The flight we were booked on would not take a pet, or would not take any more pets (I don't know: they wouldn't take mine).

Our ride picking us up at the Tampa airport could not be asked to make the trip twice.

My mother's vet tech days advice seemed right to me. Find a responsible home for a pet if you can't keep it.

This is what we did and I watched as she was given away and she knew she was being given away.

It might have been heartbreaking but I'd rather describe it as horrible.

I never want to do that again.

Maybe the person who gave up the dog in this article had their reasons. Maybe he/ she was dying of cancer. I don't know (forgive me if it says why; I stopped reading it).

But it doesn't make a difference to the animal.

My mother gave me good advice but I found it was a lot easier said than done.

Incidentally, when my aunt was dying of cancer in Los Angeles and my uncle and aunt moved her to the family homestead (a complicated deal made over three decades prior allowing my uncle to buy it), they refused to allow her to bring her cat. It was one of the cruelest acts I've observed in my family.

Anyway, here is the dog that was rescued by a no kill shelter. Poor thing.

https://www.newsweek.com/loyal...ered-shelter-1811887

As someone who has fostered more than a dozen dogs while Maine Lab Rescue finds them homes, and also rescued a 12 year old lab from the South, and rescued 2 cats, I can say they seem to adjust to new loving homes.

SOME dogs adjust. others don't. the older the dog is, the harder the adjustment.

some of you here may remember my dog Jasper (aka Spuds, his original name). When he was five years old his owner died and his owner's wife dumped him at the local pound, claiming he bit the mailman and peed on their cat's litter box (the shelter staff was very skeptical, and I never found anything in his behavior that would suggest he would do such things.)

well, Jasper's first six weeks at Animal Control were traumatic and devastating for him. He was a one-man dog who lost his owner, and then lost his home and everything that was familiar. He spent those first six weeks shaking in a corner of his concrete cell, his back turned to everyone, and defecating all over himself.

Then he met mr. pique and just glommed onto him. for the rest of his all-too-brief life, he showed symptoms of that trauma. he was easily startled, fearful in any new situation, and always seemed on the cusp of running for safety (he ate with one foot set far back behind him, as if ready to run on the instant, and wouldn't eat if someone was near him.)

I cannot imagine a 20 year old dog successfully making such a hard transition to a new home. Dogs are deeply loyal and attached to the people that they bond with.

Another dog we rescued, a two year old Mastiff, also never got over the loss of his first home. Mastiffs are an incredibly sensitive breed and do not rehome well at any age after six months. Tucker's heartbreak was he had been devoted to a little boy, and we didn't have a little boy at home (except in the summer and some weekends). But anyplace we went, for the rest of his life, if there was a little boy in the vicinity, we'd find Tucker with his head buried in that child's lap.

Animals are not "just" pets. They are distinct beings with souls and feelings and desires--and many, many of them do not adjust well to rehoming.

It's important if you get a dog that you do it with the intent to be that animal's person for its lifetime. Sometimes circumstances force a rehome and there is nothing you can do. But I don't understand how anyone gives up their animal out of convenience or because they couldn't be bothered to make their pet a higher priority in their life.

Daniel, my experience with cats is quite different. I think cats are a lot more adaptable than dogs. They tend to be more attached to a place than a person. When I had to move I gave up my elderly cat to a friend (the rental house we moved to didn't allow cats--as most rentals won't because of how severe allergies to cats can be), and she adapted quite well.

I tend to agree with your assessment concerning cats.

One of my sons has taken in older cats for various reasons (former owner married and moved into spouse's apartment which didn't permit pets, owner died, owner went to nursing home where pets were not allowed) and they have seemingly adapted to their new home rather well. One positively thrived because she had lived with two other larger male cats who often hoarded the food bowl for themselves. She put on noticeable weight after coming to live with my son.

One of my daughters has two rescue dogs that seem pretty normal, although one had been returned to the shelter multiple times. He is a little skittish, but has not been any real problem. She wonders if he was somehow abused by his original owner. There's no way to know.

Big Al

piqué, I agree with you that animals have souls.

I bet my cat got on with life but I've no doubt that being given away by the love of her life (not me) was a deeply traumatizing experience.

We got her when she was nine weeks. She was twelve and visibly aging when we moved to Florida.

I'll be 56 soon and don't see myself trying pet ownership again. I might change my mind one day but not today.

Thanks for your comments.

A 20 year-old Weimeraner? I can't imagine. I think their average life span is 10-12 years. (OK, I checked; it's 10-13 years and "some have lived as long as 15 years.") 20 years? That would be way over 100 for a human.

I used to think and still do that the Weimaraner is the most beautiful of dog breeds.