But I Have No Room !!

The number of times I have heard people say they must give up a pet because they have no room in their home, their life situation has changed, or the world has just become too complicated for a pet, leaves me speechless.    In this picture you see Blake, the dog,  Mr. Kitty, foreground grey tiger stripped cat, and Arbol, laying next to Blake, also grey tiger stripped cat.   When this was taken I was in the middle of a move and about to get married.  This was a one bed  (12' x 18') motel room.   To this place I brought Cinder (African Grey Parrot), Blake (35 pound mix dog), Dozer (85 pound Lab / Shepherd), Echo (85 pound Doberman), my fiance brought  Mr. Kitty, along with another full grown female cat named Chola, and Jamoka (80 pound Lab / Pit cross).   As if this was not enough to take up ever square inch of the room with us also living in there, while out on a walk he and I found Arbol, on a road in the middle of no where, and decided to adopt him to our family.
 
 All of these animals lived in this one tiny motel room with us for several months.    They had not grown up together and barely knew each other, but they all learned to get along.  Some days were more tense than others, a few times Jamoka and Dozer had indoor peeing contests to establish who was boss (which I had to thoroughly clean up with special chemicals), Cinder would become annoyed at the cats staring at him through the cage bars, and I had to take all the dogs outside maybe ten times a day for runs to let off excess energy.    But we made it work.

As you can see from the picture these animals, who were treated by us as family,  learned to accept one another as such.   When we finally moved into a new home with a large fenced in back yard they continued to sleep side by side and no one hurt another.

This was not the first time I had  been in a situation where I chose to keep my animals despite my living conditions.  There was a time I had moved out of a house and lived in my car with two dogs, each weighing over 80 pounds.   It was difficult, but I made it work.   If a person really loves the pets they have chosen, and is willing to put in a bit of effort, anything can be resolved.   I have little respect for the person who dumps their animal because they had a baby and didn't bother to get the animal acclimated during the nine long months before the infant was born.   Likewise, people who do not plan on emergency moves or disasters and leave pets to fend for themselves do not get my sympathy.   If you can move your human children you can find a way to work your pet into your life.    Each time a natural disaster occurs people flee and the pets are left behind, ravaged by hunger, thirst, and abandoned by the families they trusted.   

Our pets are very wise and they can overcome great odds to stay with their family if we just give them a chance.    In my case, my bird had never seen a cat, the cats loved to kill birds, the dogs all had to work out who was dominant in rank, but we never gave up.    We placed our hearts into our companions and did not allow lack of space, little bickers between species, or worries about how inconvenient it was for us to run the dogs outside all day long to get in the way of our love for them.   Bottom line, we were dedicated, and we made it work.   If you take an animal, of any species into your life, be sure you are willing to sacrifice.  They did not ask you to take them and they are worthy of receiving the best life has to offer. 



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