People who abandon pets or other animals on roadsides, in woods or other rural settings are gutless.
One can only hope karma is a real thing and their actions come back to bite them.
This kind of abandonment is especially cruel for domesticated pets who have had their food served to them in a dish their entire lives.
Some of them have even been indoor pets and have seen the outdoors only through a window.
And yet what we hope to be a small subset of pet owners remain somehow convinced that these pampered pooches, kitties, bunnies and hamsters will somehow get out in the wild and thrive.
The truth is that they will be lucky to even survive.
It’s much like abandoning a child out there and just expecting unused instincts to save them.
It’s not going to happen.
Don’t get us started on the bozos who decide to get a parrot or other exotic bird that’s likely to outlive them, as their lifespans can be well over 100 years, then have no plan for what will happen to the bird after they die. Or decide a few years in that they’re tired of the responsibility they’ve taken on.
Because getting a pet or farm animal is a responsibility. It’s a long-term commitment.
If you have any doubt at all you should never take it on.
Dumping your pets like garbage in rural areas is a despicable and selfish way to resolve your pet ownership woes.
It’s particularly galling since there are so many options for people to responsibly send their animals on to a new life with someone else if they find that they no longer want them, or can no longer care for them for some reason.
There are animal rescue organizations that will take in your pet and find it a new home.
In the case of the abandoned chickens this week at Paldi there are plenty of people who raise fowl and would be thrilled to take home some free birds.
The regular chicken swap in Duncan is only a few weeks away.
In most cases we never know who abandons these animals. But the perpetrators know, and we hope it haunts them.
