Puppy Mills and Pet Stores

by Mira P.

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! Tomorrow is 2013. Crazy, right?

So, pet stores. That is, pretty much, the entire reason I started Tiny Cages. I'll admit, at times, I just think, "Hey! This pet store's pretty good!" I just e-mailed PetCo and alerted them to their less-then-good treatment of their small animals (and the attitude of their employees). 

They e-mailed back with a polite "our pet treatment is very good. The animals are happy. We've told your PetCo about your complaints". It was the average reply. It was very nice and polite, and they actually almost fooled me into believing "hey! Why not shop here? They're nice!"

And then I'm reminded of why I started Tiny Cages - because of tiny cages! Regardless of how well they treat their animals, the cage size is unacceptable. In fact, pretty much just selling the animal is unacceptable. They rarely, if ever, come from happy places. Hosting an adoption event every once in a while would be fantastic! That is how, I believe, they should do it. That would be humane and a good idea.
 
There are so many animals in shelters that are good pets, are wonderful, loyal, and fun pets. Someone, I can't remember who, I apologize, said that shelter animals are viewed as "damaged goods" - when it's not like that at all! They are wonderful, but sometimes get the short end of the stick. 

A while ago, there was an ad that played on TV. It showed a man driving up in a truck, throwing a bone out the window. Then the dog ran after it, and the man drove away. The dog said something like "I'm not a bad dog. He's just a jerk!" Then they added some humor to it, having the dog pick up something and say, "I have his wallet!" And I think that's exactly right. They're not bad dogs, they had bad owners.

I am a bit ignorant, I must say, on this subject, as I am too sensitive to look it up, but I am quite sure most pet stores dogs come from puppy mills. And, if you don't know, puppy mills are extremely cruel places where dogs are forced to mate and make babies. The babies are sold in pet stores. They're kept in small and filthy cages and often undernourished and unhealthy. Puppy mills are the ultimate "tiny cages". 

However, in the USA, they are still legal.  Why? I have no idea. If everyone pools together, I'm sure that one day, puppy mills will become illegal. And, of course, that won't stop some of them - but if we all manage to shut down one, just one, it will have made a big impact on dog's lives - and our lives. Humans and other animals should be able to live in harmony together, but we can't if we keep ignoring them, ignoring the fact that they can feel pain, happiness, and lots of other things some people view as "human emotions". And we can stop it. If humans can put it together, humans can stop it, too.

It is my opinion that pet stores shouldn't sell animals. If they truly loved them like they say they do, they would not sell them. My favorite pet store, PetClub, actually says they don't sell animals because they love them. I very strongly recommend trying to find a pet store like that. 

It may seem to you like a waste of time - after all, what's one person not buying anything from a huge chain of stores? But one person CAN make a difference. Think about it. All those times you go there, you're giving them money. Sure, PetCo and Petsmart (is it Pet-Smart or Pets-Mart? Will we ever know?) are huge and one person doesn't affect them, but one person affects another. Then another. And maybe you will prove to a lot of people that they can do better in terms of giving their money to good organizations.  

One last thing, (and I hope this doesn't come across as offensive to anyone; please alert me if it did) it may seem to you that your pet store is very good - the employees are friendly, their pets are healthy, and their prices are good. But please think about where their pets are coming from. Puppy mills, unhappy places? Is your money contributing to that? And how about their cage size? Is it large enough? 

Thank you all, and have a wonderful new year! Oh, and a P.S., check out the Humane Society's attempt to stop puppy mills. Everyone can help and make a difference - it's true! 

Happy Holidays!

 by Mira P.

Hello, everyone! Well, New Years is right around the corner, and then the holidays for 2012 are over. How was your guy's holidays? Which holidays do you celebrate? 

For Christmas for us this year, we got all of our pets some gifts. I don't think the rats knew what was happening (and they slept most of Christmas day), but Daxter, our dog, was very happy with his turn-out. 

