Korean Job Discussion Forums

[matthews_world]

Just wanna get something off my chest and you don't have to agree with it.

Poor, poor pets. What they have to put up with when their expat owners unforseeignly have to give them up because of relocation or unability to take care or house them.

Think about what you're doing before you get 'em - puppies, kittens, lizards, fish, turtles, and the alike.

Think of the strain of the transferral of ownership on them, especially for dogs.

I just feel like ranting today.

If you're married and can stick it out awhile in Korea then that's great!

[osangrl]

I COMPLETELY AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It makes me sick, seeing all the ads on the list, for people wanting to give away their cat or bunny or dog, after 10 months, 6 even 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These people are heartless and cruel.....i don't care what excuses they have (quarantine, moving etc...) you should have thought about it before getting a pet!!!!! Pets are like children, they get attached, they are a responsibility.

Send these people out to a firing squad!

[Manner of Speaking]

Guinea pigs or fish are reasonable pets for 1-year expatriates to get; I think guinea pigs only live two years or so. But yes, a dog or a cat is a long-term committment. If you are going to be responsible about it. At least with cats, the owner should be responsible enough to start looking for a new owner at least six months before they go home.

[SweetBear]

I disagree to an extent. One may have every intention of staying put and having a pet for a lifetime, but hey, we all know that life is full of twists and turns. IMO it's no better to torture your pet by shipping it home if you leave and in some cases have to quarantine it. Finding a loving home is a far kinder option. I also tend to think that we misguidedly suppose that animals share our human emotions, we get so that we assume that we know what they think and feel.Don't get me wrong, I think that transfering ownership is sad. I tend to think it's sadder for us though.Find Fido a loving family with good meals to provide and he'll soon adjust. I had to do it once and it broke my heart, but it was the best option for both of us.Sorry it aint a purrrrfect world out there. Hope you guys never have to face this predicament, there are other bigger ones out there though.

Sb

[intergalactic]

Sometimes acquiring a dog or cat here is the result of rescuing it from harm in the first place. So if you have to transfer ownership in the end, at least you have given the animal some quality of life and are now searching for someone else responsible enough to take care of it for a time.
I do think expats should avoid buying pets in pet stores. Try animal shelters or adopt pets who need new homes. Don't fuel the pet breeding industry in Korea!!

[Ya-ta Boy]

I think you are absolutely right. I think people who get pets are often being selfish, thinking only about themselves. Dogs especially are a problem in Korea. Very few people live where a dog can have any kind of exercise or 'normal' life. Being cooped up in an apartment all day, with only a short walk on a leash a couple of times a day is not really much of a life.

I prefer dogs to cats, but in the end I got two cats last summer. They were found wandering outside next to my work place. It was the rainy season and they were wet, cold and hungry. Even so, I took time for a long hard think before committing to bringing them home. I happen to live in a very unusual place with a whole mountain side and no cars, so they have the freedom to live a pretty comfortable life. When I move it is going to be a problem finding a place that will be suitable for them as well as me. But that is a responsibility I have assumed.

[matthews_world]

[pet lover]

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball that you were not expecting and it hits you in the face. Sometimes you end up NOT having the choice of taking your pet "home" even if you were planning on it all along. Which would be crueler.....to quietly have the animal put to sleep, to quietly abandon the pet on the streets, or to go to every website you can find and advertise and try to find a wonderful new family for your pet??? It really makes me MAD when people assume that they know everything in the situation when in fact, they are making total assumptions about which they know NOTHING.

In four or five months, you are most likely going to see ME advertising a free c o c k e r spaniel because two months ago, I rescued a a shivering mass of bones barely covered by skin that was literally falling off from a skin infection. I could not keep the dog myself and a friend took him in knowing the whole time that he could not keep him and would NOT be taking him home at the end of his contract. Does this make EITHER of us evil people? No, but people like the OP might assume so because they would only read the ad for the free dog and start making their own wild assumptions without bothering to find out the truth.

People, when you see an ad for a free animal, stop and think about WHY that person might be giving the animal away. There are so many scenarios.

**Maybe it was a rescue animal in the first place that the rescuer couldn't possibly keep but at the same time, couldn't possibly ignore on the streets.

**Maybe the animal was brought home and loved and then had to be given away due to a sudden discovered allergy to the animal.

**Maybe someone got a dog and planned to take it home and then got fired or otherwise tangled up in crazy hagwon boss mess and had to leave pronto but couldn't take the dog because it's shots weren't up to date yet and the person couldn't wait the thirty days because immigration wanted them out pronto.

**Maybe a close relative back home fell very ill and a person had to return home to care for the relative and there just wasn't room for the dog. Or the relative was allergic to dogs. Or the relative had a pet already that strongly disliked dogs.

So many possiblities, the above and others that I haven't thought of at this moment. So, OP, I strongly encourage you to use your brain (and your heart) a little and think about what heartache the person giving away the pet might be feeling at having to give up a pet he/she loves with all his/her heart and having NO choice in the matter. I feel sorry for those people. I do NOT blame them.

EDIT: One more thing: What's with assuming that all or even most expats are one year expats?!?! And again, what's with assuming that even if they were one year expats, that they wouldn't try to take their pet home? There is always something that can happen to ruin the best of assumptions but that doesn't mean we need to avoid happiness for fear of something possibly happening in the future that might ruin it.

EDIT: Hey, OP, just read the ad that must have set you off...would like to draw your attention to something that is said in the ad, "She has to return to Canada in a hurry and due to circumstances beyond her control, she cannot take her puppy with her."

[Vince]

I'm getting ready to go back to the US. I was about to make arrangements to have my bird sent back, but I found out that as of Feb. 4 there's a ban on the importation of any birds from Asia because of bird flu. I've had the bird for seven years, and I'm really bummed about this. I hope the ban is lifted soon, but I doubt it will be.

[Manner of Speaking]

Hmmm. Interesting points made.

I guess I've just always assumed that the expatriate teacher lifestyle generally precludes having pets, or at least having ones much beyond the level of care required by guinea pigs or goldfish. (Or pet rocks for that matter).

[justagirl]

Our kitten was rescued from an onion bag! Some man on the side of the street was shaking the bag as hard as he could and my co-worker couldn't leave them there. She brought home 2 kittens, and asked me to take one.

We've had Mocha for over a year now and she makes our lives in Korea so much happier. Every day she brings a smile to my face. We have taken resposibility for her and we plan to take her to the U.S. with us. There is no way we could trust another expat or teacher to care for her after we're gone. There is no way we could turn her out in the street where we got her from.

However, her sister, the one my co-worker had, did get put out on the street. Co-worker did a midnight run and thought a student would want her. Boy, was she ever wrong! SHE was irresponsible. I am not. Please don't lump all people with pets in the same bag. I especially don't want to be in the same group of people as my co-worker who left her cat starving in her apartment after she left.

Just another pet-story!

justagirl