Apparently, someone in another thread mentioned rescue dogs as alternatives to purchasing dogs, and my mother now feels guilty, but would like to point out that of the umpteen dogs she has had in her lifetime, these are the only two she has ever purchased. The list:
Whiskers- a Benji type mutt
Cindy- Chesapeake Bay/German Shephard cross (who paid for, but only technically, as she was 50 cents at a church bazarre
Samantha- a Dalmatian born on her farm (and quite possibly the dumbest dog to ever live)
the General- a hound mix
Kophje- a collie mix
Ajax- another Benji type mutt
Brandi- a pekinese rescue
Russell- our JRT rescue
Everyone was inherited or rescued, so she doesn’t feel terribly guilty about buying Ginny and Guesly.
Also, mom would like to know which Humane Society is associated with PETA.
bystander
Pure bred dogs need loving homes, too. It strikes me that your parents have done more than their share for responsible pet management. Please don’t let holier-than-thou jerks rob them of the slightest pleasure they must be enjoying with those two pups.
I would only add that if the dogs have AKC insurance available, take it, at least for the first year. The insurance covers spaying, neutering, check-ups, maintenance. A good investment.
Laura W
Leave it to me to lay a guilt trip on your sweet mother’s head! I’m talented that way.
Sorry if part of the blame is mine, Mrs. Cole! The whole issue of animal overpopulation and how this country handles it is just one of my thangs. An "issue", if you will.
I think a really good way to balance things out in the Cole family is for John to rescue a JRT, don’t you?
Ever Helpful in NC
wingnuts to iraq
@Laura W: We can just eat dogs and cats in the future.
Om nom nom.
Just Some Fuckhead
No need for your ma to feel guilty. All dogs need a home, not just dogs that have been rescued. My next door neighbor rescues dogs so she has some special permit that allows her to keep six dogs at a time in her house. At any given time she has a motley assortment of dogs raising holy hell and wreaking havoc on the neighborhood.
We hate her passionately but give her a pass since she’s trying to do the right thing. We still hate her though. Did I mention we hate her?
Punchy
People for the
Eating of
Tasty
Animals
Krista
Laura, I’m sure you were gentle. At any rate, Mama Cole, there’s not one tiny thing you should feel guilty for. Enjoy your wacky new puppies. (I told my MIL yesterday about your mom getting the pups, John, and she said, "Oh my god, they’re brave!" And this is a woman who has owned terriers her entire life, so she knows of what she speaks.)
Oh and John, you know we’d love to see photos of the Cole Family Mutts over the years. We’ve only seen Russell and the new babies. I’d love to see the others.
Laura W
@bystander: In fairness, I don’t think anyone in that thread was being a "holier than thou jerk", if you go back and read it. It was an attempt to educate, for the most part, and remind people that there are so many pure bred dogs, as well as mutts (and kitties!) "put to sleep" every day in this country.
Sven Forkbeard
If God did not want man to eat animals, then why did He make them so tasty?
Steve V
FYI bystander, there are loads of purebred dogs that are in dog pounds, and there are breed-specific rescues too that do nothing but adopt out homeless purebred dogs. You really can get just about any kind of dog you want by rescuing. With that said, there’s obviously no reason for John’s mom to feel guilty and it’s unfortunate that that occurred.
To my knowledge PETA doesn’t do animal rescue; it’s an advocacy organization. Why the question?
The Grand Panjandrum
I’ve got a couple of rescues and the rest of my animals were from well respected breeders associated with local dog clubs. But I don’t feel any particular obligation to take rescue animals because some asshole has been irresponsible.
DFD
PETA doesn’t rescue, they euthanize.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
As someone who did animal rescue in New Orleans post-Katrina and whose wife currently volunteers at a shelter, spent 3 months in NOLA and has been know to fly to places to help, yes, rescues or shelter dogs would have been the way to go.
But, there’s no need to feel guilty about her purchase. Give the pooches loving homes, fix em, and maybe give the occasional donation to your local shelter. Living where I do and the pathetic attitude my red, rurl asshole neighbors have toward animals, *anybody* who does right by *any* pet is okay in my book. For what little it’s worth.
Now, our experience with animal rescue, particularly post-disasters, has given us a healthy hatred of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). I could write a book on how self-serving, amoral and generally incompetent that organization is. When it’s not lobbying on capital hill. It’s a lobbying group, nothing more. It’s the one with ties to PETA.
