Am I Wrong? (rant)

[BruceV]

The other day I was on CL and saw an ad for an Umbrella Cockatoo. The poster was selling/rehoming him because he was loud and the neighbors were complaining. So far I was ok with this. Then he/she named their price. I was ok with that. Then (here's the part that annoys me) they said that they'd be willing to trade for an Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox games or Wii games and cash.

THIS IS A LIVING CREATURE! NOT A COMMODITY TO BE TRADED LIKE BASEBALL CARDS!!

</end rant>

 

[Kalidasa]

Great, so any prepubescent with an extra game can swap for a bird, his parents get home, and the bird goes to the next bad home...or out the window.

 

[Terry57]

No, I don't think you are wrong at all. Sheesh, I cannot believe some people! Hopefully someone goes in and gets that poor 'too out of there.

 

[aether-drifter]

It's sad, yeah. I guess trading isn't all that different from selling/buying when you think about it...exchanging a living thing for something else of monetary value. I guess if he sold the bird he would go out and buy an Xbox with the money. What really bothers me is that people think they're "owed" a certain amount just because they want to recoup their losses on this expensive, exotic bird. I see it all the time. Sorry, but you made a commitment to the animal; pets are family. You should be concerned about finding a good home, not making your stupid money back.

 

[BruceV]

I wish I could. But I'm pretty much out of space for birds...and money.

 

[BruceV]

It's sad, yeah. I guess trading isn't all that different from selling/buying when you think about it...exchanging a living thing for something else of monetary value. I guess if he sold the bird he would go out and buy an Xbox with the money. What really bothers me is that people think they're "owed" a certain amount just because they want to recoup their losses on this expensive, exotic bird. I see it all the time. Sorry, but you made a commitment to the animal; pets are family. You should be concerned about finding a good home, not making your stupid money back.

I agree, it's not all that different...it just seems to cheapen the value of a life to say that you'll trade it for a piece of plastic. I dunno, maybe I'm off my rocker. It just bothers me is all.

 

[aether-drifter]

Nah, you're right; I have the same reaction to it as you do.

I hate when I see "Need to rehome our beloved parrot, we can no longer keep him...needs to go to a good home...we have no more time for him...$1000 FIRM."

I have rehomed a few birds and fostered a bunch more and I never charged much, if anything, for any of them.

 

[BruceV]

We rehomed a dog that we really loved, but it just wasn't going to work out. We asked $75 for the dog, but when we saw how much the guy fell in love with our dog, we knew he'd be taken care of and we waved (waived?) the fee. And he IS well taken care of. I haven't rehomed any birds. Hope I don't have to, either.

 

[MangieSun]

Craigslist makes me sad every time I am on there. I lose faith in humanity.

 

[BruceV]

Craigslist makes me sad every time I am on there. I lose faith in humanity.

I hear ya. I keep my eyes out in case I see a fur/feathered baby in need of desperate help. Not sure what I'll do when I find one, but I keep watching.

 

[aether-drifter]

Craigslist makes me sad every time I am on there. I lose faith in humanity.

Yeah, for the most part I agree. Some good can come of it, but it really reveals how many heartless greedy jerks are out there. All of my birds are from Craigslist, except one who was from eBay classifieds. I'm happy to say that most of the people I dealt with were decent, though, and I'm still in touch with a couple of people who check up on how their birds are doing. None of them offered to take a trade for game systems, haha.

 

[MangieSun]

With the amount of animals I see that I know need a better home, i would surely become a hoarder needing an intervention if I adopted even a small percentage. Not to mention, divorced. Lol. I have to boycott CL sometimes because it's just too depressing.

 

[Allee]

Those ads make me furious too. I try to remember that a lot of those birds and other pets do find wonderful families and homes for the rest of their lives. Even if those great families require an intervention at some future date.

 

[MomtoPercy]

NO, you are NOT wrong!!! People sometimes sicken me! That 'too is certainly better off without them!

 

[Birdman666]

Sounds like a kid. Or an immature adult.

Uuummm... so not the folks who hang out on these boards. Which goes back to my original premise of, most folks weren't cut out to have birds in the first place.

 

[Sadie13]

i agree, this is disgusting. It sickens me when animals are traded as "property" and you would think we would be well passed this as a society...

i just seen an add on my local CL selling a sony video projector- selling for 350$ or "an expensive type parrot like a sun conure or cockatoo"

i was furious...like are you kidding me? the words they used clearly indicated they had no idea what the difference between a conure and a cockatoo is, let alone care about the birds well being. It is just a status symbol apparently...

no worries....people like that boil my blood too...

 

[RavensGryf]

We rehomed a dog that we really loved, but it just wasn't going to work out. We asked $75 for the dog, but when we saw how much the guy fell in love with our dog, we knew he'd be taken care of and we waved (waived?) the fee. And he IS well taken care of. I haven't rehomed any birds. Hope I don't have to, either.

That's wonderful. I've done the same over the years with a couple birds where I knew they could be happier. I did NOT ask for money. I wanted them to go to the environment where they would be truly happy. The new owners were not complete strangers, so maybe they took advantage of the fact that I didn't want them to go just anywhere. They said they couldn't afford to pay anything. Well, I'm sure they could've payed at least something, but they (and I) knew that they were doing me a favor, so I couldn't complain. Just happy they could give the birds an optimal environment.

 

[Kinny]

Hmm.. I would be annoyed too... But then if someone has an xbox sitting around that they never use, and are very birdy people (I'm a bit of a gamer, though moving away form gaming now.. too time consuming!) and their games are worth a lot... money-wise it couyld be around the same price as a cockatoo... so yeah... I'd have to know everything to be not annoyed though...

Yeah, people should be more concerned about finding good homes... I had someone offer me $200 for my old ringneck, but they seemed odd and i didn't really like them and refused to subject my insane little fluffball to them..not knowing what they are like...

And they were local! But there was another person who saw his photo and decided she HAD to have him! I was in and out of hospital so much that I had to keep apologising to her as I could not organise my ringnecks pick-up options or freight (she is 2 states away) - she was lovely, and patient..and waited for over 3 months to get him. But she was so determined and showed so much love before even owning him that i decided she MUST have him! After seeing how much dedication and love she had for my Howl, I only was going to accept $20 from her, but she convinced me i must take at least $40.. I told her he was going to a good home, that's all i wanted! And i would pay the freight.. she could just pay for him.. but she gave me $160! And got very aggro with me that I had better not refund it.. lol. So to keep her happy i kept it.. and my old ringneck is now IN LOVE with her and has such an amazing home! Better than with me even

True owners will do what they can to ensure their pet (no matter how insane they become and nasty) goes to a good home..

EDIT:

Just caught up on what's going on in this thread

I don't believe animals have souls/spirits like people do.. but they still have emotions, feelings, brains and so much more... My husband doesn't see them the way I/we people do. There's something so innocent and wonderful about them.. Our pets may be a form of our 'property', but like everythign we own.. we should take the very best care possible of our possessions.. ESPECIALLY living, breathing, ones whose lives depend on us. My husband sees them as 'animals'.. and even though he likes them he doesn't think Pets are useful.. he's always questioning why i like them so much... There's just somethign about them that fills some part of me.. I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT!!! lol.. So i just say back to him "God put us in charge of caring for all the animals on this planet. We are SUPPOSED to love animals!!" .. He doesn't usually have much to say back to that

But I think it's hard because I have had such strong bonds with a number of animals (horse/dog/birds), but he hasn't.. so he doesn't quite understand the bond between human and animal..

...I'm rambling on now! I shall stop ^^