The Other Pet Owners In My Community...

[lorie d.]

seem to have an attitude toward their pets that is a lot different from the attitudes people have on this board. Here's an example that is really typical of the local attitude toward pet care:

The other day the head of my department at work mentioned his cat is now 12 years old. He basically said that as long as his cat stays healthy it will continue to live with them, but as soon as the cat starts to have problems it will be put down.

I live in a small town in a rural area, and a lot of the people I know grew up on farms. The people here seem really unwilling to spend a lot of money on their pets, I never hear about anyone taking preventative measures to increase a pet's longevity, and it makes me feel I have no one I can talk to about Snowball. I was wondering if the attitude I see is just a typical rural attitude or if others see the same type of thing where they live too?

 

[catlover67]

Lorie, I don't think it is just rural. It is just "people". I watch Animal Precinct which is in NYC. The neglect and abuse there is appalling!! Yet I see plenty of neglectful atttitudes rurally. My brother lives in Michigan. He found a Pitbull with a huge gaping SLICE that went around it's entire neck, from ear to ear. He didn't take it to the vet. He just let the wound close up on it's own. I freaked out and told him that people who don't take their dogs to a vet could be arrested for animal cruelty. He just scoffed and his attitude was "yeah, right. Whatever". He said to me, " I was keeping an eye on the wound, it was healing up with no infection and he wasn't in any pain

Not only that, he and his wife "rescue" cats and then don't really take care of them. The cats either get sick, get hit by cars, or their Akita/Wolfhound mix has killed them. My brother's attitude once again: "Some cats are car smart, some aren't. Just get another one. There are tons in the shelters" and this is the same guy who doesn't believe in euthanasia and the shelter system!!!!! His neighbors' attitudes are even worse. They all have animals. Most keep their dogs outside 24/7 in pens or on chains. My brother lets his in the house at night.


The one area I can see that might be acceptable is if my cats were getting old and incontinent or they were in cronic pain, I wouldn't hesitate to put them down. Cat urine can ruin a house. If it couldn't be fixed and the cat was continuing to do it, I would have no other choice.

 

[catlover67]

P.S, My brother and I both grew up rurally and yet my attitude and care for my animals is VASTLY different than his. Go figure!

 

[cla517]

I think it just depends on the person. When my Simon got sick with a urinary blockage, I had numerous people ask me why I just didn't have him put down, instead of spending the money. I was stunned!

I beleive that putting an animal down is the humane thing to do if it is critically ill, in pain, or it's quality of life is terrible. But to put him down, just so I didn't have to spend the money? No Way!

 

[thy451]

I think the attitude to the animal will depend on obviously how close the person is to the animal.

An example. There is this STRAY dog in an area where I use to stay but the people all know her and always fed her. Sometime back she got injured and we took her to a nearby shelter. We raised about $500 for a treatment of a stray dog and the vet at the shelter was extremely surprised.

 

[fuzzmom]

I knew someone here at work who was was brought up on a farm. He believed that once an animal outlived its usefulness, it deserved a bullet in the head. His words, not mine. And I don't mean just a farm animal (cow, pig, etc.) I mean dogs as well. He just didn't view an animal as something to love but as something that performed a duty.

He gave me such a look (and I can imagine what he was thinking) when I said that I've spent over $2000 between 3 surgeries and medication on one ferret alone. I'm sure he would have just fed the ferret to one of his animals.

I try not to judge others because I know we are all raised differently, but it's so hard. These animals are my kids.

 

[rosiemac]

It infruriates me as well!

A girl i work with has a two year old labrador who had to have a leg op which cost £400($700). She whinged on about how much it was costing her and if it went again she would have to get rid of him as she could'nt afford it.
I took her for a bone when she said that!!!. I asked her had she not thought about 'any' costs that could be involved such as this before she got the dog?. But she thought that nothing would start to go wrong until he was older?!.

I hope it never comes to it, but Rosie's health is just as important as mine, no matter what the cost is!

Theres a lot of education involved when people take on animals!!

 

[lorie d.]

Originally posted by fuzzmom

I knew someone here at work who was was brought up on a farm. He believed that once an animal outlived its usefulness, it deserved a bullet in the head. His words, not mine. And I don't mean just a farm animal (cow, pig, etc.) I mean dogs as well. He just didn't view an animal as something to love but as something that performed a duty.

My brother-in-law farms and that's EXACTLY the way he sees animals. Every single animal on his farm has a function. The cats control the rat and mouse population in the barn and other outlaying buildings. The border collie helps bring the cows in for milking every night...the pigs are raised to be butchered for meat, and etc. If my brother-in-law didn't think the animals were useful, he wouldn't allow them to be on the farm at all.

 

[mzjazz2u]

I think a lot of people have this attitude. They like having a soft fuzzy, loving pet but if it gets sick they don't want to spend the money on its care. It's cheaper to put the pet down. Unfortunately.

 

[twofatcats]

I grew up on a farm, and that really is pretty much the way I viewed animals, too, until I was in my 50s and had cats of my own. Previous to getting my first cat, I remember how astounded my husband and I were about the money our neighbors spent on their stupid cat. (Yes, the cat's name actually was Stupid!) And our neighbors didn't even believe in having their cat's teeth cleaned or some of the other things I am doing for mine now. Sheesh! I've even got one of my cats on an anti-depressant! In fact, I just wrote an email to my brothers and sisters tonight asking what they thought our father would have said about all this I'm doing for my furbabies.