Have 2 Legged Children, Get Rid of 4 Legged Children...

[bthny158]

I believe that if people can't care for their pets, how are they ever going to care for kids?? Are they going to give up the kids if they take up to much time? But I'm an avid animal lover & wouldn't give up my "babies" for anything.

 

[lishreese]

Kids should grow up with pets, and parents should stress the importance of taking proper care of them and the fact that a pet's life is significant, not something that can just be thrown away because it's inconvenient. I never had a pet until I was in 8th grade, when I FINALLY convinced my parents to get a dog. She saved my life and she is my best friend. Pets are soooo important for kids. And I don't think it's right to give up a pet for probable euthanasion (sorry I can't spell that) just because the people want human kids. It's not fair to the pet and the people should be responsible enough to plan for that ahead of time. If people HAVE to give up a pet they should find a good home for it, not just leave it at a shelter in the hopes that someone will take it.

 

[angels41105]

Since there are 82 posts i've not read anymore than the one above me, but i'm going to assume most of us are pro-pets. Which i also am, I've ALWAYS had pets, heck i have a cat i got when i was 3 .... and he's still alive (that makes him 20). He has as much a place in our house as I do. From my own personal observations, I can almost always tell when a friend of mine had not had pets as a kid. There's a slight nurturing factor that they lack. Pet are valuable life tools for humans, especially kids. As i'm sure you've all noted it teaches kids responsibility and to care for something other than themselves. Also, the dreaded life lesson of death.

I often sit in amazement at our pets and how pets, became pets. And how boring my life would be without them.

 

[caitlinlovesgus]

I can understand needing to cut down costs... cause pets are expensive. But it does suck that the animal, the one attached to you the most, is the one being tossed out as if they didn't already think the world of you. I guess if I tried hard enough I could see both sides of the situation. I've considered giving up my chinchilla because I just didn't think I was ready for that kind of commitment, but then I snapped out of it. I took on the responsibility, therefore my chin is family now, and I refuse to give him anything less than a great life.

 

[akane]

Some people can't take care of a newborn and get so stressed the animals just seem too much. But they really should have thought about that when they decided to get something that lives 20 yrs.

 

[xelay]

I try not to judge because I'm not sure I could handle the responsibility of having children and keeping all of my pets. I mean I make the choice not to have children, in part, because of that reality but not everyone makes the same choice. I have a house full of fosters and for the most part I don't judge people for making the responsible choice to give their pets up to a good rescue or owner. Of course, I do judge neglecting and abandoning pets, so overall I think that sometimes the best option for everyone is to responsibly rehome.

 

[Aurora]

I know someone who seemed to kind of recycle pets even before she had a child. Then when she had her first born all of a sudden she re-homed her African Grey Parrot claiming he was too "noisy" :wacko: (Its a parrot!! Since when are they quiet??) and also one of her German Shepherds. I was horrified... even more-so when she then got a new Siamese cat a few months later! :banghead:

I've never understood the "have a child = pets must go" concept. My animals ARE my children... they have homes for life.
My husband came into our relationship being told right off the bat that "he would go before my animals did" LOL. :hilarious:

 

[akane]

My husband did rehome his cats to his parents' place when he moved in with me. It just wouldn't have worked. They were used to a little condo with no other animals and no outside with predators and roads. My big dog freaked them out and even if they got over her I generally left the cellar door open to the fenced yard 24/7 and just closed the door to the upper level of the house at night. That way I never had to let the dog out or in and it worked well with her raw diet because then she could carry a frozen meal or bone outside to chew on it and return when done.

