Hello,
 
On the subject of free pets I have two things to say.  The first is that
when you acquire an animal you commit to him or her for the remainder of
his/her life.  If, for some reason (and it does happen -- it should be a
VERY GOOD reason, though) you can no longer keep the animal, and EVERY
OTHER OPTION HAS BEEN EXPLORED, then it becomes necessary to find a home
for your pet.  I feel that if you are giving up your pet, you really
shouldn't ask for any money, even for the "supplies" (i.e. cage, kennel,
leash etc..) because YOU were the one who took on the responsibility for
the animal.  The cost that you incurred should be your responsibility as
well.
 
The second is that if you are adopting out any animal, even expensive
ones such as exotic bird which can cost thousands of dollars, you should
GIVE the animal away, rather than asking money for them.  This goes gfor
purebred dogs, as well; see above.  This gives you *some* say in what
happens to the animal afterwards.  If the new owner buys your pet from
you, then the animal inarguably belongs to that person now.  Of course,
if you give him away, they belong to that person anyway, but at least
you can say, "If anything happens and it doesn't work out, please return
the animal to me rather than 'getting rid' of it".   When the pet store
I worked at adopted out our shelter dogs, we always told the new owners
to return the dog to us if it didn't work out rather than the local
shelter -- the local shelter would just hold the animal a certain amount
of time and then euthanize them.  We would hang onto them until someone
came along who wanted them.
 
These are just my thoughts on the subject.
 
-christine and Mab and Dustbin
[Posted in FML issue 4210]