Bear in mind that local humane societies typically have NO connection to HSUS. To steal a quote from a nameless online person: "A rule-of-thumb is that if a group talks about Animal Welfare, it is like the ASCPA or your local Humane Society. If it mentions Animal Rights, it’s Peter Singer-like lunatic society. Of course, there are always exceptions, but it’s a good first look."
An interesting read: http://www.pelaqitapersians.com/PETA_article.html
The Grand Panjandrum
Here is a JRT rescue group link. It covers DE/MD/PA & NJ. (If they are thinking of making a donation.)
Calming Influence
I shudder to think of the potential carnage wrought if those two killers were in the hands of less experienced dog owners. God bless them, your Mom and Dad are keeping us safe from the terrorist pooches.
Chris O.
I had to laugh at the Dalmatian comment. I think the one we used to have at home would fare well in any competition for dumbest dog ever.
JGabriel
It’s only a hop, skip, and a jump from supporting terror-loving vegans till the John Coles of the Left are throwing Molotov Cocktails.
.
Silver Owl
I have two Alaskan Malamutes. I have one rescue (owner turn in) and one from a breeder.
I help with GSD and Malamute rescue by doing home evaluations and transport.
Mnemosyne
comrade scott was more comprehensive, but the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) are the crazy, PETA-associated ones. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) are the not-crazy ones that you see doing rescues and taking people to court on those "Animal Cops" shows that Animal Planet has about a million of. They’re usually the ones who run the official city and county animal shelters.
If she feels really, really bad, tell her to make a donation to a local or regional Jack Russell rescue group. Breed-specific rescue groups can always use a little more cash, and many charities are hurting right now because the economic downturn means they’re not getting as many donations.
Which reminds me, gotta send a check to our cats’ rescue group. We got two cats from them in two years, but we’re full up now, so all we can give is money. Somehow, I don’t think they’ll be too upset.
Laura W
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage: Hey, thanks for doing the Katina thing. There are few people in life I admire more than you guys who fly into disaster areas to tend to the critters.
One of my most prized possessions is a folk art wall hanging…a painting on a 200-yr-old piece of Cypress washed ashore during Katrina. The image is of an orange striped cat floating on waves on a small piece of wood. "Cats Survive Katrina" is the title. It was purchased for me by a good friend down at the Atlanta Folk Festival.
Eric U.
our rescue dog is one of two dogs that were starved for 2 weeks and spent a month in a hospital before they were strong enough to go out for adoption. That kind of thing costs money, and we didn’t pay it. So they always need money. Now that I’ve written this and made myself feel guilty, tell her to send money to PAWS
Keith
Try a greyhound.
cleek
@DFD: "PETA doesn’t rescue, they euthanize."
which gives us one of the most memorable LOLcats.
yay
Fraud Guy
6 of the 13 dogs my wife and I have had were rescue, and three of the others were defective purebreds.
All of our cats are rescue.
Skepticat
I always think a rescue group is the best first choice, but each person needs to make the decision right for hir. No one who loves and cares for animals can make a bad choice of companion. And who can look at those two pups and begrudge anyone the pleasure of those cute canine jumping jacks?
May I suggest that your mom–and everyone else–check http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com every day and click to make a no-cost contribution to rescue group?
Laura W
Oh noes. Biden just adopted a German Shepard puppy from a breeder. This discussion is going national now. What will the Obamas do? Will they do the rescue thing as promised?
This is certainly good news for McCain.
Steve V
@Keith:
Hey! As a greyhound owner I think I’d dispute that. I won’t argue that they’re the brightest breed, but it’s my understanding that dalmatians are indeed, um, among the dumbest of all breeds. No offense; they’re all terribly sweet.
adolphus
I am joining this conversation late so pardon me if I repeat. As I understand it, your parents got these dogs from someone they knew who had a litter of puppies. This was not a retail front for a puppy mill of some sort. No reason to fell guilty at all if the parents belong to a loving owner who cares for them. Now if they got them from some Puppies-R-Us mass production facility that would be another issue. Not so much for the two they got, they need love too as others have noted, but for supporting a system that continues to treat dogs as tiny little breeding factories.
God bless your parents for their care of these animals from a proud friend of a rescued dog, cat, and (as of right now) 9 gerbils.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Laura W: Lone gunshot rings out. Thump.
