unsuspectingfish:

I found this on Twitter, while following a link from Tastefully Offensive, and I not only hate the “you’re a bad person if you have to surrender a pet” mentality with an undying passion, but I hate that this person used someone’s tragedy to try to “prove” that mentality.

This is absolutely a tragic story, and what we SHOULD learn from this is:

1. You should ALWAYS put your animal’s welfare first, even if that means finding them a new home when you are no longer able to care for them, and there is absolutely NO shame in having to surrender an animal, because an animal is ALWAYS better off with someone who is willing and/or able to give them the best possible care. I commend this person for recognizing that, and I’m sorry that it ended in a tragedy for them.

2. If you’ve adopted an animal with the level of pedigree described, you should also ALWAYS RETURN YOUR ANIMAL TO THE BREEDER. If they’re a reputable breeder, THEY WILL TAKE THEM BACK. This is also relevant to a lot of rescue animals, as well, and I, in fact, had to sign a contract when taking Scully home that stated, if I could no longer care for her, that I would return her to the shelter that I got her from. A lot of places make you do this, because they have resources to SAFELY rehome an animal that you don’t. Some of them even have monetary penalties for breaching the contract you signed (including some breeders, I believe).

3. If you’re not going to or can’t take your pet back to where you got it from, for the love of god, DO YOUR RESEARCH, and don’t just trust what friends/family/acquaintances tell you about a place. Most shelters, rescues, etc. have websites, these days (and, honestly, not having one is your first red flag), and most of them will flat-out tell you their save rates and/or kill rates. If they DON’T, they probably have something to hide. Yes, it is sometimes difficult to find a no-kill shelter or rescue that actually has room to take an animal in, especially if you don’t live in a large city, but it’s still up to YOU to find the one that is best for your pet, and to figure out how to get them there, even if that means finding someone to take care of them for a while (if it’s an absolute time-crunch situation) or waiting to give them up until you know there is a place for the them.

THERE IS NO SHAME IN REHOMING A PET. No matter how much you love them, life happens. Scully is the ultimate testament to that. I would not have her if the circumstances of her previous owner hadn’t changed to the point where she absolutely could not keep her. I’m grateful that the son of that owner did the RIGHT thing, and instead of keeping a cat he didn’t want, gave her to an organization dedicated to finding the right home for her, no matter how long it took. She is my first ever rescue cat, and I can’t even imagine what either of our lives would be like right now if we hadn’t met.

Shelters and rescues exist for a very important reason, and eradicating them or shaming people into keeping pets they can’t properly care for isn’t going to save a whole lot of animals, if any, from pain, misery, or death. There are a lot of better ways to save animals from tragedies like this, including donating to or volunteering at a local shelter or rescue, so that they can help save even more animals.