Pets are not disposable. Farms are not places to drop off your pets.

Jun 08, 2005

I recently visited my family in Kansas. They own a farm, and have always had a dog and a few cats running around. People just drive out there and drop off the cats. These cats then live their lives hunting for rats, eating occasional leftovers, and generally living one step above feral. One cat looked like she was about six months old, was pregnant, and had a large section of her muzzle missing. My aunt thought that she might have fought with a rat. The cats were not taken indoors, and were fed table scraps. They were left to fend for themselves, in and around the barns and silo.

First rant: people who farm are often on the verge. They generally aren’t wealthy, unless they’re part of some larger corporate entity. They do not have enough money to feed every stray that comes across their path. They also do not automatically take every stray into their homes. They raise animals for food, or for their milk (in my aunt’s case). They do not have the automatic “ooooohh how cute” reaction to cats and dogs; rather, it’s “not another mouth to feed”. If you live near farming areas and think that you can drop pets off at one of the farms and “it’s not as if you’d dropped it by the highway”, or “at least it’s still living”...change that thinking. Cats on farms live about three years. It’s not a horrid life, but they’re definitely fending for themselves. If farmers took in every single stray that was dropped off on their property — fed them, got them medical care — they’d go under pretty quickly. Dealing with one cat, or three or four? Not a problem. Dealing with three or four additional cats a year? Problem.

Second rant: pets are not disposable. If you adopt a cat or a dog, make sure that it’s spayed or neutered unless you’re breeding the animal professionally. Do not think that you can easily find homes for several cute kittens or puppies because everyone loves baby animals. And do not — DO NOT — adopt a cat or a dog if you’re not going to take responsibility for its health and happiness for at least twenty years. Some indoor pets live shorter lives, but generally, domesticated dogs and cats live for twenty years. If you’re not absolutely willing to commit to taking care of this animal for that long, don’t bring it home. If you adopt a cat or dog and something happens where you cannot keep the animal, work as hard as you can to find it a good home. Don’t slough the responsibility off onto an animal shelter — many of them are overwhelmed, and your animal (the one that you took the responsibility for when you brought it home) may only have seven more days before it’s killed.

Okay now, let’s sum up:

1. Pets are not disposable
2. Farms are not an automatic safe place to leave your pet if you can’t care for them any longer.

Got it? Good. Don’t make me get my stick.

Keywords: | responsibility | pets | cats |
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