Keith
I catch tons of crap from friends of mine re: my blue pit for being dumb. I tend to disagree and say he’s goofy with a tendency to let his goofiness take over even when he knows better. But while lots of pits are smart, mine definitely isn’t that (but then, while he fully conforms to breed characteristics physically, he lacks the tenacity that is typical of the breed…he won’t pull, he won’t guard the house – but the cats do that, he only chews the small strips, etc). But dumbness isn’t necessarily a bad thing; for instance, if he was more like other pits I know, my cats would be dead.
Houdini's Ghost
The Humane Society of the United States is not associated with PETA. And your local Humane Society may or may not receive funding and other support from the national organization.
HSUS does not put up billboards of naked celebrities or throw buckets of paint on people to fight the fur trade — they work with supporters to pressure designers to remove fur pieces from their lines, or to pressure the Canadian government to stop allowing mass clubbings of baby seals. They don’t do pointless street theater to harass people about veganism — they do things like putting Prop 2 on the CA ballot to create an incremental improvement in the treatment of livestock.
There are real, valid criticisms of HSUS, just like there are of any national organization. But you can tell your mom that the Humane Society and PETA are different organizations entirely.
BethanyAnne
Mutts are the bestest – whether they be cat or dog. I have 2 cats; one from my sister’s cat’s litter, and one was rescued from under a restaurant. The restaurant was only open on weekends, so poor Cheyenne spent the first 3 years or so eating every chance she could get. She’s a beautiful solid black, but I don’t know if she falls under any specific breed – American shorthair? Suli is half Siamese, and half hold-me-now-dammit, i.e., perfect :-)
J. Michael Neal
Which puts her squarely in the middle quintile of Dalmatians.
As for charities, I’m looking for something a bit different than the rescue groups for once I have any money. I want to find someone that helps poor people pay for medical care for their pets. Fortunately, I have assets, so Eddie is going to get whatever treatment is best, but I can’t do it for others until I have income.
J. Michael Neal
My cats are all strays of one sort or another. My then roommate pulled Monster out of a tree in October, 1994. Ringling started wandering around our yard in 1998. Dirk was huddled under the wheel of our car in February, 1999, when it was five below. Eddie I got from the pound, despite already having too many cats (throw in the two my ex-wife took with her when she left), because I was afraid no one would adopt him, given his injuries.
Houdini's Ghost
J. Michael Neal — I don’t know of any national groups that do this, but your local area may have a nonprofit pet health center you could give to. Here in San Francisco, there is Pets Unlimited (http://www.petsunlimited.org/), which provides this sort of services. It’s a great combination of pet emergency room, standard vet service, and nonprofit care for poor pups and kittehs.
gbear
In John’s puppy posting, I’d mentioned falling for a couple of cute Shelties. The woman who owns those dogs got them both from a Sheltie rescue group in the Twin Cities, for which she is a volunteer. Seems like every particular pup has it’s own rescue organization.
The two cats I have now came from the local Humane Society. I know they don’t have a great record as far as no-kill, but all the no-kill cat organizations in this town get to screen for health and habits and also get to limit the number of cats they accept (kind of like the difference between private and public schools). I’m pretty happy to go get my pets from the Humane Society.
My first kitten actually came from behind the refrigerator at my sister’s house. I should have taken the hint about how sociable that cat was, but it was my first kitty and she looked like such a cutie.
Hope John’s mom is done feeling guilty and also hope that their Steeler’s throw has been chewed to bits by now. Go pups!
PS: The world could see what cuties my cats are if only they’d come to the top of the Balloon Juice random pets list….
The Other Steve
I see no reason to feel guilty. The only people I would refuse to get a dog from are the puppy mills.
We bought our dachshund from a responsible local breeder.
I got my two cats from a no-kill rescue group. Their solution to the no-kill is to take the cats which cannot be adopted, fix ’em and give them to local farmers. As long as they are fixed, farmers love ’em.
Johnny Pez
Nothing wrong with getting purebreds from a breeder. That’s how we got our first basenji. The next two (now deceased) were elderly rescue dogs that came to us via Basenji Rescue and Transport. The most recent one came from the same breeder as the first, returned to them by his original owners.
They were all wonderful dogs.
