Blog creatures
My heart went out to Jessica Valenti in this case, in a way.
These attacks are the reason why I don’t go near dog forums anymore. Of course, what happened to me was a little different. Attacking people and telling them that they don’t love animals is a good way to make them shut down and stop listening to anything you say.
My family looked at shelters when we adopted Maggie, but ultimately decided to buy a purebred puppy who was bred for temperament, after 11 years with a very well-behaved dog who hated people and refused to even be petted. Growing up with a dog who couldn’t stand to be around me made me even lonelier than I already was as a little girl and as a teen.
Animal rights people condemn us for this. I love animals, but in the end, I don’t care. I own pets because I like the experience of having pets, not just because I think that responsible pet ownership is important. My experience with Violet, my rescue hamster, initially made me a lot less likely to adopt from shelters and rescues in the future, especially any animal large enough to do real property damage. I knew what I was getting into and that she had been abused, but having a pet who gives none of the rewards of pet ownership (companionship, watching a cute animal do things) while generally being a pain in the ass to care for isn’t an experience I want to go out of my way for in the future. She gave me extremely painful bites, escaped constantly when I first adopted her, and spends most of her time cowering in her shelter, which is also where she urinates, so she smells terrible. I’ve had her for almost a year now, and have made almost no progress with her. I let her roam around in a plastic ball, which she loves, but mostly I just feed her and leave her alone.
Owning Jack, my other rescue, I’ll admit, was a lot more rewarding, and I’ll certainly take on pets from rescue in the future. I won’t, however, let other people treat me like a monster because I choose to adopt some of my pets from breeders (or, gasp, pet stores!)
It sounds and feels cruel, but sometimes self-satisfaction isn’t enough. Most people own pets because they like having pets, not because they want to save all of the world’s creatures.
3 Comments
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Hamsters really aren’t very social to begin with, so it’s no surprise yours bit you. Rats and guinea pigs are much more social. They tend to enjoy human company more than hamsters.
We fundamentally disagree about whether or not you have a right to own an animal. I think you don’t have that right and I think it’s wrong. If you interpret that disagreement as an attack, that’s YOUR interpretation. But don’t mischaracterize my criticism as a personal attack because it wasn’t.
Elaine,
Yes, I’ve had hamsters for over fifteen years and I’m aware that they bite, especially when they’re mill-bred and poorly socialized as pups. If you read the entry, you would see that I took Violet in from a local rescue group that could not properly care for her. She belonged to some local children whose parents were sent to prison. The couple tortured and mistreated the pets, and serve as a pretty good argument against pet ownership in general. It’s in that context and given that history that she has injured me quite badly a few times. My other hamsters don’t bite to maim like she does, since she needed to fight for her life in a way that most pets don’t.
The “attacks” I’m referring to were not personal attacks, but attacking someone’s actions, which is what happened to Ms. Valenti. If you disagree that the blog commenters were attacking her actions when adopting a puppy from what I’m guessing was a high-end breeder, then we really have nothing to discuss.
I think the first rule of taking on the responsibility of caring for a pet, regardless if you view it as ownership or companionship, is always to be very aware of what you can handle. For some people, taking on certain types of animals if they have been rescued – or from shelters that have a record of taking in abused/rescued animals and not telling owners of their history – is TOO much. Its too much for their time, their finances (in case of severe medical issues in some cases), or personalities.
This does not mean that person will be a bad pet person; matter of fact, I applaud any person that knows that “this is NOT the per that I can handle” and walks away – after all, the people who DONT know that are the ones that end up putting their animals in shelters or having their animals placed in rescue societies.
So good for you, Laurie (and for your family) for weighing your choices and making the best fit.
Its the people who choose purebreds and breeders over others for the pure status of it that are the problem. They are the the ones that usually have no bloody fucking idea what they are getting themselves into; nor do they care.