Apparently I have a twitch.

It's in my eyebrow area. My assistant warns all the new staff about it. But I don't think that that really prepares them for it when it actually happens. Because although I get frustrated and irritated fairly easily, I don't often get livid enough to twitch.

But one thing sets me off every time.

The thought, (which implies that some thinking has gone into it) that animals are disposable.

A lady phoned the store today. She bought a bunny from us in August. That was her first sentence. Her second was, "Now, I don't want you to think that we're the kind of family to buy a baby bunny and then, when it becomes an adult, get rid of it. We've had a bunny before."

So she proceeded to tell me how she got a baby bunny...

"He was really cute and sweet..."

and it became and adult...

"He bites. He's really aggressive. He attacked my 16 year old daughter..."

and she wanted to get rid of it.

"I just don't think we want him any more. I mean, after all, we've done everything possible to get him to stop."

And what do you suppose 'everything" was, dear readers? If you can figure that out, you're smarter than I. Had she taken him to the vet to see if it was a physical problem? Had she gotten him fixed in the very likely case that it was a hormonal thing? Had she ever bought a book? Talked to a behavioralist? Or even phoned the store for advice? Nope. I don't know what "everything" is, but I sure hope that doctors don't use her definition if they ever have to operate on her kids.

Her solution? To get him euthanized. That's it. Take a perfectly healthy animal, a perfectly healthy pet and kill him rather than spend any time or money to decide if he is salvageable. And why do you suppose that would be her solution? Because it's cheaper than getting him fixed and then maybe having to put him down anyway.

Think this is an isolated case? Think most people are good pet owners? I used to think so too. I used to think that people actually wanted to take care of their animals, they just didn't know how. In fact, I had a very noble profession. I could teach these people how to do better by their pets. But you know what the sad thing is? Most people don't actually care. An animal is property. A friend's mother told me that. And I doubt I will ever be able to look at that woman again without my blood boiling.

My pets are not property. My pets are my confidants, my clowns, my friends. And by taking them into our home, we agreed to take care of the things they couldn't take care of themselves. We agreed to give them the best home possible, not just when it was convenient, but when it was hard.

When my six-month-old kitten had a blockage in her stomach that cost $500 to fix, the doctor only gave her a 50 per cent chance of surviving the operation, and neither Phil, nor myself had jobs, did we put her down? No, we begged and pleaded with the vet, we worked out a payment plan. Of course we had the best vet in the world, who didn't even suggest putting her down. In fact, it didn't even occur to me until someone tried to "prepare" me for the "inevitable". She will be six in 2002. She likes to play fetch.

A mother and son came in to buy a cockatiel. They had discussed it. They had even done research. They had the bird for two days, and then phoned the store to return it. Their reason? It was too much work. They demanded a full refund.

When our guinea pig had her baby, we decided to keep them both. So we got him fixed. When he got vitamin C deficiency, we took him to the vet. We treated him. He got healthy and fat. He and his mom are very happy.

A man bought a turtle from us. He had it for a month. The third week, it developed diarrhea. The fourth week, he took it into the vet. It had a very advanced case of pneumonia. He blamed the store. And refused to pay for treatment that he knew he would get reimbursed for because he said that if the animal died, "it would be better evidence if he tried to sue the pet store."

When Hobey hadn't eaten or drank a thing in two days, and kept vomiting up bile, his mommy Sars coughed up $700 in tests just to find out what was wrong with him. This was after spending $1000 for an unrelated treatment the previous year.

A woman came into the store and saw our 1 1/2 year old rescue cat. She commented on not knowing that our store took adult cats. She then proceeded to say that she used to have two cats. She got them when they were four weeks old. She had had to bottle-feed them. They grew up nice and healthy. But when she moved, she decided that they were too much work. So she had them put down. If she had known about our pet store, she said, she would have brought them in to us. She had bottle-fed them as babies and lived with them for 3-4 years and still considered them disposable!

What the hell is wrong with people? Don't they understand what they're getting into? I mean who walks into a pet store having never in their lives discussed the long-term ramifications of owning a pet? And then buys one anyway! Don't they understand that it's a real, live animal?

Just like any relationship, having a pet is tough. It isn't something you get into because you don't want the work of a human child. It isn't something you do because your kids say they'll 'take care of it'. It isn't something you do because your loved one really wants a pet. And it isn't something you do because you want something to love you. You do it because the whole family understands what's involved and still wants to go ahead with it anyway.

We don't sell pets to everyone. We have questionnaires. We have paperwork. We reject people who check off a "no" to the questions "are you willing to deal with any behavioral problems that may arise?" or "will this animal wind up in an animal shelter?" We reject people who will let their cats free-roam outside. And we reject the people whose landlords say "no pets".

But people lie. They say they have animal care equipment at home that they don't have. They say they own houses they rent. They say they are over eighteen. They say all the right things. And then they do all the wrong ones.

Statistics show that the way people treat animals directly reflects on the way people treat each other. So, animals are disposable? Is that really the message we want to send? Too bad. That's the one that we are sending. Have you ever heard a mother tell her child, "you can have the pet, but if you don't take care of it, I'll get rid of it"? Did you ever stop and think about that? What 10 or 12 year old can really be held 100 per cent accountable for an animal's whole life? They are bound to miss something. And either a) the parent doesn't hold them accountable and teaches them that other people will always do things for them. Or b) the parent follows through, and discards the animal, teaching their children that lives are only important if they walk on two legs and can hold a conversation with you.

But it's no big deal, right? It's only animals.

Only. Animals.

Twitch.

Christmas Movie of the Day: It's been done a million times, but this one is my favorite. A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim. How an actor can be so completely over the top, yet still utterly compelling and riveting is beyond me.

Hey, I've finally set up my Amazon Wish List! Not like I really expect you all to shell out your hard earned cash to buy me presents or anything. No, really.

Mom Rating: 4 out of 5. Despite what she may say, Mom is terribly attached to her dog.

On A Wednesday

Funny

Take me home, big fella

A solemn pledge to try to post daily during the month of December, as both a gift to my readers, as well as a thank you for your support.