Urban Jungle
For most of my veterinary career I have worked for one animal charity or another. Even now in private practice I still perform discounted or free services for various smaller animal charities unable to hire a full-time vet. These experiences have given me much insight into the darker side of pet ownership. During such work I would see endless queues of people abandoning pets for all sorts of reasons.
The process of abandonment requires the owner to fill in a form that gives the reason for abandonment, and no doubt the real reason is rarely written down.
I find it difficult to believe there are so many owners that happen to be emigrating from Hong Kong or having a baby. The latter explanation is certainly not a valid reason for abandonment, as in all but the rarest of cases is the newborn in any danger from the dog or cat. To be fair to some of these owners, there are some human doctors out there who routinely tell people to abandon their pets because of an imminent child or a mild allergy. It is like shooting the patient to cure the disease. My recommendation is to seek a second opinion if anyone tells you to abandon your pet.
Another common reason for abandoning pets is the excuse that the owner doesn't have enough time. This is one excuse I believe to be true, although it should be prefaced with, 'I irresponsibly bought the dog on the spur of the moment, not fully understanding the impact it would have on my lifestyle and the time and resource commitment it takes to rear an animal throughout its long life, which could be well over a decade'. Unfortunately for the animal, it may have to be executed as a result of this excuse. There are tens of thousands of people who lack common sense or empathy towards animals and this makes me sad and disappointed with society, or at least with the education system that allows such an apathetic attitude to develop.
Every day I see a wide variety of clients walk through my clinic doors. There are those who are poor, those who are extremely rich and the myriad of people in between. I see families, working couples, children, singles and elderly people of all nationalities all the time. I see them when they first bring in their newly adopted or bought pets to the day their animal dies. In between there are numerous visits for health or behavioural reasons. I have been in this routine for more then 10 years and I can almost read the sort of owners they will be before they know it themselves.
I teach veterinary students or newly graduated vets that come through my clinic as interns to remember that being a vet isn't all about animals. In fact, I think its 30 per cent animal care and 70 per cent client education. It is through client education that you will improve the living standard of the animal.
I often take a pessimistic attitude when I see new clients that have just bought their first puppy in for its first check-up. I usually make an assessment of the owner's animal know-how by asking them about their animal-caring experience before I proceed. I then adjust my consultation style depending on their experience. If it is a first-time owner with no experience, I will concentrate on the basics of toilet training and ways to avoid making the dog aggressive, as well as the usual basic husbandry advice.
In my experience these two issues are really the primary reasons why people distance themselves from their pets and eventually abandon them.
During my work with animal shelters, I have found that during the adoption or purchasing process there is plenty of instruction on how to care for the animal but not enough about training. To put it simply, my theory is that by teaching owners how to avoid annoying pet behaviour, we will have the biggest impact in reducing the number of animals abandoned.
There isn't much you can do about the inevitable idiot that buys an animal without thought on the spur of the moment, who is doomed to failure from the start as he or she simply has no time and has other priorities. But with a carefully directed plan of education, we in the animal health care system can certainly help minimise the problem.
For prospective pet owners reading this, apart from the points I have already made, there is this to consider: your typical dog or cat can commonly live for 16 years. You may be sure you can cover the cost in time and money. But it is difficult to predict all that can happen in the next 16 years of your life and that of your family. Your kids will be teenagers or even at university or working by the time the dog is geriatric. During these tumultuous times the dog will not be their priority and the responsibility will often revert to the parents. Also, never buy a pet for your girlfriend or boyfriend - but I will leave the reason why for you to think about.
