to be sick of people who buy jemima/shaznee a pet rabbit/guinea pig/hamster then fail to look after it when the child gets bored?

[DANCESwithLordPottingtonSmythe]

JUST DON'T GET ONE if you don't want to look after it (because if you have half a brain cell you will know that children will not always want to clean out a dirty cage so you will end up doing it). It's animal cruelty to leave it in a cage full of it's own faeces. YOUR CHILDREN DO NOT NEED TO HAVE EVERYTHING THEY WANT. GRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr this makes me so (having recently seen a prime example at a friend's house).

[cornsilk]

Agree.
Can you rescue the rabbit/guinea pig/hamster?

[DANCESwithLordPottingtonSmythe]

Unfortunately not. Can't explain for fear of outing myself but in this case no I can't. I've seen it so many times it drives me mad. I think because they are small animals people think it doesn't matter so much.

[cornsilk]

That makes me mad also. We have a house bunny and I know he would just hate to be sat in a cage in his own poo all day. Very cruel.

[Thisismynewname]

Totally agree.

My Mum got me a rabbit when I was about 8 after I had nagged for years. It started off in a big hutch. My Mum couldn't bear to see it cooped up so my Dad make it a run, then my Mum rabbit-proofed the back yard so it could run free all day and finally it ended up having the run of the house and the garden 24/7.

She couldn't bear the idea of the poor thing being locked up with no freedom and no company but plenty of my friends at the time had rabbits that were never let out our cleaned out.

[meridian]

its jsut as bad when they do it with bigger animals too... the neighbours have 2 staffy dogs.. they are locked in a makeshift kennel with a shed.. about 20 hours a day maybe mroe.. and they bark all the time... the male is evil... I don't understand why they bought them to not take care of them... I hate that... I would love a dog but I wouldn't feel right to have a dog becuse we go away to the states for 3 weeks at a time and that is not fair to a dog that is totally dependant on you...

I told my DH that I wanted to work at one of the animal charities.. but I think it would upset me too much TBH... I'm a bit of a sop and ould want to rescue all of them..

[belgo]

I can't stand to see our rabbit cooped up in the hutch all day. So it has the run of our garden for at least half the day, every day, sometimes the whole day. It's lovely to see it jumping around on the grass. Not so lovely to see it digging brick walls.

[DANCESwithLordPottingtonSmythe]

That's the thing Mrs Woolf, they should find a new owner. If you can't/won't look after animal then for f*cks goodness sake give it to someone who wants to, don't just turn a blind eye.

[scorpio1]

yanbu

my friend got rid of her puppy after 3 weeks - she now wants to buy her pfb a pony

am tempted to ring the seller tbh. its unfair

[DANCESwithLordPottingtonSmythe]

OMG! A pony! Has she no idea how much they cost?! At least she can't leave it shut in a cupboard and forget about it...

[scorpio1]

i know. she is terrible about looking after things too. i think its a bad idea i really do. i do have sellers number....pfb is 3 btw

[VictorianSqualor]

My friend used to do this all the time, the amount of dogs/cats/rabbits etc she has had then got bored of is ridiculous.

Even her mum says what's the bloody point when she gets one.

She likes the idea of having a pet but not the reality of it. My cat was actually hers but we took it with us one day after we went round to see her and she was moaning about how it annoyed her.

YANBU

[DANCESwithLordPottingtonSmythe]

Scorpio - 3yrs old?! I think you need to have a word with your friend, maybe about costs if common sense is otherwise lacking!

[cornsilk]

A pony at 3? What's she going to follow that one up with then? A lion?

[lucyellensmum]

I have seen this so many times when i worked at the vets. Negelected bunny rabbits, stuck in their cages to rot - litereally in some cases as we had to treat so many poor bastards with fly strike (maggot infestation basically eating them away) Where they have been left to fester in their own shit all day [agnry] Ive had to put down too many bunnies who were too far gone to save - to be fair, fly strike can be fatal within hours and can affect even the most fastidious owners bunnies. But when i used to get peopele ring me and say "my rabbit has a shitty bum, what can i do" i would say, "bring it in, we will clip and clean it for you - it will most likely have urine scold and that is incredibly painful, also there is the risk of fly strike" then i would get, well i can't come at this time because i have to take little jemima to ballet, i cant get there, "how much?" yes, well its expensive owning a pet and there are time commitments, get used to it.

