People who surrender their pets are horrible people

I would think being destitute would be the one of the few justifiable reasons to surrender a pet. Isn't it better they go to someone who can feed them if you can't?

I would also make an allowance for an elderly person going into long-term care or a nursing home where they're not allowed to have pets.

Anyone else...maybe not.

Why?

Surrender Dorothy!

I used to work next to a pet store and I sadly learned how much people return pets.

People like and want animals for very shallow reasons.

I would love to have a dog but I wouldn’t be able to take care of it. I probably live the same life the average person lives but I still don’t think I’d have the time to balance it with a dog. I would feel bad when I’m not there for it.

Same. And I have the perfect life for a dog. Work half of the time from home, and even when I do have office days, I come and go as I please and only live 10 minutes from work. House with a fenced in backyard. Pretty good free time to take care of the dog. But, I still hedge and don't think it would be a good decision.

Sometimes people "surrender" their newborn because they know they're not equipped to take care of the child, and hopefully the newborn goes to a very good person. If that's acceptable, please don't try to convince us that the same can't be true if it's a dog that is surrendered. There are good reasons for both.

If the puppy is armed it's the wisest choice.

^ very wise

I see a lot of homeless people downtown in my city and several of them "adopted" stray dogs as pets. I feel so bad because the dogs look so emaciated, much like they're owners who are usually drug addicts and barely eat themselves let alone think to feed the animal. I don't understand why a homeless person would need a dog actually, if they're strays they are better off on their own than under the "care" of a fentanyl addict.

If you are destitute, and with your best friends (pets) to feed, believe me they would rather be next to you and weather the circumstances than with untouched bowls of food in strange surroundings. They love you, want to be right next to you, come whatever, they are your pack, where you sleep is their den, you are their family and they are yours. There will always people to help and feed you all whatever your path.

"I don't understand why a homeless person would need a dog actually"

To live. People won't give money to a homeless person but they will to a starving dog.

As long as that dog is a pet.

It's psychology, dear.

Seriously, since when do humans decide how dogs want to live. Dogs love to have a job, a purpose, a master, a mission. If there’s not that for them then yeah they can loll around the house all day waiting for you to get home from work. Either way, it’s about you their person.

You're being judgmental, OP. Maybe you need to learn the lessons that only living hand to mouth can teach. Destitute? Gimme a fucking break. You live in an Ivory Tower.

My neighbour committed suicide last week. It was horrible, we found out by driving past by as the gurney was wheeled out. And that night we realised we couldn’t hear her greyhounds barking and we were petrified that she took them out first.

The next day we found out that the entire street had been peering out the windows as various police vehicles had come and gone all day, and fortunately, the dogs had been collected by the police earlier on.

Don't force your pets to go hungry and cold just because you can't bear to lose them. That's selfish to an ugly extreme. Do what's best for them, not you. Dogs and cats love nothing so much as food. Remember that. Hunger hurts, dammit. Cold kills. FCS

Give to those who have so much nothing compared to you. What is wrong with you that you could walk by a person sitting on a spread- out coat and hat , and just feel contempt? WTF. Part of having at all would be to pass out 20.00 bills indiscriminately. Like the first Rockefeller and his dimes. Brighten someone’s day who doesn’t deserve it you say, someone who should hike up their bootstraps you say, someone who if they work Really Really hard can also be rich like inherited wealth “small loan of a million dollars from Dad” Trump. Just give it asshole. Does it really really hurt you to?

Is there a message in that R14?

Years ago, we had an elderly dog and thought it’d be a good idea to get a puppy to buffer his impending death, despite that eight years prior I had originally adopted the first dog KNOWING he could be the only dog in the house. He came from a home where he acted out when a new puppy was introduced.

My adoption went terribly awry, the pup kept abusing the older one badly, was a terror, and was giving my husband severe anxiety attacks I’d never seen before or since. The people that gave us the dog lied about it’s disposition to get rid of it and wouldn’t take it back.

I knew it would take months to train and could’ve kept the dog, but not my new husband at the same time. I was forever thankful to have a place to surrender the animal, they made me sit on a bench for over an hour with it, it was one of the most horrendous experiences I’ve ever dealt with and vowed never to ever go through again. We’re the happy owners of three dogs since, and it was carefully orchestrated.

If adopting a dog seems iffy to you, go with your instinct, you’ll be glad you did! I wish I had rather than act impulsively.

I might be one of the very few lucky ones. I have three shih tzus, 15, 16 and 17 years old, and they never get sick and never get jabbed. But I feel they are dying soon, though.

R19, when you go through the death of a dog, it changes you.

I realize now I treasure every moment I can with my three puppas because I don’t really “own” them. Sooner or later they have to go back to Heaven. As much as I regret surrendering that dog, it firmed the resolve to love these three as much as I can.

R17 The neighbor took herself out and there was a fear the dogs were killed as well.

