Lovely Kitten needs a home

[citygirl]

Sarasara - totally agree with you. But there seems to be a subset of irresponsible adopters who think "ooooh - I'm lonely, I know, I'll get a kitten or a puppy." And there are lots of cute photos and love and then something changes - it gets to expensive here or the person wants to go home or they have to leave suddenly and boom - off they go, sans pet.

An animal is NOT disposable. And if you think dumping a kitten or a dog in the country will lead to some kind soul finding it and adopting it - well, it's not going to happen. The animal is going to die a painful death in one manner or another in 90% of the cases. The other 10% is that someone will find it, curse the person who dumped such a nice animal and take on the responsibility and cost.

If you can't find a home and you can't keep it - IMHO, putting an animal to sleep is a much kinder option. But best case scenario - understand that the cute kitten you've found on the street or someone gave you is probably going to cost you a lot of money over the years. And if you can't afford it - don't do it.

Or if you *must* have a pet but can't commit long-term, foster a pet from a volunteer organization. When I lived in NYC, I didn't have a lifestyle that allowed me to make a long-term commitment to a pet. So I volunteered with shelters and occasionally took in an animal (cat or dog) to rehab it with the full understanding that it was a short-term situation and that it would be given back to the shelter or adopted out.

There are a lot of ways to get animal companionship outside of adopting one and then abandoning it.

 

[orwellian]

Meat eaters worrying about animals. I love the irony.

 

[ghost]

OOOOOh gee, darn, I feel terrible after reading all of these admonitions about short term adoptions. I must confess. Last year I adopted very cute blue eyed red haired kitten. I had to leave on business and couldn't take her. But I did leave her with a house and a Mercedes. Is that OK?

 

[Dolly]

Hey Orwellian, yes I understand that you are vegetarian - and I commed that, but please, don't confuse things. Anushka, Sarasara, Ashley and citygirl were all unanimous in supporting the fact that you shouldn't take on an animal if you don't have the resources. Actually, I think all of their posts were very accurate and in support of animals. They were accentuating the responsibilites of having a pet in any country - I comment and support that. So why, when this post is 3 months old, did you make a negative comment about it? Was it really necessary to attack them?....because if you read the post, they all talked of the issues/costs/commitment to having animals (in a positive way).......I understand and appreciate your commitment to animals, but was the post really necessary?

 

[citygirl]

lol - I actually un-ignored to see what the comment was.

1) I sincerely hope that Orwellian has no idea what posters' personal eating habits are. B/C that's way creepy.

2) Not in the least bit insulted and since I have a long history of putting my money where my mouth is when it comes to responsible treatment of animals including donations, fostering, adopting shelter pets, several horses that were rehabbed from the race track, volunteering at shelters, etc - I'm pretty comfortable with my level of commitment. Whether or not I enjoy a good steak now and again doesn't have any impact on that

3) Since the thread was about cats, not cows - not actually sure what one has to do with the other.

 

[azure]

Psh, I'm a level 5 vegan y'all. I don't eat anything that has feelings.

Seriously, I think almost everyone has pulled a weed or killed an insect at one point in their lives. Why, every time you take antibiotics you're killing the poor bacteria inside of you, many of which are helping your digestive system.

I hope the kitty has a good home now! I've been really tempted to try and rescue a cat here, but I know I won't be here for too long so I try and quell those feelings with a trip to a park.

 

[SaraSara]

Love your remark about killing those poor bacteria - I'll never take an antibiotic with a clear conscience again.

To see cats, you may try the Botanical Garden in Plaza Italia. For years it's been an unofficial cat shelter, and every evening the neighbors put food on the sidewalk for them. Cats of all colors and ages come over the fence to have dinner.

IMO, Orwellian's weird comment was necessary for his ego - it really has nothing to do with this thread. Luckily, most vegetarians are perfectly normal people who don't feel the need to put on that kind of Holier-Than-Thou act.

 

[azure]

Love your remark about killing those poor bacteria - I'll never take an antibiotic with a clear conscience again.

To see cats, you may try the Botanical Garden in Plaza Italia. For years it's been an unofficial cat shelter, and every evening the neighbors put food on the sidewalk for them. Cats of all colors and ages come over the fence to have dinner.

IMO, Orwellian's weird comment was necessary for his ego - it really has nothing to do with this thread. Luckily, most vegetarians are perfectly normal people who don't feel the need to put on that kind of Holier-Than-Thou act.

I go there a bit! Most of the cats there are so friendly. It's really nice to see that there are a lot of people who bring food and water for them. It's probably one of my favorite places in the city.

Glad you liked the comment! I spent most of my life living with one vegetarian or another (oh yeah, I was vegetarian in the womb by way of my mother; beat that). And most don't act morally superior... but every time someone complains about how it's not okay to care about one living thing but not another (like cats and cows), it's just annoying. Insects are alive, plants are alive, fungi are alive, bacteria, etc. And I bet everyone's taken medicine that was made by testing it on animals too. Things aren't so black and white.

Your only choice is to stick to food that was never alive, like twinkies and slurpees.

 

[Ashley]

How could you possibly claim to know the dietary restrictions (or not) of other posters Orwellian?? And what on earth does that have to do with ones right to comment on the treatment of household pets in Argentina?
I'm a vegetarian too and I would personally have far more respect for someone who raised a cat (or any other animal)on a farm to eat it than someone who intentionally sought out a loving, emotional relationship with an animal as a family member only to dump it a few months later when the commitment to that animal was no longer financially viable...
just saying...

 

[MizzMarr]

There have been studies done to show that vegetables feel pain. Life is suffering, and it's hardwired into our genetic survival code that one must die (plant, vegetable) so that others may live. Orwellian's *completely* derailed from what the original thread was about.

Ashley, I appreciate the original post of concern that you responded with as well as the fact that you remained clear that you were not condeming the OP's choice or situation because it was unknown.

I waited until I lived here for three years to adopt a pet (hard as that was) and only did so knowing full well that when I did I was incorporating a living entity into my family for the duration of her life. It's hard to see others adopt when they don't have the ability to care for the pet long-term and then need to rely on the kindness of friends and/or strangers to foist their animal onto, or return to the streets. I think that part of the problem here is that spaying/neutering pets is just not part of the general mentality--maybe in part due to some kind of macho anthropomorphizing? I have had several conversations with men here who would not *think* of neutering their (esp. male) dogs because they feel that they are depriving them sexually but lack the big picture of continued unwanted offspring and overpopulation.