What types of pets can you adopt, well the answer is most any type of pet. I don’t know if a lot of people realize this, so I decided to blog about it. Sadly a lot of pets end up at shelters, lost, surrendered, or abandoned because people don’t do their due diligence prior to getting a pet & sadly end up figuring out it is not what they expected. Sometimes the financial responsibility is too much, time commitment, the care of the pet, the fact that the pet is messy, the Veterinarian costs, the longevity of a pet or other reason. Before bringing home any new pet I can’t say enough about researching the type of pet you are interested in. With the internet these days & the library there are so many places to gather information from.
Some things to think about before getting a pet are:
1. Is my living situation stable & do I have the room & am I allowed to have this type of pet where I live? If I were to move can I easily find a place where I can have this type of pet. Example: A Macaw Parrot is large & can be loud & would not be suitable for an apartment.
2. Am I committed & able to care for this pet for its whole life?. Sadly I have seen animals surrendered because a person’s relationship status changed & the new person in their life doesn’t want the pet. I don’t mean to sound mean, but to love me means I come with the pets I have & I will always have them in my life.
3. Do I have the financial means to care for this pet?: Housing, food, Supplements, bedding, Veterinarian care yearly & in an Emergency.
4. Do I have the time to care for the pet? If a pet is to remain friendly, healthy & well adjusted it needs its humans to be able to give it the care the pet needs. Many Exotic pets need to be handled regularly to remain tame. Many pets really are attached to their humans & want them around & miss them when they are away. If you travel often then you need to keep this in mind & find a reliable pet sitter.
There are rescues for just about any pet you can think of. When I fostered caged pets I fostered a variety of pets: including Chinchillas, Hedgehogs, Guinea pigs, a Hamster, Ferrets, Rabbits, birds, & dogs. When I first said I would take in (to foster) a new type of pet I would go to the library & check out books & search the internet for information. I found several rescues that take in this particular pet, let’s say a Guinea Pig rescue,they have a website that has a ton of care information on them. I contacted several of these rescues I made connections & they became like mentors to me to help me & teach me. I wanted to do all I could to give the pets the best care I could. I really have to be honest I quickly learned which pets were pets I wanted long term & which were not for me.
I am a dog & a bird mom & I tend to like hunting/working type breeds of dogs. This means they are usually prey driven to some extent & having some small critters would be hard to blend/mesh into my home safely. For years I had ferrets, but I know with my current dogs Hunter & Echo it would be extremely difficult, because they would want to go after them (instinct). This is another thing to consider when adding a new pet. Not only with exotic pets, but with cats & dogs. Not all animals like other animals or certain animals that are not exposed to other animals or if they have a strong prey instinct. Cats have an enzyme in their saliva that is deadly to many small animals so caution & separation from each other is the only safe way for both to co-exist in the same home.
Reptiles are also available for adoption, in the rescue where I started their caged pet department, we had foster homes that only fostered reptiles. Snakes, turtles, reptiles were pets they had experience with & they fostered them till homes were found.
I think what triggered this topic was when I went to the rescue to meet & adopt my Canary last Sat. They were so full & they had to turn away people contacting them to surrender birds. I know this is the way it is with a lot of rescues, but I also know when a pet in a rescue is adopted it can open up a spot for another pet to go into a rescue. Some shelters take in exotic pets as well, but not a lot do & most try & send them to rescues asap, they are harder for shelters to adopt them out as most people go to a shelter to adopt dogs & cats.
Most people know you can adopt dogs & cats but I wanted to spread the word that a variety of other pets can be adopted from rescues or shelters. I would like to see less & less need for rescues & shelters because people are educated & committed to keeping their pet for life. I was actually told by someone recently that they had a dog for like 10+ years & it was getting old & they didn’t want their kids to have to experience the death of the pet, so they took it to a shelter. I was nice (but it was not easy) &, I said it is a good preparation for a child to lose a pet before they lose a human loved one. I seriously couldn’t believe that he thought taking his “beloved” dog to a shelter was the right thing to do. I know saying goodbye to a pet at the end of their life isn’t easy, but it is part of the responsibility of pet ownership, to lovingly be there when your Vet helps your pet to pass away peacefully.
There are websites that are made for searching available pets to adopt. Here in the states a few are: http://www.petfinder.com http://www.adoptapet.com http://www.rescueme.org Facebook is also a place some rescues will post pets for adoption. These sites can include: dogs, cats, birds, fish, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, gerbils, rabbits, chinchilla, reptiles, ferrets, snakes, turtles, chickens, doves, goats, horse, & some other farm animals.
I personally believe that most rescues should require an application to be filled out before someone is allowed to adopt a pet. I worked with a rescue that didn’t so I wrote up my own questions & asked these over the phone before my foster pets were viewed. When I fostered exotic pets I wrote up an application as a document & sent via email to all perspective adopters. I felt if they took the time to fill out the application they were also thinking over the commitment of having a pet & for some they decided it was too much work. Honestly adopting & 6 months later returning a pet because it was too big of a commitment is hard on the pet as well as the rescue who has to find a foster home for the pet. My dog Echo had this happen, he & his sister were adopted together & they were 4-5 months old & they were never taught a single thing, not even their names or sit. 5-6 months after being adopted they were returned claimed “moving” but they owned a house & that sounded suspicious to me. Echo has lived with me for 4 years in May & he had behavior issues, but with redirection & positive reinforcement training he is a good dog now.
I am not saying this to be mean, but know that some rescues are not good about following up after an application is sent in. I recommend contacting them 48 hours after you submit an application & if no reply then contact them again a couple days after that. If NO reply at all then I suggest you move on to another rescue to find the pet you are looking for. Please keep in mind that every rescue I have worked with is a small group a caring volunteers & they are busy caring for pets & they usually have jobs, & families as well, so be patient if a certain pet really captured your heart.
Another thing to keep in mind is that not all rescues post every pet they have, so if you are looking for a certain type of pet, certain color, age include this on your application & then be patient. I honestly did not expect the rescue would have a Canary for me to adopt (not common in rescue) so I planned to wait a few months, but I was blessed with 2 to choose from. Well Elijah Jet chose me, which I highly recommend the pet & owner should have some connection at the first meeting.
If you are a senior (I may be there is some circumstances) it really isn’t fair to adopt a young pet unless you have someone who will take the responsibility of your pet if something were to happen to you. Of course something could happen to a young person as well. So please make arrangements to have a person who will take in your pet if you were to unexpectedly pass away. I have this for my dogs as well as my birds. I know & trust these people to re-home them to great homes if they can’t keep them themselves.
I hope you found this informative & interesting. if so please help me get the word out about my blog by: clicking the like button at the bottom, Subscribing, Commenting on a post, sharing link on your social media sites, send link to pet owners you know. All these things help my blog to be found & seen by more people. My goal is to help pet owners to help their pets to thrive & not just survive, to live happier, healthier lives. If you have a post idea please feel free to drop me an email at echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com Thank you, Debbie
Echoing Great Pet Care 