Pets

I love pets. Got two of them, a dog and a cat. The dog I've mentioned here before; the cat maybe not.

I was just looking at Petfinder.com. I love to browse through and see what dogs there are up for adoption / rescue.

My little doggie came from a pet shop. Pet shops ought not be encouraged. Obviously Petfinder is a better way to find a pet, but I am quite happy with my dog. Sometimes I get to thinking how it might be nice to have another dog, a little girlfriend for my little girl. We could easily have another small to medium-sized dog at our place. Our yard is even equipped with an invisible fence.

It's nice to see there are so many organizations out there - Petfinder, the SPCA, local rescue organizations - eagar to find loving, permanent homes for abandoned or neglected animals, or animals in need of re-homing. I wish all these pets the best, and I wish I could somehow adopt them all, care for them all, and give them all the wonderful lives they so richly deserve.

On the one hand, in society we are encouraged to own pets by rescue organizations for animals. Also, by the pet industry, which is huge. The pet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and of course, it's in their best interests for all households to own a pet or ten.

I'm an excellent, responsible pet owner. I always ensure my animals are healthy and happy. However, the last time I took them to the vet for their routine health checkup (yearly), the total was around $250.00! I have a real problem with that. Here are all these animals who need adopting, but it seems like animals are so costly to own. It shouldn't be that way at all. Why aren't there any low-cost animal health clinics? Next year, when my pets are due, I'm going to try and find some sort of low-cost animal health center - maybe where they train veterinarians - and have them get their health checkup there. The cost of veterinary care is tremendous - and believe me, all these rescue organizations want to make sure you keep the animal in tip-top shape! Better shape than most people. That reminds me of this article from "The Onion".

Pet food is not too costly, really, I guess unless you have a particularly large animal. It's only in recent years that the pet industry has exploded with vet fees, special food, toys, and all manner of accessories for pets that were never-before-heardof. Why, I recall my grandparents owning 5-6 dogs and assorted cats at a time. The dogs would live their whole lives outside, never coming into the house, and would eat all manner of leftover table scraps including bacon grease and lard. As far as I know they never had any special vet visits or food or toys. They lived happy lives. My grandmother used to toss her cat into an onion sack once a year and take it down to the county fair where they had a vet giving a single shot to pets, for rabies. That was it.

Another thing that bugs me is how, when you have a dog, you aren't allowed to take it anywhere. I only discovered this fact once I GOT my dog. I would notice all these nice wooded paths, or paths beside the water or trails or parks somewhere, and think to myself, "gee, wouldn't it be nice to take Chewy there? She could run around and feel so good! And it's such a beautiful place!" Then when I actually WENT, I'd discover on closer examination there were all these signs about "no dogs allowed" or a picture of a dog with a red line through it. Not a pooping dog, just a dog. Not "no dogs pooping", just "no dogs". That really sucks. So here you have these rescue organizations encouraging people to get pets, but to do what with them? "Don't leave your dog chained up!" was a campagain at some point - but where else can I take her? Don't say "to a dog park", because there are none in my immediate area which don't involve a car ride, and those dog parks are often full of ill-behaved Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Great Danes, and other assorted high-energy, large-breed dogs. My dog is a Chihuahua who tips the scales at 7 pounds. I'll hardly turn her loose in one of those dog parks as an appetizer for the larger beasts while their idiotic owners look on and laugh. No.

In some places, they've even banned cats from being let outside (I guess except on a leash, or something). Cats!? Why? Because - cats might kill a bird. Or a mouse. Or a mole, vole, hare, or toad. Cats must be kept indoors to preserve other wildlife. Whaa--?! What gives? Isn't that the point of having a cat? If I didn't keep a cat - and a good mouser, at that - I'd soon be overrun by all manner of varmits living between my walls! I want the cat to hunt. Cats were made to hunt, they are natural predators. How can some people want to contain them solely indoors? Cripes.

So, on the one hand, you have all this encouragement to adopt a pet - and on the other, pets are discouraged. I didn't even mention the idiot people around who complain they have "allergies" (euphamism for "my genes came from the piss-n-shit-contaminated section of the gene pool") and can't be around pets, even other people's pets. Or asswipe losers who are "afraid" of my 7-Lb Chihuahua (like some asswipe I met in a store once when I had my dog with me).

Places you aren't allowed to bring your pet (I know from experience):

- Campgrounds in Quebec (this is the great outdoors, for God's sake!)
- Bike path beside the soulanges canal.
- Watefront in Dorval
- The Old Port of Montreal
- Mount Royal Cemetery
- Campgrounds in Ontario
- Wal-Mart

I have nonetheless entered all of these places with my dog in tow. Once I got kicked out of Wal-Mart for having the dog with me. People have tried to discourage me with my dog from the other places, but I do it anyway. Fuck it!

As you can see, pets are great, but not so great. More places need to be opened up to allow pets. Pets should be allowed everywhere, including restaurants. How many times have I passed up a restaurant meal because the dog wasn't allowed inside? A few times, but never at the food court in Fairview!