Would you ever return a pet?

[abdmom]

Hi Everyone

DD11 is doing a school project on the ethics of pet ownership. Please help her by voting on the poll.

Thanks!

abdmom

 

[palmtreelover08]

Why would we want to return it? If it were a dog, and it bit my daughter..yes, it would be gone. If it were a hamster who bit my daughter, no, I would not return it.

We need more clarification. If it were a sick bird who I already spent $300 at the vet with two days after i got it ($800 bird).. yes, I would return it. Sick gold fish..no.

Depends.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I would return any pet that was a danger to my family. Heck, if returning the animal was not an option, I would have it put down.

That said, we consider the life span and behavior of pets before we buy them. Our hope is that any pet that we bring into our home will be with us for its entire life.

 

[luvmy3]

i would return any pet that was a danger to my family. Heck, if returning the animal was not an option, i would have it put down.

That said, we consider the life span and behavior of pets before we buy them. Our hope is that any pet that we bring into our home will be with us for its entire life.

mte

 

[NMAmy]

We've been lucky enough to have had wonderful dogs who have been a huge part of our family life. However, I don't want to say never. If we had a dog who was a threat to others, then, yes, we'd try to find a new home or return the dog. The safety of the human members of my family and neighborhood have to come first.

 

[taylor3297]

I would return any pet that was a danger to my family. Heck, if returning the animal was not an option, I would have it put down.

That said, we consider the life span and behavior of pets before we buy them. Our hope is that any pet that we bring into our home will be with us for its entire life.

I also agree with this.

 

[Magpie]

I can't answer this question. Too many variables here... what kind of pet are we talking about? What's the reason for returning it? Who are we returning it to?

For instance, reputable breeders will often take a dog back rather than have it end up in the pound. They care deeply about their dogs, and if the person they sold it to has a sudden crisis (like a family illness or bankruptcy or the owner dies) and can't care for the dog, they don't want to see the dog end up abandoned or euthanized.

Another example: My mother-in-law had to return my husband's hamster when they discovered that he was severely allergic to rodents. She didn't get her money back and the shop was able to sell it to someone else - talk about a win-win situation for the pet shop!

My husband was sad, but I doubt "Hammy" cared much one way or the other.

 

[abdmom]

Thanks for your replies so far. Keep them coming.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I voted health or safety- and really safety is the only one in there. After already owning a dog I found out I am allergic. I have had dogs all my life, I even have two right now that sleep in my bed. It would have to be a very bad allergy for me to get rid of an animal. The only time I could eally see doing it is if that animal were aggressive. If that animal attacks another pet or person, that animal will be going elsewhere. I would do my best to find a suitable home if the situation warranted it, but if not I would be returning it to the shelter. Thankfully this has never happened to us.

 

[npmommie]

It would have to be an extreme case of aggression,and biting.
not a nip here and there in a playful way, a true uncorrectable aggression problem, which I would hope wouldn't happen if a person gets a pet from a reputable place that has assessed the personality.

I think if you are going to get a pet the temperment, lifespan, needs should all be taken into consideration, and you should be willing to commit to raising that pet. It is a huge committment not to be taken lightly.

 

[tzolkin]

My neighbors have a large dog (Boxer/Bulldog? mix). They decided to get another one to keep their dog company (he is outside all day). They brought the dog home and worked on introducing them to each other over the course of a few days. They left the two dogs home and went to one of their kids' sporting events. When they came home the house was torn apart and their original dog had been bit multiple times and was bleeding all over. The new dog was immediately returned.

I completely agree with their decision and would not feel comfortable having two 80+lb animals that could be agressive with each other around my children. They also did state up front that they were taking the dog on a trial basis to make sure she would get along with their family and other dog, so there was always a possibility that they would be returning her.


Other friends of ours adopted a German Shepard. The following morning while the family was eating breakfast at the kitchen table, the dog attacked their two year old and bit her face severely. The dog was returned and the shelter decided to put it to sleep.

 

[MushyMushy]

I can only think of two instances where I would return a pet -- and I'm going to use dogs as my example because that's what we'd be most likely to get.

First, if I brought a dog home and its health was strongly misrepresented. I would (and have) take the dog to the vet myself, but if it was ill to the point of needing extensive care, I would return it.

The other reason is if the dog was unmanageably aggressive. I think we can handle a fairly aggressive dog, so it would have to be *really* out of control for us to give up on it.

I've known people to give up on dogs for far less (barking too much, training problems, housebreaking problems, etc), and we're not like that. When we commit to a dog, we give it our all.