Ferd of the North
All this publicity about those dawgs will prevent your parents from ever flying again. They will be known terrierists.
fastandsloppy
Rescue organizations seem a little too full of themselves and I get the feeling I am being put on trial for wanting to adopt a dog. The last time I went to the rescue shelter they were asking me if they could do suprise visits to my home to check on the dog. I said no.
I prefer to get dogs a the municipal pound because they are underfunded and only keep the dogs for a week or so. Consequently they seem genuinely eager for you to adopt their dogs. When I got my latest dog from the local pound the worker there actually said "Yayyyy!" when I told her I wanted the big Lab puppy. I think that is the proper attitude.
My wife bought her poodle from a pet store but that’s OK too. Dogs don’t know where they are from and their origin isn’t their fault whatever the case may be.
Zuzu's Petals
@Johnny Pez:
Oh my gosh, it takes a special person to raise a basenji.
My son and his wife got what they thought was a boxer mix from the shelter. Only later did they realize the other part of the mix was likely basenji. There is no fence she’s not able to jump. There is no cat she wouldn’t like to hunt down. There is no distance she wouldn’t like to run.
She does behave herself around the baby, though. So it’s all good.
Laura W
@Zuzu’s Petals: There was quite a bit of education on this breed (which was all new to me) on a previous puppy thread, I believe. If you care to hunt it down.
Edit: Lame pun not intentional. Another one of my talents.
Zuzu's Petals
@Laura W:
Heh, thanks.
skohayes
I adopted a pure bred chocolate lab from my town shelter last year. I did it with some trepidation, knowing that some chocolates are known for being hyper and not too smart (I’ve always had black and yellow labs), and he turned out to be a great dog, just a typical blockhead male lab, which I love. And he gets along great with my other dog, another lab cross found by the side of the road at 4 weeks old (14 years ago this month!).
I love the suggestion to your mom to give a donation to a local shelter if she feels too guilty, but I applaud anyone who wants to give a dog (or two) a home. Especially terriers. Wow.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
I was in on the rescue dog comments too, so if I made you feel guilty, Mrs Cole, please accept my sincerest apologies. That certainly wasn’t my intention. (I’m late to the mark – it’s only 9am here).
I’d never begrudge someone buying a puppy from a responsible breeder. As bystander said:
My schtick is merely that people should consider rescue dogs as an option, so that cute faces like this get a home too!
Jeff
@fastandsloppy
I have a friend who had a less-than-satisfactory experience with a Siamese rescue group; the cats are wonderful, but they were not quite as healthy as represented. So maybe see if you can get some reviews before dealing with a particular rescue organization.
All in all, I must generally agree with all of the above (including hesitancy regarding PETA). "Responsible" breeders, rescue groups, local shelters, wherever; the point is, give ’em a home.
Whatever happened to "Bide-a-wee homes"? Got my first dog from them, in ’74; are they still around?
Ferd of the North
My dawgs are rescue dogs.
Arctic Short-tail named Sarai (adopted the wife on December 27th two years ago, as she was at work) and Pransr – hound-like thing with 1.5 bright blue eyes (other .5 is brown) found under a building nearby by some kids. Both were about a month old.
They just come to us. The first dog was gotten from the local pound. Alaskan Husky cross. Small but powerful. Not super smart but a bit clever. He got tangled on his rope and died this summer. We were away at the time. Kool was a great dog that loved to run the tundra. I really miss him.
JL
Gee, I feel guilty now. Moxie my micro deerhound type of mutt, is my first rescue dog (ugly in a beautiful way). Because of Moxie a good friend rescued a dog and called and said it looked just like Moxie. Her dog looks like a wheaton terrier. Another friend rescued because she wanted a Moxie and "stella" looks just like her name. Somehow Moxie is convincing all these folks to rescue dogs because they love her but they come back with beauties.
Laura W
@JL: Do you have linkable photos of this Moxie of which you post so proudly? I don’t know what a micro deerhound mutt looks like. Wheatons are kyoooot, though.
Moxie is clearly doing good work, casting her ugly-yet-beautiful spell over simpleton humans.
JL
@Laura W: She’s camera shy, but I will keep on trying. It’s funny because folks that never owned dogs go and rescue one cause of Moxie but they certainly do not look like her. She was brought to a local Pets Mart by a cat rescue lady.
