adoption contract .... broken

[Dewi]

I find rats to be so much more time consuming than dogs, but then my rats get a heck of a lot of fussing over, and not to mention all the health issues that rats are prone to. I'd agree that indoor dogs and puppies are especially time consuming and need a lot of walks etc. Dogs with large back yards plus more than one dog for company are low maintenence from what I've observed and experienced. Okay speaking generally of course. Maybe it's a cultural thing, in Australia crating dogs or keeping predominantly indoor dogs is unusual practice but seems more common in the US and Canada (correct me if I'm wrong), the majority of dogs run or loaf around the backyard all day while their humans are at work.

 

[Arkeld]

I guess it depends on how many you have too. The more you have, the more time you will need to invest (and obviously, more vet visits). I firmly believe though, that two rats are far less time-consuming than one dog.

People often forget about how important it is to train and socialize your dog. I found that this video explains pretty well the commitment you make when you get a dog.

Would be neat if somebody made a similar video for rats btw.

 

[SQ]

What concerns me is that these people may never rescue again. Honestly, I don't think they did anything wrong. I have had rats die all of a sudden and they gave no signs of illness to even give me a chance to take them to a vet. This girl is be taken from a home she has known most of her life...it cannot be an easy thing for her.

As I said, I don't know that she wasn't recieving good care .... or that Snowball's death was in any way due to a lack of medical treatment. That is the problem, I don't know and I was not allowed to find out ... I have been trying to do one follow up visit since the adoption, in accordance with a verbal agreement that was not changed until the second to last email saying he had decided I couldn't visit. (The last email instructed me where to meet him.) By the end of last week, the above was no longer the only concern as I was told they would not be getting Dandy a friend ... which was in the contract he signed.

Anyway, I now have Dandy.
I was told several times to have no more contact with them and that they had filed a complaint against me with the RCMP. I can't imagine why I would have continued any contact with them unless they had specifically requested updates or pictures.
Very glad it is over.

Thank you all .... it has been a difficult experience for everyone.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

:joy: glad to hear she's home with you finally!

 

[mamarat]

:joy:

 

[SQ]

Pictures of Dandy are here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11039&p=148150#p148150

 

[ryelle]

I'm so GLAD this is all over for you SQ!

 

[Dahlas]

As someone who does a lot of adoptions this really bothers me. I always agonize over every adoption I do as I know does SQ........so when you realize that the home you picked was not what you thought it really makes you doubt yourself.
Adopting out pets is so difficult. You do the best you can....and hope it will work out. I am glad Dandy is home......one less rat to worry about.

 

[Joanne]

Either way if I were these people i'd be done with 'adopting', this situation would've scared me out of the idea...
:?

You've got that right - this is a disturbing thread and you're freakin' me out!

Glad the rattie is OK, but YIKES!

 

[M0onkist]

I'm glad you've got her back!

I do hope the complaint with the RCMP goes away - you don't deserve that.

 

[Dahlas]

Since I have been fostering and working with SPCA's and shelters my whole life I have only tried to adopt once in my whole life.......I found it a very overwhelming process.....more then I could handle. I did get approved but backed out because it stressed me out worrying that someone else would judge me and maybe find my care lacking. I understand completley that when people are adopting out an animal they must be very sure....but being on the other end was awful.

 

[jennifervb]

What concerns me is that these people may never rescue again. Honestly, I don't think they did anything wrong. I have had rats die all of a sudden and they gave no signs of illness to even give me a chance to take them to a vet. This girl is be taken from a home she has known most of her life...it cannot be an easy thing for her.

I understand where you are coming from but they did, very much, do plenty wrong Mercurydust. It is less an issue of what happened with Snowball and more an issue of their lack of integrity in adhering to a contractual agreement they accepted and signed.

People run a terrible risk when they lie and agree to everything to get something they want. I have contracts for all of my rats and the Small Angels Rescue, the Fairfax County Animal Shelter AND the Montgomery County Animal Shelter have an open door policy to my home, at their discretion, to evaluate the living conditions of my adopted boys.

I signed those contracts in honesty and good faith and I understood what I was signing before I signed it.

There is nothing more reprehensible than lying and being deceitful to someone who is placing a pet into your care in good faith. People cannot expect to receive credibility by signing their name to something and then turning around and saying "You can't take no for an answer... deal with it".

People of that calibre have absolutely no place in my book because their word has absolutely no value whatsoever. It's just hot, lying, air.

