True, just because they answered an ad run by someone who shouldn't own a pet doesn't mean that they are the same as her. Just the membership on this and other boards proves that there are many real animal lovers in the world who will provide for them as they would a two legged family member.
When I hear stories like this it always makes me cry ... those poor lil innocents.Originally Posted by bookworm
When you think of how many children are in foster care and state custody due to abuse or neglect, and see how many more should be I think that they do let them walk out of the hospital with no concept of how to care for them, (at least here in the states).
As many neglected, abused or abandoned cats and dogs and even an Easter Bunny who had the audacity to grow up as have been brought of found their way to my door I would be fully in favor of mandatory liscencing for pet owners.
The health and behaviour issues these guys have by the time I get them are awful. I have one cat who was so afraid it took nearly two years to be able to pet her! One with a leg so badly infected that after a year of treatments and minor surgery it required amputation. A dog who'd spent two years living in a pen ankle deep in his own waste being fed nothing but table scraps. And he was heartworm positive.
Oops, sorry for the rant.
I don't know if I agree with making an animal owner license that hard to get. If it had been that way from the beginning it would work, because overpopulation wouldn't have happened, but we need so many homes now that setting up a barrier to someone getting started seems like it would, at least in the short term, create more problems than it would solve. But, something simple...like a small book to read and a test to take on it, like the driver's manual and written test to get the learner's permit, could be part of adopting the first cat. Something to make people aware that they have to use common sense.