Litlebritdifrnt
All my cats are rescues but we bought our girl boxer Judy when I spotted her in a closing down petstore on an unrelated shopping trip. She reminded me of another Judy I had as a child (a fawn and white boxer), and I couldn’t resist. Cueball (the beast) was a rescue of sorts in that we got him from a breeder instead of him being destroyed (he is pure white and breeders don’t like them out there in the breeding pool so they tend to destroy them at birth). We basically got him for the price of his first shots.
here is Judy pooch (the most perfect boxer known to man thank you very much)
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/MsNick40/Pets%20and%20miscellaneous/Feb202005046.jpg[/IMG]
And here is the beast upset because I had the audacity to be in the front yard gardening without him. He is the reason the windows need cleaning about three times a week.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/MsNick40/Pets%20and%20miscellaneous/DSC00262.jpg[/IMG]
Litlebritdifrnt
Damnit what happened to the edit option?
Cueball
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/MsNick40/Pets%20and%20miscellaneous/DSC00262.jpg
Judy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/MsNick40/Pets%20and%20miscellaneous/Feb202005046.jpg
Litlebritdifrnt
Oh and just for the hell of it, here are the two of them "wrassling" on the patio. Cueball can actually get Judy’s entire head inside his mouth, luckily he has no teeth. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/MsNick40/Pets%20and%20miscellaneous/April172005074.jpg
Tattoosydney
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Awwwww! so cute.
Laura W
@Litlebritdifrnt: I knew you’d figure it out. I read all the other threads, had another cocktail, and came back for the edit.
Cueball: Now THAT is a goofy, slobbery, silly face only a mother can love!
Judy: Very proud, elegant and regal.
You have a very nice balance going there.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: My Australian Cattle Dog wants to know if your ACD wants to hook up.
But, like, she’s not waiting around for an answer or anything because she’s very busy and has a very full life.
But does he?
(I am struck by the current day appropriateness of the musical selection I quoted on that post. But then, Joni is always relevant.)
JL
Maybe John should convert his blog to one dealing with pets. The other stuff going on in the world is just so depressing.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
She’s so cute. Our Pedro thinks so too… She looks just like our old dog, Benny.*
However, we have to consider that poor Pedro has some socialisation issues, and tends to think that most other dogs are dinner.
We love him, but he’s fucked up…
It’s also a hell of a commute for them to get together. Perhaps they can be pen pals?
* Although Benny was dumb as a box of hammers and was afraid of plastic bags, cats and gates. I’m sure yours is smarter.
Tattoosydney
Dammit… Who knew that putting an asterisk into your post could send it into moderation?
Reposting because I’m not waiting for it to be released:
@Laura W:
She’s so cute. Our Pedro thinks so too… She looks just like our old dog, Benny. (Although Benny was dumb as a box of hammers and was afraid of plastic bags, cats and gates. I’m sure yours is smarter.)
However, we have to consider that poor Pedro has some socialisation issues, and tends to think that most other dogs are dinner.
We love him, but he’s fucked up…
It’s also a hell of a commute for them to get together.
Perhaps they could be pen pals?
Laura W
@JL: You know what, JL…I was just over on the Auto thread thinking the same thing. I was so full of hope on Nov 5, and how can it be that on Dec 12th, it all feels like CRAP again?
If John didn’t offer up the frequent pet thread, or the food/wine thread, I don’t know that I could come around much. I’ve pretty much stopped reading almost every other blog I checked obsessively during elections. (With a few drive-by exceptions.)
I come here for learnin’ and laughin’, in equal measure, but lately the learnin’ has outweighed the laughin’ for sure.
MORE PET PHOTOS PLEEEEEEZZZ.
Tattoosydney
Hmmmm@Laura W:
Hmmm. My post got moderated, and my repost got moderated… I wonder what I have in there that is setting it off?
Let’s try the first line:
Tattoosydney
Right – that bit got through…
next bit…
Tattoosydney
Bugger. Bugger. Bugger.
Rewriting the next bit, even though I have no idea why it won’t go through.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: Dog lust always trips the moderation filter.
Leah is VERY smart. Scary smart. Smart enough to know her attraction to Pedro is Electra Complex, pure and simple. Her dad was a full red. Her mom full blue. With papers and everything. The family who bred them fell on very hard times, and well…she was mine, much to my disbelief.
