On Wed, 14 Mar 2001, Amber White wrote:
> 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'd say it's certainly part of the point, given that part of her point was
to give people a guilt-trip.
> I'm guilty of buying my animals from pet stores.
So what? I have bought animals from pet stores, I will probably continue
to do so (birds and/or fish) and I used to work in a pet store. I buy
healthy, well-kept animals and never buy from places when it looks to me
as if the care is sub-standard. I also have a shelter cat, a shelter dog,
a purebred Bengal cat from a breeder, and a 3/4 Aussie Shep 1/4 ACD dog
bred from two working parents.
I feel guilty about none of them, and have no intention of changing my
animal buying practices.
> 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!
Again, so what? It's not like the chickens can walk there, after
all.
Are you a vegetarian? The objection can make sense under those
circumstances.
> 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?
You have more employees. The Petsmart in Ft. Collins take pretty good
care of their animals, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one from them. In
fact, one of the birds my husband bought me for my birthday came from
there.
They hand enough time to hand-feed and wean baby 'tiels there, BTW.
Michelle
Flutist