He can be happy that he is dealing with Holly and not with me. I have absolutely no tolerance for such behavior. Maybe that comes from having worked for a judge for 3 years but people in deliberate breach of contract, topped with a snot nosed, self righteous attitude problem, need to have the book thrown at them.

Ask yourself honestly, if you would ever again want to do business with someone who lied to you and then treated you with contempt and disrespect for keeping up your side of the contract. It was his lack of integrity and respect toward Holly more than it was what happened to Snowball.

Is it really advisable that such people ever adopt again? What kind of future might another little face have with people who don't honor their word and signature. People like that run hot and cold. They will love their rat one day and neglect it the next. They will generally put their pocketbook ahead of what they believe the rat's life is worth.

Good for everyone if people like that refrain from adopting anything. If Snowball's well being had mattered to this jerk, then she would have seen a vet and been spared the ghastly death by respiratory suffocation. No, I would not want anyone of that calibre adopting anything more from me. That's my view anyway.

You are, of course, at liberty to "agree to disagree" with me Mercurydust. People are going to have different views and perceptions of things which is a good thing. It's a system of checks and balances.

 

[jennifervb]

Since I have been fostering and working with SPCA's and shelters my whole life I have only tried to adopt once in my whole life.......I found it a very overwhelming process.....more then I could handle. I did get approved but backed out because it stressed me out worrying that someone else would judge me and maybe find my care lacking. I understand completley that when people are adopting out an animal they must be very sure....but being on the other end was awful.

Shelters and Rescues are generally very agreeable when they visit Dahlas. I did not feel judged at all.

Nervous? A little but it disappeared quickly.

Most of the time, they are only really concerned with making sure that the rat is not being used as a feeder or feeder breeder. The visits are short and sweet and I have never had a negative meeting with a shelter employee. My boys are all over me which indicates their obvious comfort in their surroundings. It did not take any effort for me to convince them that they had done the right thing by allowing me to adopt.

I hope this helps. :hugs:

 

[Dewi]

I wouldn't worry about the complaint made to the RCMP, with all the things that cops have to deal with this will seem incredibly insignificant. These people had their feelings hurt and felt humiliated so it was one way to get at you. At least the rat is in good hands and this is well and truely over. You did what you had to do.

 

[redgal]

If they still go the pet route it would be bettter if they select "easier" pets like dogs

Erm, no, just no.

Getting a dog is like having a baby. You need to spend a hell of a lot of time training your dog, not to mention daily walks/exercise. The amount of time and attention needed by a dog is MUCH greater than that of a rat. Our ratties, we make sure they have water, food, clean cage and play with them an hour a day, which is all they need. More play time is better of course, but you can get away with that if your schedule is tight.

For instance, I work 8 to 6 with no time to head home during my lunchbreak. The rats are fine being alone during that time. Not so with a dog, especially large breeds. You leave your dog alone all day, it´ll be a disaster.

IF these people didn´t care correctly for their rats (which is something we don´t know, they might be), then a dog would fare much worse. The lowest maintenance pet is a cat, provided she can go outside.

I agree Arkled,

A pet is a pet is a pet....all animals deserve equal love, care, attention and their needs met. Different animals have different needs true, but they are no "easier" or "harder" animals. If someone can't adequately look after an animal they should never have any pet of any description IMHO.

I'm so glad this worked out for you SQ ( it must have been so stressful :cuddle: ) and that Dandy is home safe and sound. I wouldn't worry about the RCMP, I would be surprised if they have even reported the incident.

I just think as an owner it is better to be honest. If in doubt to ask questions, get yourself educated and get help....the worst thing to do is be defensive. If I were them I would have called you to ask your advice and got him to a vet when I discovered snowball was sick, but then everyone is different I guess.

Judging how they reacted to all of this I hope they never get another pet of any description...just my two cents worth. :wink2:

At the end of the day, Dandy has been re-saved and is now back in good hands. :joy:

 

[Dewi]

I agree Arkled,

A pet is a pet is a pet....all animals deserve equal love, care, attention and their needs met. Different animals have different needs true, but they are no "easier" or "harder" animals. If someone can't adequately look after an animal they should never have any pet of any description IMHO.

If they still go the pet route it would be bettter if they select "easier" pets like dogs, which are generally healthier and harder to ignore. The husband wasn't taking animal care seriously enough IMO, I wouldn't be surprised that this is a case of adopting animals for the kids and then largely forgetting about them, possibly why the resp infection symptoms weren't noticed until too late.