Breaks my heart.

Cage pets were far the most badly treated and it wasn't just the jemimia/shaznee mums either, as the OP implied, it was mostly the middle class, "my children operate to a tight schedule" parents taht were the worse, especially when it came to paying. The working classes tend to be more conciencious about animal care ime.

I am actually crap about looking after cage pets myself and have said that there will be definately NO cage pets in my house again, EVER. I don't care how much DD pleads, no hamsters, no rabbits, no guinea pigs, nothing. She has a dog, so she is lucky.

[lucyellensmum]

ah but at least with a pony, if she has more money than sense, she can stick the thing in livery and pay someone else to look after it and take little jemima along once a week do sit on its back! Actually, most of the children who I have seen with horses tend to grow up really quickly, have a good sense of responsibility and get really involved in their horses care. Then of course, most of them discover boys . Three is too young in my opinion to benefit from her own pony but if her parents have the money then i can only say i am .

[scorpio1]

i think its very silly of her. her eldest dc is 3, she has an 18mth old and is pg again, has had to get rid of a rabbit, cat and a puppy lately because she cannot cope...

its a shetland. i dont even know where she is going to keep it. The pony is £600 - i know for a fact she has a huge tax bill to pay (priorities??)but she is not the person to tell what to do...i just know it will be flavour of the month and then get left. She text yesterday saying pony is lovely, if dc like it then i will get it (urr, she is 3, of fucking course she is going to like it you dick)

Sorry, just angry about it.

[scorpio1]

they could not afford to come to the pub the other day with us. says it all really.

[scorpio1]

her dh and mine work together so i know how much her family earns, she is a SAHM like me. They cannot afford it.

[scottishmum007]

YANBU. That's why we won't be having any pets. They're a tie if you want to go anywhere on hols etc.

[MarmadukeScarlet]

£600 for a shetland? Can it fly or something?

I have shetlands, adorable but farking pita and not good first lead rein ponies either as legs so short make for a bumpy ride.

[DANCESwithLordPottingtonSmythe]

Lucyellensmum - the reason I said jemima/shaznee was to imply it applied to ALL classes FGS. (Jemima - posh, shaznee - not posh)

[lucyellensmum]

Then you should tell her scorpio that it wont stop at £600 pounds.

Firstly, where are they planning on keeping it? Full livery for a pony can be between £40 to £70 per WEEK. It is less if you DIY but she doesnt sound like she has the time. If the horse is shod, it will need the farrier to visit every six to eight weeks - wince, another £60! even if its not shod it will need its feet checked at least. Then there is vaccinations, wormers (£15 a month if i remember rightly ) Cant remember how much vaccinations cost as i worked in a vets when i was looking into getting a horse so would have got that free. Still coudlnt afford it. What else, insurance and absolute must - my friend has a pony, she gets a discout because she is a vet and it still costs £200 a MONTH I kid you not! Food is actually the cheapest bit. But it will need tack unless he comes with that, often they do - but you are looking anywhere up to £500 for new tack. The list goes on, and on, and on..,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hence i remain horseless.

So, does your friend know ANYTHING about horses, a visit from a vet will cost about £40 before you start, most things wont be covered by insurance as the excess wont cover it etc.

Shetland ponies, whilst lovely are stubborn little feckers and STRONG, My friend has one, he stands about 30" from the ground and pulled me over when i was looking after him and im a big old bird.

So lets think monthly outlay then;
Livery/grazing - £200
Insurance - £150
wormer - £10
Feed - £20
Shoes/feet £30

That is looking at the cheaper options - So, thats what? £410 a month!! She must have money to burn. I know lots of people with horses, they all have good jobs, but will tell you their horses keep them poor.

[lucyellensmum]

I realise that now Dances Jemima V posh

[scottishmum007]

i've got better things to spend my money on than a pet, fair do's to those who choose to fork out that amount. phew lucyellensmum, that list is fairly exhaustive!!