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PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
Okay...so this is me ranting...venting...going off.



I have this real soft spot in my heart for reptiles, especially boids (constrictor snakes) and some of the medium sized lizards.

Because of this I have opened my home to rehabilitating several from people who have owned them thinking they are a novelty item and easy to care for.



First of all, all reptiles actually require specific care, more than a dog or a cat. Because of this people get into a bind.

Then there is the temperment. Many reptiles, especially snakes, get more ornery the older they get and people don't like that.



Recently, due to poor care and several incedents of attacks due to poor care NYS issued regulations on exotic pets.



Someone actually released two crocodiliads into the Erie Canal instead of finding proper care for them!!! WTF????



And I as a rescuer, I have seen some atrocities but today I found I am getting two Bearded Dragons from an abused home...and one is going to have to have his leg amputated because he was so badly abused. This makes me sooooo angry and so sad and so...just....argh!



Now, I personally prefer animals to people most of the time and what I don't get is what sick, twisted person could damage something so small and defenseless? Why?

Why do people starve their cats and kick their dogs?

Why do people hurt these creatures that will be insanely loyal and love without condition?



And this poor little creature, if it survives, will have such a tough journey ahead of it all because some *!$%head thought it would be a cute novelty item.

mad frown

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


faith enfireBRONZE Member
wandering thru the woods of WI
3,556 posts
Location: Wisconsin, USA


Posted:
cats running around out of the house is becoming a problem in our area...
first if you put a collar on an outdoor cat, they could get caught and one of two things could happen A) it is the kind that doesn't unsnap and they strangle or injure themselves or B)it does unsnap and then they are off without a collar
as the weather gets colder the police get more calls about cats on engine blocks or being run over
my friends cat escaped and a neighbor who wasn't familiar with smokey turned it into the humane society. she was a skittish cat and it wasn't unusual not to see her but after three days they got worried cause food and water and pan were not used and she got put down because she was too old

Faith
Nay, whatever comes one hour was sunlit and the most high gods may not make boast of any better thing than to have watched that hour as it passed


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
Yeah, we've rescued 2 cats for the same reason...although these owners were going to turn them out.

The big issue is that the animal control places won't take the cats anymore because they are over run.

It's sad really, but if I take in anymore cats I think my family will turn against me. wink

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


the_anti_anthonymember
36 posts
Location: Edinburgh


Posted:
I can't stand people who don't look after their animals, regardless of species.

I also can't stand animals that are allowed to roam outside their owner's property. Comes with being Australian, and our problem with ferals of all shapes and sizes.

Pele: good on you for caring for animals that other people aren't human enough to care for.

FoxInDocsSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,848 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
 Written by: the_anti_anthony


I also can't stand animals that are allowed to roam outside their owner's property. Comes with being Australian, and our problem with ferals of all shapes and sizes.




Finally someone agrees with me smile

"i am exotic, and must keep my arms down" - Rougie

"i don't understand what penises have to do with getting married" - Foxie


Rouge DragonBRONZE Member
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia


Posted:
there's a guy in my hometown who kills cats who are out at night.

don't get me wrong, i totally agree that ferals are a huge problem...but i think that guy does a horrible thing. probably never had a pet himself.

sorry, offtopic.

Pele is turning into a cat lady wink

i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey

Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
 Written by: FoxInDocs


 Written by: the_anti_anthony


I also can't stand animals that are allowed to roam outside their owner's property. Comes with being Australian, and our problem with ferals of all shapes and sizes.




Finally someone agrees with me smile



I'm right there with ya, especially in the cities.
We have a lady who owns three cats and lets them wander the neighborhood freely. We have glass doors on the back of our house and it is not uncommon to have our cats sitting there growling at one of them. It ticks me off. At least I think she fixed them.

Rougie, how aweful!!!!! frown
I know I am. I am such a bleeding heart! I take wayward plants as well. How sad is that? lol

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


Mr MajestikSILVER Member
coming to a country near you
4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia


Posted:
i agree with keeping cats locked up and controlling feral populations.

theres a really great farside comic about dodos and introduced species. ubblol

"but have you considered there is more to life than your eyelids?"

jointly owned by Fire_Spinning_Angel and Blu_Valley


Rouge DragonBRONZE Member
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia


Posted:
immigrant americans? wink

Pele, wayward plants? how does that work??

i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey

Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...


The Tea FairySILVER Member
old hand
853 posts
Location: Behind you...


Posted:
Back to the history thing, cats and dogs both started their domesticity because they were useful. In Egypt, cats killed rats and mice and other little creatures that ate the harvest, so people ended up treating them with reverence and leaving scrap food. With dogs, I'd imagine it was about prey retrieval first, then guarding and shepherding. Both animals started their domestic existence by effectively being working animals.