 

[bunny]

We bought a small puppy when my youngest son was 5. Let's just say he was too young for such a tiny animal and was rather rough with the puppy. The puppy was scared too death of him and he of it. The puppy bit him a few times and bit the neighbor girl once. We only had the puppy for a week and decided to return him to the breeder. She took him back and resold him to an older couple without kids (which worked out wonderfully). I agonized about our decision for weeks afterward and felt like a complete failure. I know it was mostly my son's fault but that puppy just wasn't a good fit for us. A year later we bought another puppy and this one has worked out perfectly for us.

 

[jsmith]

I-or rather my family have been in this situation-and yes we did return a dog to the breeder. He was an awesome dog-a wonderful family pet-he adored my father and was protective of us kids-so why then did we return him?
He was a well papered fairly valuable Malemute Husky. Malamutes closely resemble wolves visually and in habits. We lived in Northwest Wyoming where raising sheep is an important part of the economy-and in a small town where it was very important. Kooshela-for all that he was an absolute love-would NOT stay in a fenced yard. He would dig,jump or climb out or get out when someone was careless and his favorite hobby was chasing-and killing sheep. More than one herder took a shot at him-and my dad purchased more than one dead lamb. In the end-it was kinder to the dog and more eithical all the way around to return him to the breeder-he was intact because of his papers-they could find him a more appropriate home-which they did and he sired a number of champion puppies later in life.

 

[castleview]

If it were extremely dangerous and I did not know that going in, then yes. Otherwise, I have little tolerance for people who return animals simply because they didn't feel like training them or caring for them.

 

[stsomewhere]

I would return any pet that was a danger to my family. Heck, if returning the animal was not an option, I would have it put down.

That said, we consider the life span and behavior of pets before we buy them. Our hope is that any pet that we bring into our home will be with us for its entire life.

We adopted a dog from a rescue group. He bite and attacked us. After 5 weeks, we took him back. It broke my heart. But, I could not risk him hurting my kids.

 

[cats mom]

I've known people to give up on dogs for far less (barking too much, training problems, housebreaking problems, etc), and we're not like that. When we commit to a dog, we give it our all.

I wish my neighbors would return their new puppy for the reason I took the liberty of bolding in your post above. He's a cutie, but the barking is driving me nuts, and since I'm not emotionally attached, I'd definitely be fine with pet return in his case.

That said, I voted health/safety in the poll. I think there probably are cases where returning a pet is warranted. I would expect them to be few and far between though.

 

[DSNY4ever]

I was in this situation once and I can whole heartedly say no, we would never return a pet. We had a dog with extreme biting/aggression issues. We went through several trainers and "behavior counseling" and then we finally found the right trainer sent him away to boot camp and we now have the MOST AMAZING dog in the whole world.

But this was a very hard situation that took a lot of emotions, time and money to fix, so I now try not to judge others who may have to return a dog because not everyone can got to the extreme to save their dog like we did.

For us, there was no way we were going to bring him back to the shelter because I knew he could not be adopted back out . The shelter offered to take him back and we said no.

The trainer we found was the best money we ever spent and our dog is the best thing that has ever happened to us. We learned a lot of lessons and now we have a wonderful dog (son ).

 

[scrapquitler]

I've returned a pet.

Three years ago we got a cat from the Humane Society. He appeared to be a sweet cat, age 3, male. We were a bit concerned because we had another cat at home, so they brought another male cat into the room to be sure that "jake" the cat we were planning to adopt would seem okay with another cat. For about 15 minutes he was in the room with the other cat, and everything seemed fine. We took Jake home, and there was growling and hissing between him and our other cat, which did't surprise us, normal for two cats meeting.

Fast forward three days: Dh walks into our bedroom where Jake was sitting on our bed. For no apparent reason, Jake attacked my husband, biting his arm, breaking the skin and causing a lot of bleeding. DH had to go to the hospital and get antibiotics.

After that, he started terrorizing our other cat, who cowered anytime Jake was in the room. There were lots of fights between the cats.

Then Jake scratched both my children viciously, multiple time, unprovoked. Then I was in at the dining room table and he came over to me and swatted at me so hard he knocked my glasses right off of me.

For three months we tried everything we could to get him to relax and calm down. Nothing worked. Three moths after we got him I returned him to the Humane Society. It was no fun having a pet that everyone in the house was terrified of. I felt terribly guilty (and still do), but there really was no choice.

 

[Bastiansmom]

Our beloved German Shepherd died on New Years' Eve..We were all really upset. We rushed into getting a new puppy. ( I loved that dog!) However, my husband didn't warm up to him, I think he was still upset about losing our other dog. One day, the new puppy bit (not just nipped) my husband because he was startled and my husband got really upset. He was afraid the puppy might be "mean." I ended up taking the puppy back to the owner's.
It has only been a week, and I really don't think they cared. I didn't ask for a refund, and I gave them all the food and toys I had bought. They could resell the puppy.

It was really hard for me because it was like losing 2 dogs in a few months time, but DH just wasn't ready.