My cat was surrendered by her terminally ill owner.

To give a pet away is to torture a pet. Whether you realise it or not, they cleave to your soul the moment you begin to take care of them

Far kinder to put it down.

R23, I thought this too but when I adopted a dog, he became very different with me than with his previous owner, and was 8 already. He would pee all over her home, protesting over having a new addition puppy to the family. He only needed a little bit of training and was one of the best dogs I ever owned, my little guy lived to 19!

He never peed once in my home, and when I spoke to the previous owner, she seemed upset and bewildered about it, because it was the only reason why she gave him up. She actually watched him for awhile while I was away and started doing it again! LOL

I agree they form a strong bond to the owner.

I agree with r23 besides if you owner surrender a dog or cat to animal control it will sit for a day or two in a kennel then be euthanized. Shelters across the country are jam packed with unwanted pets.

I can't speak for the rest of Canada, but the Nova Scotia SPCA has a no-kill policy. If an animal remains in a particular shelter for a certain length of time, it will be transported to another shelter. Lather, rinse, repeat, until the animal finds a home.

Regarding people surrendering pets: Sometimes unexpected life situations occur. For example, my elderly cat, Miss Lucy, had two previous homes. She originally lived with an elderly lady who had to enter a special care facility. The lady's daughter took Lucy and her sister, Cinder (deceased.) A couple of years later, the daughter moved to an apartment complex that did not allow pets, and both cats were surrendered to the local shelter.

I

I've had three cats who had prior owners and no, they would not have been better off dead.

"Cleave to your soul"???

Pet owners in general are weird.

It's not natural to own another lifeform.

Here I was thinking pet owners are good people, not judgmental assholes.

So r23, after three years with me, should I still put her down?

Fuck that R11 and fuck your psychology. These people are addicts who can't even be responsible for their own lives let alone another lifeform. How can you be a responsible pet owner if you're fucking homeless? Obviously you wouldn't be able to take these dogs to get their shots and things like that. Ive also seen these fuckers hitting and kicking them around,obviously that's abuse. Like I said these dogs are strays and better off on their own and these assholes need to be off the streets and in rehab or jail.

We were gifted a golden retriever by a friend. We lived in a condo. We both worked long hours and were usually gone 12 hours a day. It wasn’t fair for an active dog to be alone so much. We had a dog walker, but goldens need lots of companionship. It was horribly unfair to the dog. A friend’s dad lived on a farm and had grandchildren. So we asked the dad if he would be interested in taking the dog. He agreed and we sent the golden to a better situation than we could provide. So if that’s cruel, OP, I’ll live with the burden of your condemnation.

I tend to think that surrendering a pet (or a child) is better than holding onto an unwanted pet or a pet someone is unable for whatever reason (good, bad, crazy) to give them what they need and deserve.

R32 I knew a homeless guy, his dog ate before he did. And living on the street, they’ll give out dog food before they’ll give food to the homeless person, not only have I seen it, I’ve done it. I used to buy him dog food when he’d ask me.

I had to give my cats up to move to Small-town London. So sad.

If you're surrendering your pets because you are truly poor and broke and unable to care for yourself, let alone a pet(s), that's very sad and no judgment at all in doing so. The pets will be better off in a no-kill shelter or rescue. If people can find homes for them before the crisis hits hard that's wonderful, but not everyone can.

HOWEVER.... if you just "return" pets because hey they're not as cute as I thought, or they're too much work for just me, or gee I'd rather have a tropical fish, or I might want a designer dog later with my boyfriend when I move in with him, but this is inconvenient NOW, yeah. You're horrible. (I've heard these excuses)

I completely agree OP. Unfortunately, some people don't look at their pets as members of their family. They look at them as possessions, commodities to be kept only as long as they give them joy. When they tire of them they just cast them aside.

Sometimes when you realize you're in over your head, putting up a pet for adoption is the responsible thing to do. The problem is that many people want baby animals - because they are cute and they think they'll be easier to handle. Maybe there is something deeper goojg on yet and people believe they can "fall in love" and establish a bond better from their side of it's a baby animal too. For myself I found this not to be the case. Two of my three guinea pigs are adopted and they thrive together. One cannot see very well which made him very shy and the other has all sorts of issues, coming from a chain smoker's home. The latter has long hair that had to be gently brushed and clipped. (Tangle teezer brushes are the best.) The long hair makes it complicate for someone who never did it before to clip her nails and when I got her, they were growing in curls. Watching the three is like watching a soap opera. I'm happy to have adopted and the people who surrendered them did a good thing.

I'll never kept a pet again as i don't have a settled life. I have a couple of neighborhood cats who wander in and out and that's going to be it for for me.

It's easy to say that when you've got enough money to look after your pets. But if you couldn't pay for both pet food and food for yourself or your children, I think you'd feel differently.

R1 It's possible to have them fostered, or if you can afford it, to board them until you regain your footing if your are poor.