Here is a short, interesting article on the history of cats and dogs:
https://www.experimentationanimale.org/english/gbchiens_chats_ch1.html

Idolized by Aurinoko

Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind....

Bob Dylan


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
Tea Fairy, one of the reasons we have the cats is because we had field mice last winter. We agreed to get one cat at the end of summer, it just worked out that these two needed rescuing. smile
So, they still serve that purpose, at least in this house!

Rouge...do you know how many people with green thumbs I know get those plant basket things in the hospital and such and then end up almost killing them? Also almost every time people move they leave plants behind. I have bunches of wayward plants. Silly, I know. It's the hippy in me. wink

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


Kathain_BowenGood Ol' Yarn For Hair
422 posts
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA


Posted:
It's sad, but I saw it everyday. I worked in a pet shop in Atlanta, and I saw people everyday trying to buy pets out of a fickle whim. Even worse, I worked as an aquatics specialist. I got to see people who were more than willing to completely ignore the basic care requirements for even extremely simple species.

However, that is a rant best saved to myself unless requested. Trust me. It's a good rant, but a long one.

Pele, on a side note, and please don't take this as butt kissing, thank you for doing the great service of taking in the Beardies. It's so sad what poor care people will give such cute animals. Especially Bearded Dragons. They can be so simple, easy to keep, and good natured reptiles that it's so hard for me to imagine why someone would ever want to abuse them!

*sigh* sometimes, people suck.

"So long and thanks for all the fish."


the_anti_anthonymember
36 posts
Location: Edinburgh


Posted:
I still want a small python (Children's Python or similar), but I know that I don't have the time to care for one. Especially now that I'm in the UK! A friend of mine keeps them, I'm convinced that the main reason he's single is that he spends so long looking after his snakes dragons...

newgabeSILVER Member
what goes around comes around. unless you're into stalls.
4,030 posts
Location: Bali, Australia


Posted:
In Australia, cats suck. They are 'exotic' animals, and murderous ones too. Putting a bell on them is a half arsed let yourself feel OK about harbouring a serial killer joke.

Do 'animal lovers' think baby birds learn to fly all of a sudden because they hear a tiny bell a second before they die? Sleeping bats wake up? Lizards suddenly run like... cats?

I was at a friends house recently and it was all dramas cos their bloody moggies got out. These people also feed/attract sugar gliders to their verandah, which is something like luring them to their death seeing they keep two killing machines in the kitchen.

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....


FoxInDocsSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,848 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
that's more the point i was trying to make earlier. watch your pets, people, watch your pets.

"i am exotic, and must keep my arms down" - Rougie

"i don't understand what penises have to do with getting married" - Foxie


newgabeSILVER Member
what goes around comes around. unless you're into stalls.
4,030 posts
Location: Bali, Australia


Posted:
Possibly the oddest pet I ever saw though was a New Guinea giant burrowing cockroach. Looks like a piece of bark. Lives in bark. At least it doesn't.... make a noise wink

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....


DurbsBRONZE Member
Classically British
5,689 posts
Location: Epsom, Surrey, England


Posted:
It's not just in Australia that cats are eating the wildlife...british birds are in lots of trouble too. People with cats put out bird feeders FFS!

Mind you, we have a fair number of invasive species which are really well established, so it's pretty much closing the barn door after the horse has bolted (and trampled on the roses).

We now have the green parakeet as an official species of the UK (More than 2000) - which all stemmed from about 30 escaping from a private collection.
They're pretty, and they do get on well with other birds, but they're still competing for food during winter...

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude


Mascotenthusiast
301 posts

Posted:
Foreign species often invade and have few or no natural predators here so spread quickly

In Britain we have a japanese knotweed problem, and the Sycamore tree is also a recent invasion from the meditaranean. Japanese knotweed was imported for formal gardens and spread quickly. Also the roundworm is a problem, probably hitchhiking here with some imported flowers.

Australia is particuarly vulnerable though, because it's ecosystem has been isolated for so long. Hence the cane-toad fiasco (the toads were originally imported to control a certain insect pest, but the insect in question lived out of the toads reach so was untouched, the rest is history) and the cat problem.

thats why there are biological controls on the borders- a big "No Seeds" sign along with the usual no drugs and no guns. i once had to surrender my juggling balls at a border crossing because they were filled with seeds.

Is this off-topic or has the topic changed to include species invasions due to human intervention??

Walls may have ears but they don't have eyes


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
 Written by: Kathain_Bowen


Pele, on a side note, and please don't take this as butt kissing, thank you for doing the great service of taking in the Beardies. It's so sad what poor care people will give such cute animals. Especially Bearded Dragons. They can be so simple, easy to keep, and good natured reptiles that it's so hard for me to imagine why someone would ever want to abuse them!




ubblol No butt kissing taken! wink

I agree. I see more Beardies and Mali's that are abused, and they are so docile and sweet. How that happens, I will *never* understand.
People who abuse animals should be treated the exact same way as punishment.

I will say that many of our local pet shops are now requiring a "care course" before you purchase a novelty pet, especially around this time of year.

It won't stop how many people turn them in after the holidays I don't think...sadly.

Sugar Gliders. Don't get me started. A person who is no longer a friend bought a pair years ago as a novelty and I had to house them for her until she could get into her new place. They are aweful pets and need to be left in the wild. I tried to talk her out of getting them (she knew nothing about them). In the end, she dropped one, broke it's hip but didn't listen to me when I said so. She was convinced the animal was pregnant. Then it died, and the other one followed suit not long after. It was traumatizing for me to watch and I stopped talking to this person after.

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


alien_oddityCarpal \'Tunnel
7,193 posts
Location: in the trees


Posted:
has anyone raised the issue of pampered pooches, the kind you see paris hitlon aimlesley wandering around with some kind of thing stuffed in her handbag???

people that carry small dogs bugs me, but not as much as the dogs being chosen simply as a fasion item.

Kathain_BowenGood Ol' Yarn For Hair
422 posts
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA


Posted:
 Written by: Pele


Sugar Gliders. Don't get me started.



See, I would love to have sugar gliders. However, I'm woman enough to admit that I cannot meet the basic needs for sugar gliders, so they're not the pet for me. I'll stick with my kitties, my snake, and my fish.

It's a good trick to use when thinking about what to get as your next pet to actually write down the four basic needs and figure out exactly how you need to address them for the animal you're thinking about. Environment. Nutricion. Behavior. Maintenance. If you can't meet these four needs, you can't keep the animal alive, let alone happy.

Sounds like your former friends couldn't provide for at least one or more of the basic needs of their glliders. Sorry you had to see that. frown

"So long and thanks for all the fish."


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
 Written by: ravehead


has anyone raised the issue of pampered pooches, the kind you see paris hitlon aimlesley wandering around with some kind of thing stuffed in her handbag???

people that carry small dogs bugs me, but not as much as the dogs being chosen simply as a fasion item.



It makes me ill.
They treat their animals they way they do a bracelet or their hair.
Have you seen the doggie salons where you can get your dogs hair dyed and the nails painted?
The poor dog!!!!!

It's disgusting.

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


alien_oddityCarpal \'Tunnel
7,193 posts
Location: in the trees


Posted:
the most ironic thing i've seen to do with this subject was at a festival this summer, watching some toffie nosed woman wander accross the site carrying her dog. i pointed out to a few people i was with how much that got on my nerves and then found out 30 mins lated that dog was dead ubblol

it wasn't on a leash, it was a mop head on legs and went up and started kicking off with a rotty that was chained up to the bumper of the owners van so it's not like the rottys could have gone too far yet this small dog got too close, the rotty killed it instantly.

the rottweiler was the softest dog i've ever met but i didn't know it had a thing about small yapping dogs

newgabeSILVER Member
what goes around comes around. unless you're into stalls.
4,030 posts
Location: Bali, Australia


Posted:
Someone tried to keep sugar gliders as a PET eek spank mad spank
That is just terrible!!!!

Even keeping 'native' animals here in their 'native' country can be appalling. The sight of white cockatoos, huge birds with huge wingspans and huge natural ranges, in cages is just sickening.

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....


FoxInDocsSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,848 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
my mum used to do fauna rescue, we once had a baby possum come in that some daft idiot had "rescued" and kept for a few days before turning him in to us because it would be a "good experiance" for her kids... they'd been feeding him on sugar and water for three days... mum did her best, keeping him incubated and feeding him proper formula, but he died late the next day frown

"i am exotic, and must keep my arms down" - Rougie

"i don't understand what penises have to do with getting married" - Foxie


Kathain_BowenGood Ol' Yarn For Hair
422 posts
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA


Posted:
That's so sad, FoxInDocs!!!

Fortunately, the only things people tried to "rescue" and ended up calling us at the pet shop for help were mostly very hardy animals. Small snakes, native fish, snapping turtles (only once did I ever see one larger than 3"), and, once, a rattle snake.

Yes, you heard me right. Rattle snake.

I think between both the novelty pets, the designer pets, and just overall impulsive nature of some people, that, really, some people are just not meant to have animals at all. Ugh.

"So long and thanks for all the fish."


Mr MajestikSILVER Member
coming to a country near you
4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia


Posted:
'exotic' pets arent allowed in tassie, good on quarantine wink

"but have you considered there is more to life than your eyelids?"

jointly owned by Fire_Spinning_Angel and Blu_Valley


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