The crazyhorse puppy threads really triggered memories for me.


I was raised by people obsessed with owning animals. The upside was I got to keep the kitten I got from a friend as an "outside cat" (read fed stray) and the gerbils from another friend I killed from not being diligent in feeding them but in my defense my parents were my examples in animal care.

I'll never forget finding my cat under the neighbor's bush suffering terribly as it slowly died from injuries in a cat fight. I had to drag it out of a thorny bush after I was convinced it was dead and then dig a hole and bury it.

By the way I've never owned any animal as an adult. How could I? I was raised in a house of animal horrors.

Funny it has taken me this long to realize how bad my parents are with their animals. But silly me, they raise animals like they raised kids. Their real pets get attention and food and their zoo pets just get food.

So, their animals don't starve but they don't get what their other orifices produce as a result well taken care of either - even the pets.

As a partial list my parents have owned the following most of which were owned at the same time.


dogs
cats
rabbits
chickens
hamsters
crabs
turtles
snakes
guinea pigs
fish
frogs
lizards
toads

And these poor creatures definitely didn't reach even their average lifespan with my parents. I guess they should have just stuck with the humans but those humans don't recycle (read die) as well and they have the pesky habit of leaving on their own since they can't be caged with actual cages just mental ones.

Ironically, this logic makes perfect sense. My parents apparently thought that their rhythm method was good enough for them and their pets. They never got shots, neuters, spades, or anything for their animals. I grew up with puppies a plenty and kittens galore. And what my parents couldn't foist off onto other people they basically kept feeding and letting hang around. Luckily they were somewhat successful in their mutt and cat offloading.

I guess I could feel sorry for them because they had some traumatic experiences growing up. But I guess I blame the morg the most. This idea that any Mormon can breed with any Mormon like animals is a pretty toxic thing especially when both my parents weren't inclined (both told me so) to be parents but that was what God wanted them to do.

In attempting to make their home a temple, they got all the animals they could and kids they could and attempted their own garden of Eden.

It wasn't no Eden.

Any animal adopted into my home is doomed to a life of cuddling, kissing, and generally being spoiled. The vet lives next door, so they always have access to medical care. They have been spayed.

My first dog was a little black mongrel with white tips on her toes - hence, the name "Tippy." As a young, married adult, I had a long-haired chihuahua - a bright, perceptive and fiercely loyal little critter who would rip the ankles off anyone she perceived as a threat. I have seen her run off a pair of Great Danes from my mother's property.

And then there are the cats. Most of them have been tortoise-shells. We have two left now. Due to advancing age, we have decided not to adopt any more kittens or puppies.

Georgy the dog is mostly my husband's pet. Georgy is so clingy that if I turn suddenly, I could trip over him. At my age, falling could be deadly. The anti-cancer drug I am on makes my osteoporotic old bones even more fragile. While he is a sweet, very well-mannered dog, he gets on my nerves sometimes. He is a good watchdog, however, and ignores the cats completely.

I can't - don't want to - imagine a life without furbabies of some sort.

Elder Berry, I went through much that same type of thing growing up. (((((EB)))) That post set me off, also. People who are neglectful or abusive to animals are on my sh** list permanently. Anyway, my heart goes out to you.

Catnip, I should be so lucky as to be reincarnated as one of your pets! :^D

Aquarius123 Wrote:
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> People who are neglectful or abusive
> to animals are on my sh** list permanently.

Great to commiserate with you.

I've never understood people who pay for animals (or accept them as gifts) and are neglectful. I understand my parents obsession with glory at such procreative prowess. I'm literally my father's jewels in my mother's crown but animals?

At least care and feeding of humans lets one (read my parents) indulge in religious fantasy and neighbor's accolades but the pets is just stupid. Why neglect them too when you have so many children to neglect?

I never understand this. Having pets is a conscious, deliberate decision. It's not like an unwanted pregnancy, if you didn't want kids. Why have an pet (or kid) if you don't want to love it, care for it, feed it a correct diet, bathe and groom it and give it attention? If you can't take care of an animal, don't get one!

