> >If you breed (and I personally hope you don't), PLEASE make sure you
> >have excellent homes for your babies before they are even born to
> >avoid the fate they may have in a pet store.
>So, basically you're telling that you've never a single post on this
>mailing list, right?
>Unless you're illiterate, you can't help but have noticed that many, if
>not most, people here breed gerbils.
I thought that paragraph had been from the post Molly sent back in 1999...and
I wasn't here in 1999, so I can't say whether she'd just joined and therefore
didn't know how many bred, or what. At any rate, that's not the point of
this mailing, but I wanted to say something about it before I went on! (Not
trying to be belligerent, so please don't be offended! :)
I'm guilty of buying my animals from pet stores. Two out of my three pairs
were bought from pet stores, but only one of them was one of those commercial
types. The other one was a small, locally-run affair, and I can assure you
that they took excellent care of ALL their animals, birds AND small critters.
My first pair was adopted from someone who no longer wanted the
responsibility of having gerbils, so at least I did ONE good deed! ;) But I
have to agree with Molly in saying that I was a little leery of the idea of
'big trucks' just for shipping small animals. It reminds me too much of the
way chickens are transported from farms to the slaughterhouse, and I'm sure
that's a horrible comparison to make, but it's the first image that had
popped into my head when I read the mail!
I've never heard of small animals being sent to shelters before, and I'm not
sure that the one near me would have any small animals (they don't seem to be
all that popular around where I live). I can't bear to go in there anymore
(and in fact haven't been there for several years) because my heart breaks to
see all those young puppies and older dogs in those barren cages. Not that
ignoring the problem is any better, but I can't put myself through all that
(and yes, it DOES upset me. A great deal.). At any rate, now that I know
that small animals are sometimes sent to shelters, and since it's not quite
the responsibility of taking home a dog, I think I'll check the place out the
next time I want a gerbil.
This probably didn't have much of a point, other than to get my feelings on
the situation out. I wouldn't mind selling gerbils to a pet shop like the
one I bought my second pair from (the locally owned one), because I know for
a fact that they took good care of their animals. And I still love going to
stores like PetSmart and Petco, but I go there to buy supplies (sometimes
fish), and not the other animals. Stores like that shouldn't be selling
animals, because their major focus is supposed to be pet SUPPLIES. And how
much attention can you pay to the live animals when you've got rows upon rows
upon rows of shelves that need to be stocked on a daily basis?
Okay, sorry. That's all for my rambling!
~*~Amber~*~
