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Tuesday, February 12, 2002

“He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” – Immanuel Kant

Pets do wonderful things for us. They provide us with companionship. They help us to live longer, healthier and happier lives. They love us without condition. We as pet owners owe it in return to our pets to ensure them healthy and happy lives as well by providing them with loving homes and responsible care.

Unfortunately, there are those who believe – or at least act – to the contrary. Last week the Tribune ran an article about an Albert Lea woman who may be charged with inhumane treatment of animals. In two separate raids, one last week and one in fall of 2000, a combined 91 cats have been taken from her home under allegations of inadequate care.

Her negligence made me remember another instance of animal cruelty. Two years ago, my wife and I adopted a stray kitten that I had found on the street one cold night. We brought her into our home and ran ads, trying to locate the owner. We discovered she was already litterbox trained, so it was obvious that she had come from a home and had not been born in the wild. After a week, no one claimed the kitten, so we decided to keep her. We already had one cat, who at the time happened to have a scheduled appointment at the vet for some booster shots, so we called the vet and arranged to bring in the kitten at the same time for routine tests and vaccinations.

We thought we had saved an animal from a life on the streets, but it was already too late. She unfortunately tested positive for feline leukemia, a deadly and incurable disease, and had to be euthanized. We were sad that she had to be put to sleep, as we had already grown attached to her. We were thankful, though, that we had cared enough to vaccinate our cat in the beginning to prevent her from getting sick as well.

A few days later, we became angry that this had happened. We wondered how anybody could just dump off an animal and leave it to fend for itself. The best we could determine was that someone’s family cat probably had kittens, and the family couldn’t find homes for them, so they just dumped them off outside. Had they taken the responsibility to spay their cat in the first place, the whole issue could have been prevented. Their failure to do so caused at least one death, and probably several more.

When pets are “dumped off,” very few of them will eventually find loving homes and survive. Most of them will die on the streets from sickness and starvation, or in the pound when they aren’t adopted. Even more disturbing is the idea that people who abandon animals are inadvertently (or maybe even deliberately) teaching their children that doing this sort of thing is acceptable. It isn’t. Besides being illegal, it is simply sick and cruel.

Pet ownership carries with it inherent responsibilities that exceed simply providing it with shelter, food and fresh water. When you own a pet, you are responsible for that pet for its entire life. So even before getting that pet, make sure you are prepared and willing to provide care for it for a very long time, including taking it to the vet for routine checkups and vaccinations – don’t wait until it is already sick. By that time, it may be too late. Make sure you are going to want to keep it, even after it grows up and the novelty wears off. And most importantly, unless you are in the business of breeding purebreds, spay or neuter your pet. It keeps the population – and the euthanization – of homeless animals down, and is your duty as a pet owner.

Pets are not “disposable” things. They are living beings – a commitment. Those who cannot – or will not – handle it as such should not even own pets. They are much better suited to have something that doesn’t require any care, such as a plant – the fake kind.

Dustin Petersen is an Albert Lea resident. His column appears Tuesdays.