(no subject)
When I was younger and still living with my parents we had some next door neighbors I knew quite well. They had children who were 6 and 9 years younger than me and I earned my first money babysitting them. My parents and their parents got along very well and we had a big garden together, I liked them a lot.
Someday they decided to get a cat and my sister and I were full of delight when this cute little kitten was running though our garden and we were playing and cuddling with her.
But unfortunately our neighbors were away quite often, they didn't really spend time with the cat. I think for the kids she soon got boring and the parents didn't care at all.
One day the cat was gone - I hope she just found a nicer home where people where giving her the love she deserved.
Some people would have noticed that maybe they weren't pet people. My neighbors didn't and got another cat. They called her "Schnurri", which is German for "purring", because she was constantly purring, when you picked her up. A few weeks after they got her, she stopped purring. She didn't want to be stroked any more and only came home to eat. The kids were bored again, so the girl decided she wanted a rabbit. So she got a rabbit. But cleaning his cage was annoying, so she didn't really like him. One day he broke free from his cage (he had a cage outside during the summer). It was sunday morning and my mother noticed the rabbit running around in our garden. She didn't want to wake our neighbors, so she woke my sister and me, who then tried to catch that rabbit. He wasn't really used to people so he was very scared and it took a while for us to get him. I finally caught him and he scratched my leg open. You can still see the scars and since then I am really afraid to hold rabbits. So we put him back in the cage and everything was good again. A few weeks later he was missing again. They couldn't find him.
So obviously the girl didn't really like her rabbit. But of course she got a new one. And again it was the same story... she didn't like to clean his cage, she didn't like to feed him.
During the summer they went on vacation and gave the rabbit to another neighbor girl. She really like him and cared for him and when my neighbors came back, they never took that rabbit back. It just stayed at the other girls' house and I guess that's the best that could happen to him.
You'd think that was the last pet they got. But you are wrong. A few months later they got another two rabbits. They built a new cage far away from the house, which resulted in the girl caring even less for them.
One of them had really long hair and needed to be brushed on a regular basis. She never did it.
They then went on vacation again, asking us to feed their pets. My sister and I spent a whole afternoon cutting the felted fur of that rabbit so he could easily move again. It was heartbreaking!
When our neighbors came back, nothing changed. My mother who walked past that cage every day, when she went to water her vegetables, felt sorry for the animals who often not even had water during that hot summer.
She then spoke to the girl's mother and told her how sorry she felt for those poor rabbits. And then the mother said one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard: "Well, if she doesn't care for her pets, they just have to die!"
I am still so appalled by this comment. No creature deserves to suffer, because someone isn't able to properly raise their children! If you get your child a pet and they doesn't care for it, you either have to make them care or care for it yourself. There is not one reason a pet should suffer. NOT ONE!
A few weeks later the first rabbit died. When I asked the girl why he died, she said "I don't know, I think he was sick!"
Today I would just tell her, that she is a lazy brat and that her rabbit probably died from thirst and it was all her fault but back then I was so young, I didn't know what to say. The other rabbit died a while later.
At least that was the last pet they ever got. As long as I know their cat is still alive. Every time I think about people treating animals badly, it reminds me of my neighbors and I get the same helpless feeling I had back then. Yesterday while reading the sad stories on that animal shelter's website I thought about it again and felt guilty, because I could have done more.
Ben is really crazy about hamsters right now. I always tell him he has to be a little bit older to get one, but I really think about getting one for him, when I have the feeling that he is ready. And I know I'm terrified of rabbits, but if he ever disappoints me and doesn't care for that hamster, I will do it. and he will never be allowed to have a pet ever again. I guess that's what I learned from that story.
Someday they decided to get a cat and my sister and I were full of delight when this cute little kitten was running though our garden and we were playing and cuddling with her.
But unfortunately our neighbors were away quite often, they didn't really spend time with the cat. I think for the kids she soon got boring and the parents didn't care at all.
One day the cat was gone - I hope she just found a nicer home where people where giving her the love she deserved.
Some people would have noticed that maybe they weren't pet people. My neighbors didn't and got another cat. They called her "Schnurri", which is German for "purring", because she was constantly purring, when you picked her up. A few weeks after they got her, she stopped purring. She didn't want to be stroked any more and only came home to eat. The kids were bored again, so the girl decided she wanted a rabbit. So she got a rabbit. But cleaning his cage was annoying, so she didn't really like him. One day he broke free from his cage (he had a cage outside during the summer). It was sunday morning and my mother noticed the rabbit running around in our garden. She didn't want to wake our neighbors, so she woke my sister and me, who then tried to catch that rabbit. He wasn't really used to people so he was very scared and it took a while for us to get him. I finally caught him and he scratched my leg open. You can still see the scars and since then I am really afraid to hold rabbits. So we put him back in the cage and everything was good again. A few weeks later he was missing again. They couldn't find him.
So obviously the girl didn't really like her rabbit. But of course she got a new one. And again it was the same story... she didn't like to clean his cage, she didn't like to feed him.
During the summer they went on vacation and gave the rabbit to another neighbor girl. She really like him and cared for him and when my neighbors came back, they never took that rabbit back. It just stayed at the other girls' house and I guess that's the best that could happen to him.
You'd think that was the last pet they got. But you are wrong. A few months later they got another two rabbits. They built a new cage far away from the house, which resulted in the girl caring even less for them.
One of them had really long hair and needed to be brushed on a regular basis. She never did it.
They then went on vacation again, asking us to feed their pets. My sister and I spent a whole afternoon cutting the felted fur of that rabbit so he could easily move again. It was heartbreaking!
When our neighbors came back, nothing changed. My mother who walked past that cage every day, when she went to water her vegetables, felt sorry for the animals who often not even had water during that hot summer.
She then spoke to the girl's mother and told her how sorry she felt for those poor rabbits. And then the mother said one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard: "Well, if she doesn't care for her pets, they just have to die!"
I am still so appalled by this comment. No creature deserves to suffer, because someone isn't able to properly raise their children! If you get your child a pet and they doesn't care for it, you either have to make them care or care for it yourself. There is not one reason a pet should suffer. NOT ONE!
A few weeks later the first rabbit died. When I asked the girl why he died, she said "I don't know, I think he was sick!"
Today I would just tell her, that she is a lazy brat and that her rabbit probably died from thirst and it was all her fault but back then I was so young, I didn't know what to say. The other rabbit died a while later.
At least that was the last pet they ever got. As long as I know their cat is still alive. Every time I think about people treating animals badly, it reminds me of my neighbors and I get the same helpless feeling I had back then. Yesterday while reading the sad stories on that animal shelter's website I thought about it again and felt guilty, because I could have done more.
Ben is really crazy about hamsters right now. I always tell him he has to be a little bit older to get one, but I really think about getting one for him, when I have the feeling that he is ready. And I know I'm terrified of rabbits, but if he ever disappoints me and doesn't care for that hamster, I will do it. and he will never be allowed to have a pet ever again. I guess that's what I learned from that story.