Comments on: Reasons Not to Buy a Dog

By: crazy cat lady

crazy cat lady — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:15:27 +0000

Thank you for this. As a person who’s rescued countless animals from people who should’ve never gotten them, this is something everyone should read. I’d like to add two to the list, though.

1. Getting a pet on impulse. Any pet. I once took in two turtles because someone bought them on a whim. The conditions they were living in were atrocious. The person had no idea what they were doing or even what they had. They were desert turtles, living in an aquatic environment. Impulse pets are a terrible idea at any time.

2. Getting a pet because it matches your decor. Lest you become like one woman who, when she redecorated, took her cat to the pound because it no longer matched her living room.

People who treat animals terribly are not good people at all. I don’t care what else they do in life. Those who can’t treat the most helpless and dependent of creatures with anything other than kindness and respect are very bad people.

By: seamusandrosy

seamusandrosy — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:42:45 +0000

Agreed – children can be amazingly cruel to dogs. We had a German Shepherd when I was a little girl, and I remember pulling his tail, riding on his back, and more. I only meant it as affection, but the affection of small children is often violent. My mother taught me the proper ways to care for him, but if he hadn’t been an amazingly sweet, well-mannered dog, I’d have been bitten for sure, and I’d have deserved it.

Watch your children all the time with the dog, at least the first few years. They don’t know better and either child or dog can be seriously hurt. (My mother turned around from a task once to see that I had the dog’s tongue in both hands and was pulling it out of his mouth, when I was around one year old. He was fine, I promise! He lived to a ripe old age with no mouth problems, and I felt very bad as soon as I was old enough to understand.)

By: Wolfie!

Wolfie! — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 04:36:24 +0000

Yes, Dogs are often put down because they bit the kids, and rarely do people ask what the child DID to the dog, children can be very cruel to dogs, and to any animal, and should never be left alone with them till they understand respect.

By: jeri

jeri — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 03:34:47 +0000

Thanks I got my little Silky terrier because someone bought a puppy for their children. Thank goodness they just gave me the dog, because I was just about ready to steal her. Now she lives the good life, with more love than most people get. But she is happy, healthy and full of herself. Thanks again, i hope people will read this and think before they put some animal through hell just because they don’t seem to think an animal is to be valued and loved.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:05:00 +0000

We just had to get rid of 2 dogs that we could no longer take care of and were very sad, but we had gotten them for the wrong reasons, too. I hate to see dogs at someone’s house where they should not be. People who live in apartments and are never home.