We then ended up fleeing the house years later because it was owned by my aunt and uncle. The former going mental and the latter hating us from day 1 and thinking we shouldn't have any pets. We wanted lots of pets. So we half left/ half got kicked out with her no longer backing up our lifestyle. When we moved back in to the condo it was my 3 cats that didn't work out. The oldest peed on all my husband's stuff and then went to live with the elderly neighbor who would pet her half the day. The youngest had brain damage from being hit by a car as a kitten and couldn't adjust. She started pulling all her fur and then biting her skin despite various medications so we finally opted to put her down. The 3rd was more outdoors at the house and a real hunter. After a few months with no other cats to annoy he started to go stir crazy. Peed on things, mostly in boxes or on books. Started hunting the other animals in the condo and it was hard to keep the small animals safe which had rooms behind doors away from him at the house. Finally he drove the very cat friendly akita to threaten to kill him and I took him to the horse stable. Since we are also allergic to them cats are the one thing we will probably never attempt to keep ever again.

Sometimes you do end up with an animal that doesn't work out over time. I just feel you should be thinking as long term as possible. I couldn't foresee my aunt falling ill and losing the house I thought I would purchase or inherit one day and I never went looking for cats to have anyway. They showed up or would have been dead without intervention. My husband couldn't have foreseen moving out of the condo he had a long mortgage on and didn't get his cats himself either. They were bought for him as a christmas present.

The stress of a baby is temporary. Most animals will handle a little less attention for awhile or a slight change in housing to make it easier to care for them. If the animal is not safe around children then you should have thought about the fact you wanted kids some day before getting it. I ended up with one of my hedgehogs because he was not completely tame and kid friendly to touch. They'd only had him a year.

 

[PetoftheDay]

I loved my brother's response in this situation. He and his wife had gotten married, then bought a house and got a rescue pup. When Lady had been in residence for several months (okay, takes about 10 minutes for any family member of mine to completely fall in love with a pet), his wife became pregnant. One of Jenny's friends asked my brother, "So you guys are gonna have a baby, are you gonna get rid of the dog now?"

My brother, bless him, said, "Are you crazy???? If we didn't have Lady already, I'd go adopt a dog right now! Kids and dogs, dogs and kids - they belong together!!!"

The "friend" had no answer, and gave up on the conversation! Lady became the baby monitor and diaper monitor, although the three cats took many weeks before they forgave my brother - "first you bring home the monster, and then that fire siren thing, we are NOT speaking to you!"

 

[chinsNdobermans]

My daughter came along when I had 2 cats, 3 dogs and my breeding herd of chinchillas.

We now have four dogs, three cats, the chinchillas and a rat and it has been tough but now that she's older (almost three) she is starting to help with their care and it's so wonderful seeing her joy at being able to help mommy feed and water the critters. The rat is "her" pet and although I do all of his care, she is learning a lot through the experience.

I'm lucky enough to have a large home and acreage, and enough savvy from growing up with multiple pets myself to know how to manage my home. It hasn't always been easy but my pets are my family too!

 

[ChinChiq]

Our dog was 4 when our daughter was born. There was never any question that the dog would remain as a member of the family when the 2-legged child arrived. Now at the ages of 11 and 7, the dog is just as important to our daughter as she is to us. We even refer to them as sisters! Since the 2-legged addition, we have added a total of 6 gerbils (down to 2 currently) as well as my chinchilla (and no other 2-legged family members). I am happy to raise my daughter knowing that pets are family too, I wouldn't have it any other way!

 

[TashaR]

I don't understand how people could rehome/kill their pets just because a baby is coming. My son is 18 months old now and is better for growing up with animals! He is working on being gentle (we supervise petting), but "kitty" was one of his first words, and he loves to watch our turtles and chinchillas. And surprise - it's NOT that hard to take care of everyone!

 

[ninjaturtletayy]

I am very far from ever having children, but it just doesn't make sense to me either. When my mom was pregnant with my sister (she's now 7), my mom was talking about getting rid of some of our pets too. At the time we had three cats and four dogs. She realized her mistake and we kept all of our animals (except we did lose a dog, but that was because we had to put my old lady down =/). I personally think it would be horrible to not grow up with pets. Some of my best memories are of my old lady dog. It breaks my heart when I see ads on craigslist of people what are trying to get rid of their animals because of a child. I just wish I could take in all those animals, but I don't think my landlord would be too happy.