Beautiful cat up for adoption at the shelter...This is Boots! (Plus a ?)

[WillParkinson]

You've just got to love that expression:



Can someone please tell me why people insist on buying pets from stores when there are so many wonderful animals in shelters just aching for a good home?

The Northwoods Humane Society
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/MI224.html

[Eurobabe]

1. awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

how sweet. my ginger tabby guy was a flea-ridden kitten from the SPCA, and he is the best thing that ever happened in my life!!

Four years later, he is the most beautiful cat ever...Please think about taking a cat or kitten from your local shelter if you want an animal people!!!

[WillParkinson]

2. Now THAT...

Is a contented cat!

Nice job on your part and a great friend on his.

[Bronco69]

3. I've wondered the same thing for years, Will.

Whenever I hear someone talk about buying a pet I always tell them to go to the shelter and adopt one. It breaks my heart to see someone go into a pet store to buy a pet when there are so many living in shelters that need good homes.

[WillParkinson]

4. Mine, too...

Because so many of THOSE will also end up at the shelter.

[benburch]

7. Some progressive pet stores...

... operate their own adoption centers! So a pet store is not necessarily a bad place to get a pet, it just depends on the store!

[WillParkinson]

9. There is a pet store in Milwaukee...

That has a Milwaukee Humane Society area in the store but they still have their own puppies and kitties.

[benburch]

10. For example;

http://www.petsmart.com/adoptions/index.shtml

and

http://www.petco.com/corpinfo_petadoptions.asp?webt=0&

[Bronco69]

12. Thanks for that info.

I wasn't aware of that. I guess I've always associated pet stores with greedy corporate America.

[WillParkinson]

13. Alright...Perhaps I should rephrase it...

Please, give a homeless animal a chance before you buy a store-bought one from a pet store or kennel. They've got lots of love to give.

[Catshrink]

22. I found Ricky at PetsMart.

Didn't realize I was getting a beautiful kitty and a huge attitude!

[WillParkinson]

23. Silly you!

Why do you think they call it "CATTITUDE" in the first place?

[zbird]

5. Precious!

We have a puppy that uses that same expression. It's hard to stay too depressed when you have an animal giving you that look... makes you want to burst out laughing.

[WillParkinson]

6. Dot gives me that look when I'm in the tub...

Like, "Daddy, why are you shaving off the fur? Don't you like the fur? Can you do me next, Daddy?"

[benburch]

8. When I'm in he tub

my cats go crazy! Dad! You are in WATER! Are you OK? Oh Mi Gawd! How Horrible! You are all WET! Oh Mi Gawd! Meow!

[zbird]

11. Crystal (the puppy I mentioned above) loves to help you dry off.

She sits outside the shower and waits for you to get out so she can lick your legs dry. Yeah, I know I can just close the door to the bathroom, but what the heck...

[Bertha Venation]

19. cats' reaction when one steps out of the shower:

~gasp~ That. Was. Amazing. It was all over you! And there was nothing we could do, that glass thing was there . . . .

courtesy of Paula Poundstone.

[Lisa0825]

28. I figure my cat wonders why we go freely into the torture chamber.

She looks at me with such puzzlement when I am in the shower. I wish I could hear what she's thinking!

[ET Awful]

14. If I hadn't taken Quinn, he would have ended up in a shelter :)

I got him one step earlier.

[WillParkinson]

15. And he's lucky you did!

And you've got a friend for life.

[Don_G]

16. I Wondered Why People By Buy Cats And Dogs Too

In fact, I noticed a PETA poster stating that every animal bought at a Pet Store costs a life along with a beautiful pic of a beagle: One of the few times I agree with them.

[gmoney]

17. Selfishness...

Same reason some people will kill to outlaw abortion and spend thousands on extreme fertility treatments rather than adopting a kid. Nobody wants what they perceive to be "damaged goods" -- if an animal is in a shelter, must be something wrong with it, right? If it's from a store

Of course, it doesn't help that the adoption process is so convoluted and expensive itself... to the point where we've even largely outsourced THAT to China.

Not to mention the crazy obsession with "purebred" dogs. Folks would rather have an inbred, disease prone purebred from some inhumane puppy mill than a good honest mutt from the pound that will truly be your best friend.