I wouldn't guess what % of people this applies to, but...

I do know some people who get pets for not-so-great reasons. Like getting a vicious dog as a "guard dog" (only). Or getting a pet just to have some being you can control and lord your ego over. Sadly, I know folks who have them for both of those reasons above -- and not because they intended to love the animals. It's not surprising those are the animals that often wind up neglected or abused. I hope it's rare...I fear it isn't.

I don't know about the "lording over" thing. If they actually thought about it, you're the spending money to feed it and have to pick up it's crap or clean it's cage. Who's really got the upper hand there? As far as guard dogs, if you want a dog to protect your home, you better treat it well. It will take care of you as well as you take care of it. I'm not a PETA guy, or animal rights activist, I just don't understand why you would want to take on the responsibility of owning a pet if you don't want to take care of it properly. I love dogs, I'm not a cat guy. That's why I've never owned a cat. I know that I wouldn't give it the attention that it deserves.

"Dogs have owners. Cats have staff."

I totally love this!!

My heart hurts, Elder Berry.

I am sorry for you, and I am sorry for every one of the animals in your family.

I still do not understand why people do (or neglect to do) these kinds of things.

I think my parents are emotionally still children and like children wanted Doctor Do-little (pun intended) like experiences with animals and children. The fun of watching a living creature. My mother said she loved having children and seeing what they were like as babies and small children. She wasn't a loving mother. We got attention as young children but it was more of an attention because we were small - like puppies. They still are very childish and they are in their 80s.

For some reason, I have better rapport with animals than I do with people--Border Collies being my best pals through childhood.

My parents weren't dog people like me, but they appreciated dogs since Pop's brother lost his arm in an auto accident and relied on his two McNabs as if they were human helpers.

My little "Mr. Peabody" went after a neighbor who got drunk and decided that he was in love with me. Maybe that's why Mr. Peabody disappeared out of my yard.

I'm currently reading "Genius Dogs" by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods. I recommend it to everyone.

Anyway, re my parents--not dog people, but good to dogs like they were good to everything.

I'm a dog person. My childhood dog was "Margo," a Collie/Shepherd mix.
Oh, how I loved her! If all dogs go to heaven, I hope I see her again.

As an adult, I've only had 2. None currently but I hope to again.

Really , Margo? My first older woman was Margo. I was a freshman she was a Senior in college. Ex Kilgore Rangerette. Very, very flexible. Thanks for the memory jolt.

Margot Kidder was one of my favorite actresses. My worst babysitter, on the other hand, was a Margot. She gave me my first nightmare in black and white. I normally dream in color.

My Margo (named by mother) was probably after Margo Thomas.
I'm still a "That Girl" fan.

My first wife is one of those people who should never have pets but does. She grew up with a mother who really dislikes animals and is honest enough to admit it, and the Ex's drive to have pets is really just a backlash.

When we were first married we went to the shelter and brought home a dog. This dog ended up not being the breed the shelter folks had told us but she was the sweetest and smartest dog I've ever been around. She was also a runner, as in I would take her on a five mile run and she'd be ready to go ten minutes after we got home. Being in the military at the time I was working a lot and the Ex decided she didn't like the dog. This ended up creating a lot of tension in our young marriage and Ex finally said it was her or the dog. I chose poorly and ended up being married to her for ten years. The dog found a new home with a guy who owned a ranch on the edge of town and as far as I know lived a really nice life.

Now, if this was a single incident it would be one thing. It wasn't though. I was working overseas and came home more than once to a new pet. Once it was the mixed breed dog that I still have and once it was my daughter's little ankle biter purebred. When we got divorced she insisted on keeping the dogs, only for me to find out two years later that she was going to take my dog (and he was and is my dog...a fact that I was reminded of constantly even though I'm not the one who brought him home!) to the pound. Not call me, not try to find him a home with someone she knew, the damn pound! Why? Because he pooped in the house because he wasn't being let out often enough. We're talking about what might be the world's greatest dog, and my best friend. I was pissed and drove to her (actually still my house, but that's another story) and got the dog immediately.

