Free: To Good Home

People never cease to amaze me.

I have way too much time on my hands that most days I pillage craigslist. I do this for a variety of reasons. It gives me something to do at work. I can make fun of the amount of money people want for things that they are trying to sell, when it all reality they should be paying someone to come take it away.

However, after looking for somewhere new to live, I have spent a lot more time pillaging the free category looking for boxes. I've found a lot more.

I'm a dog person. There hasn't been any significant period of time in my life that I haven't had a dog. Months was even stretching it, and since I got my first inside dog at 16, there hasn't been a time when I haven't had a dog.

As much as a pain in the butt that it is to find a place that we can afford and that accepts pets, I can't imagine not taking them with me. I can't imagine those little furry pain in the butts not going with us. Yet, any given day there are a number of "free" dogs to be had on craigslist.

I understand that there are circumstances that are beyond your control when you have to get rid of a pet. But in my opinion those are few and far between. You don't just get a pet to get rid of it when life gets tough.

You don't get pregnant and then when the teenage years hit or you lose your job decide to give your child away? What's the difference?

No, I'm not crazy. But in reality that's how it works. Pets are easily thrown to the curb and replaced for another pet, or for something else that's less trouble.

I have seen a ton of different excuses. They are moving overseas, moving to an apartment that doesn't take pets; kids are allergic; they are allergic. But probably the one that pisses me off the worst - time. They don't have time for Fido, so they are giving him away.

That's why I have small inside dogs that are relatively low maintenance. Yes, they have to go to the groomers for a haircut every 4-6 weeks, but for the most part they are self sufficient.

Even when I was busy with homework and school, I knew that I was neglecting them. So I made sure, when I had that realization to spend time playing with and loving them on purpose. I cleared everything off my to do list for 20 minutes and gave them some attention. But you know what the funny thing is, I got more out of that time than they did. But when I picked those dogs out, I made sure that my lifestyle and theirs worked well together. I made sure that I didn't get a dog that needed lots of space and to take long walks. Because I knew that when it was 20 degrees outside, I didn't want to do more than shove the dog out the door for their potty break.

When we adopted Bailey, it wasn't supposed to be permanent. But he was older and he didn't want that kind of life either. All those years of abuse and neglect showed too well on him, so he was a good fit. We ended up keeping him longer than we anticipated, and if not for animal controls policy, we wouldn't have taken him in to begin with. But I couldn't let the dog be put to sleep simply because of his age.

Amazingly so I am against these people treating their pets like they are a surrogate child. They aren't. But they are still an important part of many people's lives. When a doctor will suggest that you get a dog or a cat for an Alzheimer's patient, then obviously you know that there is something special about that animal. That there is something there worth treating with dignity and respect.

Isn't that what living is all about anyway? Respect and Dignity.


~It often happens that a man is more humanely related to a cat or dog than to any human being. ~Henry David Thoreau



~Personally, I would not give a fig for any man's religion whose horse, cat and dog do not feel its benefits. Life in any form is our perpetual responsibility. ~S. Parkes Cadman



~Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when he shows no mercy to what is under him? ~Pierre Troubetzkoy



~The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creatures that cannot.  ~Mark Twain

~Heaven is by favor; if it were by merit your dog would go in and you would stay out. Of all the creatures ever made [man] is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one... that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. ~Mark Twain



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