Redgal I wasn't implying in any way that dogs need less love or vice versa, where did I mention this? Furthermore I did put easier in inverted commas. I was saying that compared with rats, dogs are (typically) less sickly and, being noiser & larger than rats, dogs are harder to ignore. I absolutely think there are easier to look after animals, for example I have sheep & chickens (as pets) and they are very very low maintenance compared with the other critters in my care... I don't have to clean out the sheep’s litter tray or scrub the chicken pen out at least weekly and wash the chicken bedding. I agree that these people possibly aren't suited to pets, however rats are more difficult to care for due to their ability to get sick very easily and far more frequently. Furthermore they are easier to not notice when they are put in an out of the way part of the house. Quite a number of people I know who have dogs would not be able to adequately care for rats due to their attitude toward paying for expensive vet bills for an animal who has a short life span but they look after their dogs perfectly well.

 

[jorats]

I know what Dewi meant and I agree. When I had my Jax, it was far easier to know when he was feeling ill and he was low maintenance compared to my rats. He was happy if I just looked at him and said his name... my rats, I'm always fussing with food, weighing them and worried about them.

 

[mercurydust]

The point I was really trying to get across is that these people were labeled as bad pet owners before the details were known. My biggest concern was that these people will share their own version of this story with their friends and family, whether they were the bad guys or not...and all of the people they tell will tell someone-and odds are most of those people will be reluctant to deal with a rescue.

 

[redgal]

:hugs: I didn't mean to offend you Dewi. I do know what you mean - it is probably easier to tell when a dog is unwell than a rat ( I'm guessing as I haven't got my bioys yet)

But...

I'm just a BIG animal lover and worrying about each of my animals for different reasons. I'm always checking my dogs health, nails, searching for lumps, making sure they are eating enough, worrying about getting them their exercise, cleaning their beds and blankets etc etc. I will be the same about rats too - I am about my fish - always checking them and cleaning their tank etc. If I had sheep and chickens even though tehir requirements are different I would still worry about them and be fussing over something. No matter what the animal, I'm always checking their health and status etc.

So, I get edgy when someone labells dogs as 'easier' or "lower maintainence" - I've seen too many of them end up neglected and ignored and put outside, not taken for walks etc and then when the dog gets sick it's easy to ignore it some more if you see what I mean so I'm reluctant to use that expression. I've also seen people think that fish are 'easy' and you can out them in a small tank, no water changes, and just leave it and that's it...I'm sure people are "better suited" ( I prefer this expression :wink2: )to some animals more than others. Easier or lower maintainence are just terms that can be abused in the wrong hands - that's what makes me nervous about it.

Having said that I'm just of the view that if you can't handle one type of animal then chances are you aren't going to make a great pet parent to any other, but that's me. Obviously I am not talking about you guys here as coming on this forum means we love our pets and care for them - I'm just talking about the general public 'out there'.

I also guess I'm just one of those people that will always worry about thier animals/pets no matter what they are and so it's hard for me to understand it when people don't lavish attention on their pets or give an animal vet care if it is needed.....and to me that is enough to say that they should never have anogther pet again.

That's all I meant Like I say, I didn't mean to offend you and I am really sorry if I did, it was not intentional. :hugs: I feel bad that it came off that way.

 

[twitch]

the ease of the animal's care is also going to depend on your view towards that care. while dogs don't get sick as often they can still very easily be ignored if tied out all day like my parent's neighbor's dog...

but that's another matter. i like rats over dogs because to me, rats are easier to tend to. you don't have to take them for walks in every kind of weather, you don't HAVE to train them to be obey, though it can be fun, fast and easy to do. and when you want your own time all you have to do is put the rats back in their cage, the dog is going to be your shadow to trip over and shove off the bed. i also like rats to dog because when you want to be affectionate you can plop them on your shoulder and rub your head on them or give them scritches. while its easy to be affectionate to a dog with giving them hugs and scritches too, you can't put them on your shoulders the same way you can a rat. i mean they CAN go up there if you drape them farmer style like a sheep but they are MUCH heavier, your shoulders would get tired... its also easier to fit a few rats into an apartment then it is to fit a dog, the toy dogs will fit in fine but you still have to walk them...

i guess the point of the matter is that depending on your view of the amount of care you have to give, the type of care you have to give and how much enjoyment you get from having that companion animal is going to alter your perception of how difficult or easy that animal is to care for. for me, i'm not a dog person so they are too much work. i'm definitely a crazy rat lady so the work for them suits me just fine and seems less to then that of a dog.