# Grrrr, bad owners



## Heavenly Hedgehogs (Mar 19, 2010)

Not sure what forum to post this on but had to vent..

I just had a lady phone me, she is wanting a hedgehog baby to keep her other hedgehog company,I did tell her that usually hedgehogs don't need a cage buddy. Then she also mentioned that she was thinking about taking in a hedgehog that has been abandoned in an empty apartment by her owners, an older female. I told her if she wanted to give the hedgehog to me I could either find her a home or if I couldn't find a suitable home, I would let her live out her life with me. I mentioned that I am a rescue station for Manitoba. Hopefully if I don't hear back from her it is because she decided to give the hedgehog a home with her.

I seriously don't understand why a person would be cruel enough to move and abandon their pet hedgehog!!! That really makes me mad that they couldn't even be bothered to try to find her a home, it doesn't take much effort!


----------



## packrat (Oct 23, 2010)

Some people are just irresponsible. If they would abandon a hedgehog, you know they probably have made a lot of terrible choices in life. It takes a certain kind of person to feel comfortable leaving behind a pet. I wonder if they at least left a ton of food and water in the cage...


----------



## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

I have a female golden retriever, one of the sweetest dogs I've ever seen, that was abandoned by her previous owner. They moved away and left her and a male behind. The two dogs lived out of dumpsters for most of the summer from what I was told before the SPCA picked them up. She was taken in by a Golden Retriever Rescue and that's how I got her. She is the most loving dog in the world and I can't understand how someone could have just left her behind. So many people look at animals as disposable property.


----------



## cthom (Nov 15, 2011)

it makes me so upset.. how could people abandon animals.. what could they have ever done that horrible to just be left.
i was reading stories about abandon cats the other night i bawled my eyes out for hours. it upsets me ssssooooo much. no animal desreves that. ever.


----------



## Heavenly Hedgehogs (Mar 19, 2010)

There's so many rescues of different animals. Some of my client's dogs came to them after having horrible lives, the people that rescue are very aware that they need alot of love and attention and understanding. They are all in wonderful homes now. It really bothers me how some people think of animals as throw away pets..


----------



## zorropirate (Aug 13, 2010)

IT saddens me to no end how people treat animals. 

I hope that you have the chance to rescue that poor little hedgie. 

All of my furry/quilled/reptilian/crustacean/aquatic family members) (minus my current pair of gerbils and fish) are rescue animals. Some I have met the neglectful former owners, or have rescued from the local shelter where they had been confiscated. 

It boggles my mind how some do not see every living creature as a precious gift, every little trusting soul... how could they not be equal in every regards!?!?!?


----------



## Emiry (Nov 24, 2011)

My uncle has a cat that was abused, than became feral. 

This cat has no social skills with humans and/or animals. Poor girl. She is scared of everything. She tolerated me lying down on the floor in the same room as her, when I had only been there for a day so she is getting better, but she is still really bad. 

She was took in by a program that traps feral cats, spays/neuters and than re-releases. They knew she was not going to make it in the wild, so they took her as one of the re-homes. When my uncle went in to look at the cats (his wife had been told about a few of the cats) he sat down, looked at the cats, looked at her and said "that's my cat". The rescue tried talking him out of it because she was going to be a hard to deal with cat, since she has no social skills(humans or cats) and is scared of everything. He was hearing none of it. He was getting that cat. And he loves her to death. She will be around either him or his wife, and will interact with each of them a bit now, which is good! (I was there when they had her for about a year). 

They slowly figured out that something must have happened to her in her last home, because she purrs, meaning she was born a domestic cat, and few few other things I can no longer remember. They are slowly trying to rehabilitate her to a point where she will trust them, and not be as skittish, but they know it is something she will be for the rest of her life. But they hate whoever did what they did to scar the cat that bad mentally.


----------



## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

I get this a lot with reptiles. Worse is the "if you dont come and get it i will let it loose in the woods "


----------



## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

When we found out who the previous owners of my cat were, they said that they got rid of the cat because they had twins who needed help.
Instead of just having people come over and look at the cat, they put her in a shelter. How long does one think that a $5,000, show winning cat lasts there? Two weeks.
We swooped in and got her right away. I'm amazed at how anyone could do that. :|

Also, I live near an abandoned airport, and people are always dropping off their dogs back there to be abandoned. We have the ASPCA on call to pick them up... the one broke my heart. He sat in the same place, waiting for his owner to come back. Someone on the street took him in... so sad.


----------



## lehaley (Jun 25, 2011)

jerseymike1126 said:


> I get this a lot with reptiles. Worse is the "if you dont come and get it i will let it loose in the woods "


Every time I see Craigslist posts like this, I honestly get nauseous. You know, I understand that sometimes certain life events come up and people are unable to keep their pets for one reason or another. What I DON'T understand is why people don't make a better effort to find their pet a safe home or a safe temporary alternative and say things like "I'm just going to let him/her loose". If you can't find a suitable home for an animal, why wouldn't you find a shelter that would be willing to take the animal? Do people not realize that most domesticated animals don't have the skills or the knowledge to survive on their own?


----------



## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I've run into a few CL postings of similar wording and quite often the person is asking for a $100-150 rehoming fee (hedgehogs). I have to wonder how many of them are serious and how many are using the threat to pull at the heart strings of caring people who may be willing to part with the $$ to "save" the animal. I suspect many of them are just scare tactics.


----------



## Alastrina (Sep 18, 2009)

This attitude people have about animals being "disposable" really boils my blood; case in point, my in-laws.