So now Ex is remarried and already made her husband send his dog back to his mom out of state, and then proceeded to get another dog and a cat. The dog is neglected and the cat (my middle daughter's) almost immediately became an "outside cat". A few weeks ago he disappeared and Ex refused to even call the shelters to check. No driving around, no asking neighbors, nothing. Needless to say middle daughter was heartbroken. Luckily the cat did come back, thankfully. I should note that this cat really should be an inside cat just by temperment.

So yeah, like Tom Segura says, some people suck.

When my dad decided a dog had outlived its usefulness, he'd dig a whole, throw a hot dog in, shoot him in the head after he jumped in after it and fill up the hole.

He'd neuter the cats himself by taking them out to his shop, pop their balls out and take a hatchet to them. They'd run off into the desert, lick their wounds and come back a few days later. If we had female cats or ones hanging around who'd have kittens, he'd just drown the kittens as soon as they were born.

Once when I was in high school, we had a cat who had kittens and he didn't take them. The momma and kittens were hanging out in my room and I was trying to take care of them and shelter them and keep them quiet. One day when they were about 2 weeks old and so cute and their eyes had opened, he got tired of hearing them cry and brought me a paper bag and told me I could keep two of them and to put the others in the sack. I knew it was so he could go drown them. I think there were 6. I was crying and told him I couldn't pick. He said "then I'll put them all in." So I grabbed two and he picked up the others and took them. I had nightmares about that for years. Had just about worn off when I saw the movie "Sophie's Choice."

But that's just how he was. He really had no capacity to show emotion and no compassion when it came to things like that. Very Asperger's like, but never diagnosed since he was an adult before they really knew much about it, so I don't know where he would have landed on the scale.

When our favorite family dog, a yellow lab, got old and sick, I had married and moved out but I was told that he made a bed for her in the garage with a heater and put a rocking chair out there so he could sit by her. And he let her live until she died naturally. That actually made me cry because he cared about her so much when it wasn't like him, that I felt really bad for his loss.

NormaRae Wrote:
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> When our favorite family dog, a yellow lab, got
> old and sick, I had married and moved out but I
> was told that he made a bed for her in the garage
> with a heater and put a rocking chair out there so
> he could sit by her. And he let her live until she
> died naturally. That actually made me cry because
> he cared about her so much when it wasn't like
> him, that I felt really bad for his loss.

Wow. It was like reading reverse Old Yeller.

"Reverse Old Yeller." Made me laugh so hard. But yeah, that's kinda what it was.

By way of disclaimer. I'm not a pet lover. I appreciate that other people are. I just got my hair cut yesterday at my friends house and he has 3 dogs. They did their territorial defense thing. I understand because they are creatures doing their thing. I understand this and actually appreciate it.

What I don't appreciate is people with pets who automatically assume I like their dog or cat and I'm not bothered by them. My friends know I'm not into pets and for other people I can appreciate them but I don't personally appreciate many pets. I can count on one hand the dogs I've enjoyed interacting with in my life.

But like my parents there are so many people out there for whom I think are clueless to the reality dealing with their animal is for people who don't welcome those interactions. I'll never understand how some people can be so clueless. It is like "everyone loves animals." No, this isn't true. This is my parent's mindset and not mine.

Elder Berry, I totally agree.
I am a dog lover but I do believe pet owners, dog or cat, should keep them away from guests in their homes. Even people who like animals don't always want some dog jumping on them or licking them. They also don't wantbcats rubbing against them. GUESTS in your home should be made as comfortable as possible. Respect the boundaries of others. Unless your guest ASKS to engage with your pet, keep them away. Besides, your guest came to visit YOU not your pet.

Plus, on every court tv show on pet bites I've ever seen, the pet owners always say, "He's never bitten anyone. He's not a vicious dog."
....Yeah. Until THAT day...PAY UP.

Also, some people are horribly afraid of dogs no matter how loving and gentle your Fido is.

Yes, it's your home and your pet's. But whatever happened to being a good host/hostess by making an INVITED guest feel comfortable and welcomed?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2018 01:10PM by lisadee.