A friend got a pandemic doggie from a shelter because she liked the way the dog looked. The dog, Candy has many, many behavioral issues the friend was unware of and had so little training that at five months she didn't respond to her name when called.

Candy is highly active and now living in a small, city apartment after growing up in the country. Traffic freaks her out and causes her to bite trees and lunge at other dogs. My friend has spent thousands in training for this dog but the trainer is a hack who uses aversive methods like a prong collar. Friend also refuses to have the dog medicated although the vet has suggested it.

Long story short--If surrendering the dog improves its quality of life, it's a good thing.

It's OK I think.

Every situation is different. All Animals need love and attention, food water and shelter, the need to bond. I help feed the stray cats in the neighborhood, copious amounts of feed and fresh water. Other neighbors get together and have them spayed/neutered, and return them to the cat colony. They're Sweet and loving and playful, and enjoy being doted on. I can't have pets where I live, but a 20 pound bag of Kit & Kaboodle won't break me, several used butter dishes of fresh water daily Set nearby, the kitties are very appreciative. Some have been adopted out, but the outside cats seem happy, each have very distinctive personalities. I actually look forward to seeing them each day, feeding them, petting them, playing with them, talking to them. I'm officially one of a handful of crazy cat people in the area, and I'm proud to admit it. :-)

I can’t imagine what a child would feel if his/her parents suddenly took them to some place and left them there. It’s too much for me to rationalize, no matter how much their parents are struggling. There must be other ways. How did people with eight or ten kids growing up in the 30s manage? Something akin to “taking a village” to make it work?

Same thing with animals. Have all alternatives been covered?

R37 I'd give my dog to a kill shelter because I am too obese to take it for a walk.

[quote]To give a pet away is to torture a pet. Whether you realise it or not, they cleave to your soul the moment you begin to take care of them. Far kinder to put it down.

R23 Be careful of such generalizations. I had a live-in housekeeper who was always much closer to my dog than I was. It was something special to see. So when I got transferred to another country for work, she asked if I would be willing to let her keep the dog. I was sad to let her go but there was no doubt it was better for the dog. But you think I should have put the dog down? WTF I rescued the dog from a kill-shelter and it remains rescued to this day.

Dogs are not fur babies.

Pet owners are narcissists.

No, your dog doesn't love you. It just wants you to feed it.

There’s some seriously maladjusted people in here. If you can’t see beyond yourself to the point that you would willingly sacrifice what is best for your pet in order to satisfy your own ego and emotional black hole then you need to be as far away from an animal as possible. Your codependency and mental issues are not a pet’s burden to carry no matter how much you try to protect onto them.

Pets are family for some people and they deeply grieve them when they lose their loved one. You can’t demand that people love their pets less just because you don’t approve or think they’re doing too much and acting like the pets are their kids (within reason). So what? It’s none of your business and if it bothers you so much then make a different friend. Also, let’s not pretend that people choose to ignore hyperbole for the sake of casting judgment and having their personal bias confirmed because that’s ultimately what they desire and what they get off on.

R49 Tell that Chris Evans and Henry kevil

Pets are not gods.

Like the saying says, a pet is not just for Christmas, it's for life.

Unless it actually is Christmas and your last nerve has just.been.worked.

After adding a new addition to the pack a few months ago and wasn't transitioning well, I sought help. When I had my first dog as a puppy my austere living conditions in the city required me to do what was needed to train her to the point where she was really the ideal dog. This time around my environment is different and I'd created 'entitled' dogs. The closer we all enmesh and anamorphize dogs the more we screw them up.

Dogs do not love, it's a human emotion that is projected. They respect, and they trust, which is how they become a good dog/pet, but it's not love. They are drawn to power, strength, need a lot of structure and socializing.

Some dogs should be rehomed if it's owners cannot provide what's necessary for the animal to feel protected.

Also a lot of the homeless people I'd seen around/known, made a LOT more panhandling with a tiny dog bc of how much sympathy humans have for dogs. Says something about humanity, IMO.

If you’re destitute, you could always eat your dog

"Cleave to your soul". Oh for fucks sake what nonsense.

Every time I see a homeless person with a dog, the dog appears well-fed and happy. No skinny or morose dogs.

I've taken in dozens of surrendered pets in 2 decades of rescue work.

Some of these have been for good reasons. I am taking in a 4 month old German Shepherd pup on Monday because its owner was recently diagnosed with brain cancer (glioblastoma) and needs to focus on their own health needs. Others have come to me as the result of divorces, recent job losses, and need to move because of financial reasons.

I've also taken in many dogs for piss poor reasons; "I'm recently re-married and my new wife is making me give up my jeep and my dog" is the most common one. The 'worst' reason is "we recently installed white carpeting, and the chocolate lab sheds too much". Frankly, people who install white carpeting in the 2020s are way too stupid to care for a pet.