Jesus opined in the Gospel of Luke that “for unto whomsoever much is given, much is required.” That idea has been shorted through the years by Voltaire, Franklin D. Roosevelt and then Spiderman creator Stan Lee to be simply, “With great power comes great responsibility."
Whatever the version, the adage is true when it comes to animal ownership.
Pets provide their human companions with friendship, companionship, home security, entertainment and comfort that has proven to ease stress and lower depression with belly-scratching sessions on living room chairs and ritualistic walks to fire hydrants and trees. But what often gets lost in those benefits is the deeper thought that these pets are living animals and not just tools to be used and discarded like they were drain cleaners or kitchen sponges.
The duties of feeding, walking, medicating and otherwise tending to household pets often lasts years and comes with a financial commitment. That time and money is well spent for many animal lovers, but gets to be too much for far too many as well. That means these one-time “family members” are either abandoned to the neighborhood or find their way to shelters.
The Humane Society of Tacoma-Pierce County shelters more than 12,000 animals every year, while other area shelters and animal rescue efforts handle yet more. Thousands of once-household pets also find themselves outliving their usefulness and are simply discarded to new lives in streets and back alleys until they are either hit by cars or killed by raccoons or carnivorous birds. Yet other pets are neglected or abused by the very people they once allowed into their den.
Such was the case of how the local Humane Society came to be. A logger had captured a bear in 1888 and made his way to Eighth Street and Pacific Avenue in hopes of earning a few coins from the passersby by getting the bear to do tricks. It didn’t work out so well. He kicked and beat the bear. Tacomans of the day were rough and tumble but they were still against the sight of a man beating a scared animal, even a bear. The logger found himself under arrest. The Tacoma Humane Society formed days later, making it the fourth animal protection society in the nation.
The society and other animal rescue efforts now have the challenge of cleaning up a mess of our own making, since spay and neutering of pets can control overpopulation of unwanted animals while proper education about the demands and responsibilities of pet ownership could avoid “bad matches” in the first place. Certainly there are times when good-intentioned people find themselves with the heart-breaking decision of surrendering their pets because of changes in their life situations. Those times, however, are far too few of the rising number of discarded animals. More often animals are just handed over or abandoned because their owners simply no longer wanted them, much like people donate out-of-fashion shirts.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Potential pet owners need to learn about the breed, temperament, demands and longevity of their animals before taking them home. Rabbits sure are cute around Easter, but their hutches need to be cleaned for years to come.