We”ve all seen hand-painted front yard signs that read “free puppies” or “free kittens.” Some folks add “to a good home” at the bottom of the sign. You may have actually been motivated to stop at a house displaying one of these signs and adopt a new family pet. If you didn”t stop, did you ever wonder how many of the kittens or puppies actually found a good home? The chances of a free pet getting a great home are not good. I read that only about 20 percent of giveaway pets experience a positive outcome.
My daughter recently adopted a kitten from her mother”s co-worker. A few days ago my wife was telling me about a disturbing conversation she had with that co-worker. She told my wife that people who put out those free kittens or puppies signs could be unknowingly condemning at least some of the animals to a life of torture and an eventual death sentence.
She went on to explain that there are people who seek out free kittens and puppies to use for a variety of revolting purposes. Some hunters use them to train hunting dogs, dog fighters turn them into training tools for their fighting dogs while others, who adopt animals in good faith, take them home to feed to pet snakes.
I was so appalled by the story my wife told me that I had to look into it to see if it was true. I discovered that it was all true and there is even more to the story. Another group of miscreants, known as “bunchers,” collect giveaways or steal pets to sell to dog fighters and research labs that utilize live animals for testing purposes. If there was such a thing as the karma police, they should be hunting these people down.
I don”t have a problem with the laws of nature. In the wild, most animals have natural enemies that prey upon them for food and that is just how it is. But, I believe it is loathsome for humans to collect animals that are recognized as pets to use as bait, food for other pets or for a paycheck from a research center.
I believe that the majority of the people who wind up with a litter of kittens or puppies to give away are like I was until just a few days ago ? na?ve of the fact that there are sadistic lowlifes out there who will lie that they are taking a free pet for their kids, when in fact their plan doesn”t include a loving home for that adorable kitten or puppy, but the certainty of a horrible death.
There are two easy ways for pet owners to help reduce this serious problem. The absolute best solution is to spay or neuter the family pets. That will eliminate future litters, thereby removing the need to put that free pet sign in the front yard. For those who do not want to spay or neuter their pet, in the future they should at least take the kittens or puppies to a veterinarian for their vaccinations and then charge an adoption fee equal to the cost of each animal”s care. More importantly, their sign needs to be amended to state that the pets are available for a specific adoption fee that covers their initial shots.
As a last resort, litters can be taken to an animal shelter. This will definitely keep the animals from being abused, because shelters charge an adoption fee and screen adopters better than the general public. The only negative is that if a home is not found for an animal, it may be euthanized. There is comfort that it is done humanely and due to need, not because of cruelty or out of ignorance.
I believe we”ve come a long way in the past couple of decades in how we take care of dogs and cats in this country, but we are still far from an acceptable situation.
Gary Dickson is the editor and publisher of the Record-Bee. He can be reached at gdickson@record-bee.com or 263-5636, ext. 24.