Penpals is a great (and safe) idea, both due to Pedro’s cannibalistic tendencies and Leah’s Daddy issues.
(but Pedro is still adorable, despite Leah’s neuroses.)
Tattoosydney
Does that mean I need to get Pedro an email address?
(Yay! now all of my posts are out of moderation, and I look like a babbling freak)
Tattoosydney
Does Leah like cats? (I assume she does, given her residential arrangements)
We’re trying to work out how to break Pedro of his irrational and irrepressible hatred of all things feline…. or at least stop him turning into a snarling mass of teeth and claws at the merest scent of a cat.
He’s the most loyal, loving, friendly creature around when it comes to his pack, it’s just the rest of the world he has a problem with – cats, old people, fat people, other dogs (especially pugs, although he has a soft spot for poodles and some cattle dogs – soft spot = does not bite ALL the time), people with hats, people without hats…
Litlebritdifrnt
Laura – thank you, (ps I am +2 Lindemans Shiraz right now) The two of them do seem to balance each other out, Judy is so cool and calm, and tends to only get set off by The Cubemeister, who will bark at a leaf falling outside. Judy is a "speaking" boxer. In other words she will let someone know if something is not to her liking, I will perhaps be in the kitchen and I will hear her "you are in my way and I want you to move" cry and know immediately what is going on, she is precious. Cueball on the other hand is a dog that only his Daddy could love, cause he is the only one big enough to handle him. Of course the best thing about him is that if anyone sees that face through the window and decides that it would be a good idea to break in, well they must REALLY need a TV.
PS) For a huge slobbering mutts softer side, this is a shot of when I adopted Peaches, a feral kitten who was found under a mini van at Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville full of fleas and starving. This was her and Cueball within a week of her coming to my home. This is Awwwwwwwww plus 3.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/MsNick40/Pets%20and%20miscellaneous/May282007005.jpg
Delia
Laura, John McCain has a lot to answer for. I heard on NPR the other week that back in 2000 he had three cats, all declawed. Only one of them is still on this side of the veil.
Litlebritdifrnt
D@Delia:
Declawing a cat is evil, IMHO. If that is true it is another reason to hate McCain and the election is over :)
Laura W
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I feel so much happier and lighter and brighter now, for the look at that! I really love your Peaches (wanna shake your tree? Where did that come from?)
+2.5 Ketel one and sparkling orange water
Laura W
@Delia: Delia, get real. Do you know how many pricey pieces of furniture those 7 houses hold? Honestly. Not to mention the price per pair of Cindy’s hose.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: Leah loves cats more than other dogs and humans. Just like me, thankfully!
I don’t think Pedro needs his own email. I think, in fact, that Pedro and Leah should communicate here on BJ since we both now look like babbling freaks and no one has banned us yet. I get the sense that Friday night (afternoon, for you?) is Anything Goes on BJ. Seems to be when most of the fun and freaky shit happens.
Litlebritdifrnt
Friday night = when people pop the wine, etc., and get silly, I LOVE friday nights.
Laura W
@Litlebritdifrnt: Go find South-of-I-10. It’s not a party without her and her Pinot.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
Your Friday night is my Saturday morning, so when you lot are all liquored up, I’m slobbing around the house recovering from the night before (with a red dog curled up at my feet). Actually at this point he’s flat on his back, legs askew, and snoring so hard his lips are hanging down and vibrating… very glamorous.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Tattoosydney:
Where abouts are you? I have relatives all around Sydney, I have cousins in Budgieoi (I know for a fact I have fucked up that spelling) in Cronulla Beach, Sydney proper and Eberneeza. I would love to hear about where you are.
Tattoosydney
@Litlebritdifrnt:
We’re in Enmore, which is the outskirts of the inner city… a mix of suburban/inner city/gay/feral/alternative …
It’s about ten minutes to the city by bus, and we get a huge house with a big back yard, for the same rent as I was paying on my own for a shoe box apartment in the city…
Pedro is very happy – there are birds to bark at and grass to roll in…
Budgewoi is far north in Sydney terms…
South of I-10
@Laura W: tonight we are having a delicious 2005 Ferrari-Carano Merlot, procured by stealing it from the bossman at the office Christmas party during the "Santa Steal" this afternoon.
