about having lots of pets
Feb. 20th, 2002 01:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elionwyrI feel - as a "good" keeper - I should probably add the following:
I have as many critters as I do simply because it's hard to say no to an animal that needs a home. About half of our animals are with us for that reason - they needed a home.
At the museum, we average around 100 calls a year from people who want to give us their unwanted pets - iguanas, rabbits, and ferrets top the list, but we also get alligators, nurse sharks, turtles, prairie dogs, sugar gliders, etc. offered. And we can' take them all in.
Sometimes, we as keepers take them home - but that can be a dangerous thing. Not because of the animals so much as because of ourselves. It's very very easy to become a collector - to take in animals for the wrong reason.
When you cross the line - when you can't feed yourself, let alone your animals; when your home smells like a kennel; when you are sleeping in a chair because there's nowhere else for you to fit - you're way over the line.
I've had work associates cross that line.
It's very scary.
Everyone suffers.
So it's very important to watch yourself when you start getting a lot of pets.
I personally never wanted this many, and I do have a vague plan on cutting back. (We're not taking any more in; when my elderly critters pass away, I will not be replacing them; I will eventually be down to 3 chinchillas; etc.)
And if I can find anyone that wants a very nasty, very old gecko, Duck will be the next to go, I swear. :)
I have as many critters as I do simply because it's hard to say no to an animal that needs a home. About half of our animals are with us for that reason - they needed a home.
At the museum, we average around 100 calls a year from people who want to give us their unwanted pets - iguanas, rabbits, and ferrets top the list, but we also get alligators, nurse sharks, turtles, prairie dogs, sugar gliders, etc. offered. And we can' take them all in.
Sometimes, we as keepers take them home - but that can be a dangerous thing. Not because of the animals so much as because of ourselves. It's very very easy to become a collector - to take in animals for the wrong reason.
When you cross the line - when you can't feed yourself, let alone your animals; when your home smells like a kennel; when you are sleeping in a chair because there's nowhere else for you to fit - you're way over the line.
I've had work associates cross that line.
It's very scary.
Everyone suffers.
So it's very important to watch yourself when you start getting a lot of pets.
I personally never wanted this many, and I do have a vague plan on cutting back. (We're not taking any more in; when my elderly critters pass away, I will not be replacing them; I will eventually be down to 3 chinchillas; etc.)
And if I can find anyone that wants a very nasty, very old gecko, Duck will be the next to go, I swear. :)