[radfringe]

18. the only critters I've "paid" for

(other than tropical fish)

were ones I got at a shelter or rescue group

the rest of the critters were found wandering around and rescued -- or ones that came to me along with a sob story

we almost came home yesterday afternoon with another greyhound -- a rescue group was set up outside of grocery store,

while I bringing the car around to the front of the store and my partner was waiting with the grocery carts - the rescue group people were telling her all sorts of sob stories...I could see her weakening

right now we are full up with 4 cats, 1 airedale and 1 greyhound (adopted in Feb) in a tiny 1 bedroom house

sigh....maybe next year or at least until a real heart wrenching story is told....

[Bertha Venation]

20. I WANT IT!

We have six cats, two of them tuxedos like Boots, but I want Boots. :cry:

That cat's so cute. S/he'll be snapped up in no time.

[ikojo]

21. Boots is TOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!!!

I don't understand why people insist upon buying cats and dogs from overpriced "pet" stores. They are often sick and the puppies may come from puppy mills.

My shelter cat is sleeping next to me as I type this.

I hope Boots finds a loving home.

[LWolf]

24. I love that expression.

Boots would be welcome at my place, if my tom Lucy wasn't known to brutalize "intruders."

I have a couple of different questions.

Can someone tell me, please, why spaying and neutering dogs and cats is not mandatory and free? So we would not have a surplus of unwanted, unloved domestic animals?

Can someone please tell me why...oh why, do people get pets that they

1. Don't know how to care for.
2. Don't consider members of their family.
3. Without a lifetime committment to give the animal proper care.

???

I've gotten very few animals from shelters in my long life full of dogs and cats. I lived for many years in a remote area, a favorite place for "pet dumpers." Most of my animals were rescued directly from the desert. All of my animals are with me for their lifetimes. I don't get tired of them. I don't get rid of them.

The one exception; my beautiful lab, "Gypsy." Gypsy was a dumped dog. I was going to take her to a shelter, since I already had 3 dogs. She figured out how to open the gate, come in, and adopt me. Six months later my marriage ended, and I moved to this tiny cottage. I left the other dogs at home with the ex, since they had 5 acres and this place has a little postage stamp. I gave Gypsy to friends who had recently lost their much-loved dog, since the ex resented a 4th dog on the place. I still visit her with her new family.

These days I have 2 hens and 2 cats; abandoned here by the previous resident of the house. And one dog, a beautiful Aussie given to me by a friend who used to breed them; her old matriarch inexplicably started cycling again after doggie menopause, and presented her with 2 puppies. At the age of 10. Needless to say, the old matriarch, as well as the young dad, have both been "snipped" to avoid a repeat.

I hope Boots finds someone who will appreciate the personality he exudes in that picture!

[Lorien]

25. Petsmart, Pet supermarket and Petco only do adoptions

I got a friend a beautiful brown tabby Maine Coon (named him "Bandersnitch", lol!) at Petsmart a few years ago. He had been depressed for most of a year, but Bandersnitch went a long way towards pulling him out of his funk!

I returned twice to try to adopt kittens, but they all had been adopted out by the time I had decided that they were "the ones". I applied for a big white Tom cat, but there were 21 applications for him ahead of mine! I finally bought two "pet quality" kittens from breeders. If you want a purebred animal, check with the shelters and rescue groups first, but breeders also do adoptions or low cost "pet quality" sales of cat that might not otherwise find homes. (After losing a beloved cat to a genetic illness, knowing the health histories of the parents /grandparents was appealing to me). All my previous cats have been strays; my kitty Miro looks like a fat version of boots, in fact!

[WillParkinson]

27. Cat came from a pet store...

But only because she was sickly and no one wanted her.


Then came Misty.


And Heidi...


We got Star from the shelter....and then Cider....And, finally, Dot...

[GhengisKhan]

26. wow..what a cool cat!!!

[newsguyatl]

29. ok, this thread

really makes me want to go adopt a cat -- really really bad.


the main thing that keeps me from doing it tho, is that i'd feel bad just adopting one, yet i don't want the responsibility of two... ugh.

[WillParkinson]

30. Two isn't much harder than one.

In fact, 4 isn't much harder than one.

(Well, OK, a little bit...that's why I got married! Someone had to help take care of the cats...)

[Lindsay]

31. Some cats are quite happy being "only" cats.

I have one like that now, Scooter Pie. I had him and his brother, and I thought Scooter really liked having another cat around. But after Spike died in an accident, Scooter actually seemed relieved. Now he doesn't have to share my attention.

So don't feel guilty if you don't want two cats...just find one who really really wants a human friend.

[newsguyatl]

32. thanks!

[Lorien]

33. Two are easier than one

one can get bored, lonely and destructive. Two keep each other company and are much more well adjusted, less demanding-just easier. :-)

Case in point: