Sunday, November 21, 2004
Keeping Promises
I have finally got my black cat back after 14 months of pure hell. The person who had taken over care for this cat in January of 2004 knows what making and keeping a promise means. It’s a lesson that I think many really need to learn.
When I moved from Seattle to Texas to take an opportunity to make life better not only for me but for my pets, I found myself in an extremely difficult situation. I was allowed to bring one pet with me, the others would have to find permanent or temporary homes.
I’ve gone over this a few times on my blog but I’m going to go over it again because I can’t stress enough to people what I’m about to say.
Now, I was extraordinarily lucky to find the absolute perfect fit for my dog. I found a new owner for my fish and new owners for my rats who I knew would spoil the little rodents. I absolutely REFUSED to put my animals in a pound because when you adopt a pet, you are making a promise to them too. I don’t much care what your excuse is, you find a way; you don’t just toss them into the pound because it’s too hard, too inconvenient, too expensive or too much. You adopted them, they are living, breathing things and they rely on you to take care of them.
I do judge people when it comes to this topic and if someone can so flippantly throw their animal into the shelter, I will not give them a second chance. That tells me just about all I need to know about the person. Again, I do not give one flying rat’s patookis about the excuses.
Anyway, because I was able to find the perfect homes for my rats and my dog, I reluctantly gave them up permanently. If you knew the new owners and you knew the situation and you knew how much I was trying to give all my pets that I made a promise to, a perfect home, you would understand that not only was this a hard decision because I would miss them, not only did I doubt if I was doing the right thing by moving, but you would understand that I also knew that it was the right thing for them; humans and animals involved.
I still had two cats I had to find homes for if even temporary or I would not move. Period. I would find some damn way to overcome this enormous obstacle that was standing in front of me but I would not take the easy way out for me and put them in the pound. A friend told me that she would be willing to watch two of them on a temporary basis. I was so relieved.
I drove the cats, the dog and the rats all over the country to their new owners or caregivers before finally driving towards the state of Texas where I would embark on an opportunity to make life better for all of us that would eventually be reunited. Everyone had made a promise not just to me, but to those animals. They either agreed to watch over them or they agreed to take them on from there on out but promises were made and it was because of those promises made that I was able to then continue on with my plans to move.
Approximately 3 months later, the temporary caregiver to the cats told me that she could no longer care for the cats. Of course I was very unhappy with the situation and I had to scramble to find a new caregiver for cats that were no longer in the same state as me. Yes, they were my cats however, the person made a promise to me and where I come from, you do not break a promise. Period. Regardless, I had to figure this out because really all that mattered at that time was the cats, not broken promises.
I did eventually find a new temp caregiver and the cats were flown clear across the country to that new caregiver. Again I was upset because the sole *&^%@! reason I drove all over the damn country in the first place with these animals to get them to their new homes was because I did not want any of my pets being put on an airlines. I’ve worked at vet clinics and boarding kennels and I know from experience that animals do not like flying. Again I say, period.
Of course, the cats were traumatized by this flight but eventually got on well enough with the caregiver. Over time, because I was so appreciative for the fact that the caregiver kept their promise, it was agreed that one cat would come back to me and one cat would remain there. It seems these felines had wormed their furry little ways into the caregiver’s heart and I felt that it was again appropriate for the humans and the pets involved. As it stands, one of the cats never did get along with the one cat I got to keep with me this entire time so the situation actually worked out rather well. Of course it’s not an easy decision but I repeat, when one adopts an animal, one has made a promise to that animal and anything I was feeling, sorrow, misery, sadness, etc due to missing that cat was completely selfish and not thinking about the best interest of that particular cat.
On Thursday, after 14 long months, the second care-giver kept the promise and I was reunited with one of the cats. This entire experience has been tormenting for me as far as my bond with my pets. I lost a dog, two rats, a fish and a cat. I got to keep one cat with me the whole time and one cat finally came back to me.
Therefore, it really irritates the absolute living crap out of me that other people who were not involved in this situation, who don’t know the whole story, who don’t know the planning and the promises made and broken along the way, feel that they need to pipe up and put their two fricking cents in. If you are not one of the party concerned, you keep your opinions to yourself. You have no clue what you are talking about and to “offer advice” to someone else, such as, “Why drive all that way to return it? Why don’t you just keep the cat?” makes me want to throttle you. It is none of your business, none of your concern and you have NO authority on the situation so shut your pie hole.
Thankfully this care-giver knew the definition behind the word, “promise”. Thankfully this person knew what “keeping a promise” means. The very idea that anyone would pipe up and say something like, “Oh just throw them back on a plane, it’s cheaper” when both parties who are making the plans have agreed NOT to do this because both parties have agreed that it is too traumatizing to the animals and both parties involved care too much about the animal, the very idea that some jackweed who has never met me, the care-giver or the animal in question, the very idea that some jerk thinks they know what’s best for a certain situation that does not involve them in the slightest pisses me off.
I don’t get pissed very much. I get upset. I get mad. I get angry. I get disgusted. But it is very rare that I get pissed. So, next time you hear of a situation that has not one damn thing to do with you, keep your mouth and opinions out of it. You have no idea what you’re talking about, and to even IMPLY that the whole situation hasn’t been talked about, that all avenues haven’t been explored, discussed, that I’m “getting over” on someone, that someone is doing “too much” for the other is so collossally wrong. You are so wrong in so many ways that the only thing you should be feeling right now is shame. Shame that you would think any of these things about either person or the animal. Shame that you think you know better than the people who are dealing with the issue.
In a nutshell....if you can’t possibly fathom the meaning of the word “promise”, if you think that a promise means, “Well, I’ll do my best until it’s inconvenient for me”, then I have two things to say to you:
Don’t ever promise anyone anything.
Shut up with your little b.s. analysis and advice when someone else has made a promise and you wouldn’t do things the way they are doing them.
There’s a reason I didn’t ask you. You are not accountable nor trustworthy. Just shut up.