LiberalTarian
Steve … somebody. I’m getting old. Googled: Steve Miller Band, from The Joker. Man, they played that album to death when I was a kid. You weren’t hip unless you were into Steve Miller back then. Sigh. Now I’m practically breaking a hip to recall the name of the band. More sighing.
Laura W
@South of I-10: Well Fucking Done!
That’s our girl.
Litlebritdifrnt
@South of I-10:
Are we a pathetic bunch of no hopers or what? Ha Ha!
Litlebritdifrnt
@Tattoosydney:
I remember blue tongued skinks living in the passion fruit bush, and the best bit, at Ebernezer my cousins lived by a big river fed by the sea, which they used to swim in, when we visited my Mum said "there are’nt any sharks in there are there"? My cousin said completely straight faced "na, no worries, the crocodiles have eaten all the sharks" :)
Mnemosyne
Apparently what some feral cat rescuers are doing now is having the adult males get vasectomies instead of neutering them. That way, they continue to protect the colony the same way they used to because they still have the raging hormones, but they aren’t making any kittens.
It sounds like something that might work out for a group of overly prolific barn cats.
Tattoosydney
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I’ve not spent a lot of time in the Hawkesbury area around Ebenezer, but it’s very beautiful…
The sharks and the crocodiles generally only get one of us each a year, but if they ever manage to team up with the snakes, we are in big trouble…
Calming Influence
Declawing = Mutilation. Many vets won’t do it anymore. If anyone you know is considering getting a cat and having this done, please suggest that they start with a pet rock, and slowly work their way up to actual living creatures.
Delia
@Calming Influence:
Like what? a plant? a clam? a goldfish? Maybe one of those Japanese robot pets. I wonder if the crazy PETA people have conceived any destructive fantasies against those. Really, if you can’t deal with the fact that other living creatures have different needs and habits than your own then you shouldn’t have a pet. Maybe just a teevee.
AnneLaurie
If they already *have* the cat(s), there is an alternative:
Soft Claws Nail Caps
If the human in question is finicky enough to worry about the cat damaging the furniture, they’re finicky enough to paste falsies over the cat’s nails. Okay, it may seem foo-foo, but as an alternative to mutilation and/or euthanasia… MUCH preferable. They only need to be re-applied every 6-8 weeks, according to the people I’ve known who use them, and any cat that can’t adjust to them isn’t going to do well with that house-proud a human anyways.
AnneLaurie
LitlBrit, you are a braver woman than I! Mostly I’m a total breed (or random-breed) slut, but my experience of Boxers has been… not the best. Of course they are big, tough, very strong dogs, but at least in New England & the Great Lakes region they have a reputation for being, well, dumb. REALLY dumb, as in "less trainable than a guinea pig". And dangerous, not because they’re evil-minded, but because they’re SO dumb and SO strong… they will hurt themselves, they will (in all innocence) hurt their people, they kill cats & smaller dogs unintentionally, and they will stand there, dripping blood & surrounded by carnage, and look at you with the same expression as Lenny from "Of Mice & Men". Plenty of Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Terrier & Bulldog fanatics insist that "pit bulls" get their bad reputation from Boxer crosses made by illicit/criminal breeders to increase the size, speed & bite-readiness of "fighting dogs". (Also, the white-coloration gene is linked to deafness, and possibly hyperactivity, which is one reason responsible Boxer breeders don’t use the all-white puppies in their breeding programs, and probably another reason some Boxers get into so much trouble.) But the breed certainly has its defenders, some of whom I know to be (otherwise) sane & responsible people, so I would just say that… they are *not* a good choice for inexperienced owners, or for people who aren’t willing to establish themselves as Alphas!
satby
John, back to your mom: she doesn’t need to feel guilty; rescue folks just get sucked into the overwhelming need of animals with no homes, and burned out from seeing too many loving adoptable animals put down for lack of space. So many rescuers become very pesty with the prostletizing for adopting from rescue groups.
I’ve mentioned on other threads I do rescue, fostering, and transporting, and I can vouch for the fact that some groups are a total pain in the ass to try to adopt from; and puppies can be in very short supply sometimes. Your family is a group of loving pet "parents" and that’s all any recuer wants for a pet anyway.
And cash. We always need cash. I go through 65 lbs of dog and cat food a week; don’t even start me on what the kitty litter costs are. If you can, donate to rescue groups or humane societies. Most of us pay out of pocket for all our rescue efforts.