Give Pet Owners a Break

I'm a pet person. Pro-pet, 100%. When my friends joke that I'll end up as the crazy cat lady living with 100 cats they're only half joking. My adorable Snowshoe Siamese is my "child". I did research for months on what the best kind of food for her was, and the best litter, my floors are covered in expensive cat toys which she will look at for two seconds before she runs off to play with a stray paper wad or a dust bunny on the floor instead. I have embraced cat hair as an accessory and resigned myself to daily vacuuming. I love my cat.

And I'm not alone, for millions of people pets have fulfilled the parental instinct and need for unconditional love we all have. The success of a dizzying array of businesses that cater to pampered pets and their owners who are willing to spend top dollar for pet daycare, in house pet sitting, pet spas, expensive bedding, gourmet food, and other luxury pet items testify to the fact that we love our pets. But sometimes, for reasons beyond our control, situation arise in which we must find other homes for our beloved companions. I'm not talking about the mundane reasons like "my new significant other doesn't like the pet so out it goes' but the " I lost my job and have to move in with family until I can get on my feet' or " the only apartment I can afford won't allow pets" or " I can't afford to feed myself so I can no longer spend $30 on an 8 pound bag of cat food" reasons. The complicated and overzealous regulations enforced by animal activists who treat every person who walks in the animal shelter as if they are up to no good and look like they'd be more at home goose -stepping through the halls (but not in leather boots )rather than helping you make it virtually impossible for someone to surrender a pet to a safe place that could help them find another home. I have to wonder how many animals who are abandoned in the streets were placed there by owners who tried to get help and couldn't. Not all shelters and rescue groups make it so difficult to give up a pet, but most do.

I adopted my current cat from a specialty rescue, and a clause in the adoption contract states that if I am unable or unwilling to care for her the rescue group will take her back, no questions asked. That clause gives me all the peace of mind I need, because I know that if I ever had to give her up she'd go back to a safe, loving, foster home until they could find her a quality home. Too often people who need to give up their pets are seen as irresponsible, heartless degenerates who are now reneging on a commitment to care for their animal. While I'm sure in some cases that's true, there are a lot of responsible pet owners who find themselves at one point or another looking for a new home for a pet.

Until recently, I had two cats. One I had to find a new home for, for his happiness as well as mine. Due to a major life change and move, my Siamese was having some problems. He was unhappy, and was creating a terrible situation for all of us. It was agonizing to make the decision to find him a new home. I loved him very much, and didn't want to give him up. After a month of trying to fix the growing problems he was having including consulting a behaviorist, I decided for his sake as well as mine he would be better off in a different living situation. I contacted every shelter I could find, and was told the same thing by every one. I was told to place an ad, try to re-home him myself, and if I didn't then I could possibly be put on a waiting list to put him in a shelter. They had no advice for me on how to select an appropriate home for him and scolded me for being so irresponsible as to want to find him a new home. I was terrified at the prospect of trying to judge the sanity and kindness of potential adopters. I couldn't sleep thinking about what would happen to him if I chose an adoptor who seemed fine but wasn't and he ended up being mistreated, or even yelled at.

Finally I was able to place him in a nice shelter who eventually found him a home where he is much happier. But it took weeks of searching, begging, and being yelled at and scolded to do so. By the end of the ordeal I could easily understand how responsible people who were in a bad situation might give up on trying to do the right thing and end up dumping a pet on the street, or giving it to a less than suitable home because they had no other options. I had the luxury of time to find my cat a new home, but if you were being evicted from an apartment or a house in 7 days and had to crash on a relative's couch for who knows how long you wouldn't have the mental or physical resources to spend weeks trying to re-home your pet. That doesn't mean that someone doesn't love their pet, it means they have some big changes going on in their lives and are trying to make sure their pet gets taken care of.

It seems crazy to me that a person who decides they don't want their newborn infant can drop that infant off at any hospital, police station, fire station, or church with no questions asked and no derision given but a pet owner can't do the same with a pet. After all, being pregnant for nine months and giving birth to a human being implies a certain commitment to that child, but people are allowed to abandon babies for the good of the child, so that it doesn't end up in a situation where it will be abused, neglected, unwanted or killed. Don't pets deserve that same option? If given the option to drop off a pet at a shelter, no questions asked, I think there would be a lot less pets abandoned in the streets. I understand there are certain logistical issues to be considered such as space, cost, staffing etc but it seems to me that all the fanatical animal rights believers could raise the funds for a few 24 hour emergency pet drop off centers where pets could be given a safe haven, and then either adopted out or sent to other shelters or foster homes. For many of us, our pets are our children, and we love them as if they were our biological children. Most people don't want to give up their pets, but might be put in circumstances where it's necessary. Helping people find new, safe homes for their pets would make the transition easier for both people and pets.