to think some people should not have pets?

[LetsChangeNamesForThis]

Need to change the details a bit to make this less recognisable... hm.

A family member keeps getting pets. Their children aged 7 to 12 are quite keen on them, but don't really take care of them - it's more about getting a new pet, then they lose interest quite soon, so the parents end up taking care of them.

Over the last 12 months, the fish boiled to death died because they forgot to move the aquarium out of the very hot conservatory in summer. A snake died of starvation and they didn't even realise that it hadn't moved for several days. The puppy was run over by the family car. The kitten ran away and was found dead in a ditch.

AIBU to think that adding more pets to the menagerie at this stage would be somewhat irresponsible? And to not want their very, very patronising childcare advice either?

Some people make me puke. Love that cat, Joffrey.

YANBU - this really annoys me

Too many people give little to no thought about the time, care and money pets need and deserve.

In some ways, my neighbour is like this. They have a dog and several chickens. Only problem is, they are barely at home. Don't get me wrong, the animals are not mistreated , but the dog spends more time with their parents than at home and my husband looks after the chickens nearly every weekend plus longer when they go away (he is currently looking after them for 3 weeks! ) I do wonder why they have them sometimes

I would love a dog but wouldn't dream of getting one at the moment as we both work full time and have a young son so we don't have the time to commit.

YANBU. I would go so far as to say you should have to pass stringent checks before being allowed to own a pet.

Creme: I can't help but agree tbh. Though thinking about it I would worry about checks given that rescue centres can be arbitrarily strict sometimes.

Our NDN kindly offered my DD a pair of rabbits since his own rabbit (he has several hutches of them) has had a litter.

We deliberated and prepared and now DD is the proud owner of a lovely pair of lops which have a playhouse to live in and their own fenced in patio area so they can come and go in and out as they please. All safe and secure.

When I look out of my DD's window down at them and then look across to NDN's garden where his rabbits sit hunched in one place, not moving with nothing for stimulation it makes me sad.

Eve I like the sound of your girl. Glad the mice got to live out their lives.

The checks rescues go through are necessary though because after all the animals have already been through they are trying to make sure they don't go back into a situation where they might be cruelly treated or neglected. I do the home visits for a large rescue and all the questions are there to protect the animals. Some of the animals I rehome have had a horrible start in life and it's our responsibility to make sure they find the right home. We are not trying to not place animals though - we want to rehome them. But if someone lives on a busy road we know has had lots of cat deaths then I'm not going to give them a cat, because it's not likely that cat will survive very long.

Ditto horses - if you can't tell me how to prevent colic, or you don't have enough grazing, then I'm not going to give you a horse - because I'd be putting the horse at risk of illness or -if you've not thought it through properly - then yob might have to give the horse back or rehome it on. I need to make sure it's the best home for that animal. We do work with people though to educate them and of someone shows willing to learn eg they will go on a course to learn about the animal then of course that shows they'll be a conscientious owner. In those cases I'd do my best to help them get the animal.

We do have people moan that we won't let them have a dog if they work all day - but why would I rehome a dog for it to sit in house alone all day? It's not the right home for the dog. If they said though that they'd be out only 2 hours or would put dog in day care then of course that's different. Many of our dogs have anxiety as result of their treatment on the past and if I were to say yes to a home with no one there a lot then this could escalate. Result being it's likely dog would come back.

lala I do totally understand that and agree with it, but I can imagine that any checks to own a pet would be based on a rescue centre check as they are the only thing they could base it on. So a lot of people who would give a loving home to a pet would be not allowed because of something they're missing or because their garden isn't big enough or inside space isn't big enough, etc.

As you said, people who work all day wouldn't be able to take in a dog, which is fair enough, as is the proviso that they can if they make provisions for it to be in human company whilst they are at work, but I know that some rescues categorically say no to people who work, even when they are willing to find ways to ensure that the dog is in company. It's things like that which would be difficult. I've heard of people being turned down for rescue dogs for having a small garden, despite they fact that they live a two-minute walk from the south downs and spend half of their leisure time walking for pleasure so the dog will have plenty of outside time. Basically it's the box ticking criteria, if people are willing to find compromises (that work) I don't think that they should be turned down to own a pet, but some rescues will turn them down because they have to tick the boxes. If those checks then became required for all pet owners, I could see there being a huge difference in individual inspectors and what they deem as acceptable or not. A bit like Ofsted and their inspectors actually!

I don't think I'd pass any pet-owning criteria based on the size of my flat I live in a glorified box and the three large cages do take up a considerable amount of our space. But they're happy and we were happy to sacrifice that space

I do think that a knowledge of the animal, their environment, their diet, any illnesses that are common in them and knowing where the nearest suitable vet is should be criteria for owning a pet. Also, details of somebody who can advise you should you need advice be that a breeder of the animal or somebody who has owned them for a decent amount of time.

The amount of people who come onto rat forums panicking that their rat has a bloody nose is ridiculous, it's something that came up within ten minutes of my research before I had even decided to get one. People who put them in hamster cages, or cages with large bar spacing, and wonder why they aren't happy or manage to get out. Then those who show pictures of their bare cages with no hammocks and unsuitable hamster wheels. Just a small bit of research would have given them a much better idea about how to care for them.

We get trained to use common sense so if someone wanted dog but had small garden, but were 2 mins from park, then I would chat to them about their plans for dog and you can suss out whether they're likely to take it out often for walks.

Depending on size of dog too I've got to look at fence. Standard is 6ft for having dog but if it's small dog then obviously that makes no sense so I'd adjust it and mark in notes my recommendation

Same with horses - obviously if I'm rehoming a Shetland they need less space than a large breed.

I'd hope rescues were sensible and trying to be flexible. I wouldn't budge on busy road with cats though as I don't think it's fair on the cats as they wouldn't stand a chance. Unless of course they'd be indoors only.

We do get lots of complaints that we are too stringent but if folk want an animal from us they do need to understand we are looking to make the animals life better, not put them in another situation where they might suffer. I've refused people for a young horse because field was surrounded by barbed wire and they refused to put fence or electric tape in front of it. If a prospective horse owner can't understand risks of barbed wire they shouldn't have a horse. I've only refused one person though in two years of doing the checks. Hopefully that means I'm not being harsh!

3 years ago Ds wanted gerbils.

I bought him 2, even though I wasn't keen to have them I accepted the responsibility for them.

Ds got bored after a month, but I remind him every day to make sure they have fresh food and fresh water. That he helps me clean out the cage and they are handled every day.

He hasn't asked for another pet, because I have made sure he has kept up the responsibility for them.

lala It sounds like your rescue has sense! I know that most likely do work in a similar way to you, it's just the few who don't "bend the rules" despite the common sense saying that actually, that can be compromised on.

RE the horse and barbed wire, that is somewhat ridiculous! I know a lot of people will try it on too, obviously!

Another thing I've just thought of: Hypothetically with this "pet license", would there be a limit to how many pets one person can have? Would there be a rule against having certain types of pets together? Or just strict regulations?

Piper that was really sensible of you! I think some parents would either have looked after them themselves or rehomed them. Hopefully he now realises what a responsibility they are

Re pet licence - very difficult to police once in place and local authorities are already stretched. So realistically I can't see it happening. But it would be nice. I'd like to see tougher policing of pet shops so animals are sold to right person and with care information.

Yanbu. That is why some people are banned from having them.