. But I guess anyone who is buying an animal in a reaction to a big life event is going to be at high risk of having to rehome them. It's so foreign to me to consider buying a living thing without the intent to keep that animal happy and healthy for their natural life span. I just cannot get into that headspace. A big part of why I was hesitant to buy a horse was the idea that I either needed to be stable enough to care for an expensive animal for 25-30 years or be able to rehome it. I couldn't bring myself to even think about selling my mare, so she's traveled around the country with us. We're at about 12 years of her being part of our lives and nowadays my husband(not a horse guy) won't even consider the idea of selling her even though I don't have the time to ride. Oh, and the kingsnake, which I decided to take on out of a bad situation, has a lifespan of 25-30 years. My husband and I weren't married or even living together at that point and it needed a home, so I took it without consulting my husband. He was pretty upset because he doesn't care for reptiles. He was even more upset when he found out they live up to 30 years. But even the guy who doesn't like snakes was appalled when I explained what kind of living situation I got the animal out of. And now we've owned a snake for the last 6 years and it's kind of part of the family and part of the furniture. They sell for $30 as babies and people get them as easy starter pets. They are easy. Extremely easy. But I don't think most people realize that they're getting into a multi-decade commitment when they buy a snake at 18 years old.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  Small apartment, person has full time job, leaves dog unattended in the apartment. A Samoyed is a working dog, it needs to be kept busy or it will turn to boredom and destruction. It chewed its way through a set of furniture before it was dumped at the human society.
  - 5y ago