Because their female cats were in heat and urinating around the house, instead of getting them fixed they just took them to the shelter and dropped them off. Their logic? "It's just a cat and I can't afford to have her fixed" Oh yeah? Quit smoking so (*^*& much and you could afford to have one of them fixed every 2 weeks, so 1 month of cutting back and boom, problem on the way to being solved (obviously some remedial training would be involved to encourage litterbox use). Also if you knew you couldn't afford care at all from the point you adopted them, why get them at all? I know intimately that stuff happens beyond your control and sometimes care isn't easy to fund, but dang, make an effort at least...

My logic: Would you get rid of a child who didn't know any better or with a medical issue? Would you toss out a family member with a bad attitude or mental disorder?

To me, an animal who has a mental issue such as being scared of people or perpetually cranky is just expressing themselves the same as a person would. As long as the animal is not ferociously attacking me and out for blood every time it sees me, I'm content to give it a warm safe place to sleep and food for as long as it is with me. Am I weird for feeling this way? Sometimes I think so... An animal with a physical handicap or other medical condition does not deserve to receive treatment different from any other hale and whole animal in regards to quality of care (yes they often do need special accommodations in care and medicines).

It's just so frustrating. I've got a cat who's a complete a** to everyone but me, and even me he nips at and plays really rough. Does it hurt? You bet. But I also have the choice to steer clear of him when he's in a foul mood. I've had him since he was weaned and I'll have him until he says his last goodbye. The same with my youngest hedgie Mac; he's an ornery little booger but I love him all the same and I've learned to keep my skin away from his face. Simple, right?

I wouldn't have it any other way! I think there's a special place in the afterlife for those who have had little to no regard for the lives of animals.


----------



## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

jerseymike1126 said:


> I get this a lot with reptiles. Worse is the "if you dont come and get it i will let it loose in the woods "


Or worse they'll say something like "I'll turn it into a wallet"
That just makes me nausead at the thought
How could you care for something for years then even say something like that. 
I've only owned my snakes for a few months and I recently had a dream that someone hurt them and I woke up balling.


----------



## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

I get people calling me saying that! Local petco and petsmart have people who know to call me about herps that need help and everyone i know who knows someone doing this contact me about this...half these people try to get you to pay them to rescue their animal...


----------



## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

Thanks for starting this thread! Feels good vent


----------



## Alastrina (Sep 18, 2009)

jerseymike1126 said:


> Thanks for starting this thread! Feels good vent


Yes it does!


----------



## Heavenly Hedgehogs (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks, I felt ticked off and frustrated when I posted the thread. I am hoping the woman took in the abandoned hedgehogs because I didn't hear back from her..
On a happier note all the babies are thriving!


----------



## Guest (Feb 23, 2012)

I got my hedgie as a rescue because i family friends tenant did the exact same thing. they just left her there. shes so sweet and i dont understand why they left her. I hate people who treat animals badly and think they arnt important. I had an ex Killed my 3 year old bunnie because i broke up with him. My bunnie never liked him and use to growl and try and bite him. should have told me something about the kind of person i was with.


----------



## Heavenly Hedgehogs (Mar 19, 2010)

Yes, I don't understand it either. I was looking at a site today, it was before and after pictures of animals, mostly dogs. The shape they were in when found or rescued was appalling. The after pictures of the same animals, once they had new homes and were brought back to health was amazing. People can make such a huge difference in the life of an animal


----------



## Guest (Feb 24, 2012)

On a positive note though there are decent people out there who are willing to open their homes and their hearts to rescue an animal who may not be "perfect" who have behavior or health problems and give them love and a good life.


----------



## fairywinged (May 15, 2012)

I cried the other day cause I was looking online for ways to make home made dog food because my dog has allergies and itches all the time and it makes me sad. But as I was looking I somehow I don't know how but got onto this forum about how to make a dog aggressive. It was heartbreaking, this guy wanted to make his pit bull aggressive. The things people were suggesting locking in dark rooms and poking with hot metal rods, starving, teasing, beating, and many other gruesome things. I was bawling my eyes out this one guy said how his female was to nice so he slaughtered her puppies in front of her and how it worked she bites any human that nears her. Several people said how they killed their dogs for being to nice. TO NICE HOW THE **** IS A DOG TO NICE. It makes me sick. I called a cop that I know and asked what i could do and all he could do was take the forum site information other than that there is nothing. He can't prove that any of it was true and if its not in his jurisdiction he said sadly his hands were tied. I think this people should be strung up and locked in the dark where they are starved and poked with hot metal rods. They are sick. Sorry for the graphic mental images it just kills me inside. I am a person who wishes I had alot of money so I could open a no kill shelter. I love animals with all that I am and want to help all of them that I can. Once I get settled into my own place where I am allowed big animals and stuff I want to foster animals. That way I get to help them get to love on them but don't risk getting to big of herd lol.


----------



## Heavenly Hedgehogs (Mar 19, 2010)

How incredibly sick...........it is so hard to fathom that there are people out there like that. 
I was sent a video via facebook the other day that showed pigs in a factory/gestation farm being abused by staff.
The Humane Society had some undercover workers there filming. Probably nothing will come of it.
I think that people need to learn to have respect and caring for alll living creatures and that needs to start very early in life


----------



## Heavenly Hedgehogs (Mar 19, 2010)

On a happier note, I have my hedgehog Tripod back !! He had gone last year to a loving home, but the couple were moving out of province and asked me if I would like him back.


----------