We got Daxter a bone, a Kong toy (the type where you stick a treat inside of it and the dog has to dig it out - Daxter goes crazy for them!), some filler for the toy, and some Christmas dog cookies. He was really happy, and he ran around all day afterwards, sniffing to see if anything else was for him. Our grandmother came over later and gave him two squeak toys and a ball, so his Christmas was definitely very good.

For the rats, Buster and Gob, we got a new blanket for their cage (they love blankets), some bad rat treats (only at Christmastime!) that I'm pretty sure Buster likes . . . I don't think Gob knows what to do with them, and finally, some balls. They aren't really a fan of the balls, which I'm almost glad for, because the balls make a lot of noise. My small animals have never enjoyed their toys; our guinea pigs don't like any chew toys or other types, my first hamster, Rosetta, NEVER liked any toy or chewy thing I gave her (and then she chewed on the bars of her cage at night) and now the rats! I need some fun animals.

We didn't get much for the guinea pigs, just some blocks of timothy hay. I'm unfortunately allergic to them, so I didn't go back in to see if they liked it, but they seemed very interested when I first plopped them in there with them. My mother is allergic to the hay, so I did it instead of her.

Are you guys excited for 2013? It still feels weird to me - I feel like it just turned into 2012! Which is unusual, since, being the twelve-year-old, I'm generally not the one who thinks that. I'm glad the world didn't end! Haha.

So, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, a wonderful end of year and a wonderful new year. 2013 - wow!

Why I'm A Vegan

By Hanna vB

(WARNING: PG if you're very sensitive)

I'm vegan because I love animals.

Vegan means that I don't eat any dairy products. No meat, no cheese, no butter, no milk, and no eggs. To me, eating cheese, butter, or milk is like taking the baby cow's food. First of all, most people force their cows to mate. Then, when the baby is born, they take it away from it's mother. And, most likely, they kill the baby cow and make it into some kind of meat.

Then they milk the mother (most likely with a machine) and they make the cheese, butter and milk. I don't know the full story on chickens and their eggs, so I won't say much.

And now, the pigs. I, personally, think that pigs are adorable. I don't know why anybody would eat them. They're kept in very small cages, with all their feces. They sometimes attack each other. Almost always these animals are fed hormones.

There are other things you can eat. Beans, grains, and fake meat . There are also fake cheeses and butters.

Oh, Rats! Update

By Mira P. (with new font!)

So, a few blog posts ago, I got two new rats, boys named Buster and Gob (pronounced "Jobe"), though they were previously named "Willy & Wonka".

I described their traits and personalities, but I had gotten them recently and didn't go into too much detail, so how about an update on how they're doing? (I can't upload any pictures, though, I apologize)

Gob is a little bit of a pain in the butt, but he's worth it. My mother and I take him and Buster up to my (rat-proofed) room for play-time, for at least an hour, sometimes more, and he always climbs up on my bedside table. It's not safe, since it contains many little toys and a lamp, so I always have to pick him up and take him down twenty times. 

He likes to be tickled, though. Mostly around his neck and his belly. He'll always put his mouth on my finger, but he never bites (he doesn't have that problem when I look like food, though). He also rides on my mother and I's (or is it me's?) shoulders more.  

Buster kind of reminds me of the brother of the spaztic one, the one who's always like *sigh*, Gob, stop it. He's a little less active and easily-entertained than Gob, but when he's up in my room he bounces around happily. He's a dumbo (did I mention that in my last post about them?) which means his ears are rounder on on the side of his head, which I think is adorable. My mom isn't too keen on his ears, though.

He loves cheese, but he isn't too big of a fan of anything else. Cheese is the only thing it seems like he likes. Gob, on the other hand, will eat anything, but he especially loves pasta. He does this bouncy run when he gets some.

They seem to squabble a lot, though - kind of sad. They love each other, though, you can tell. They'll snuggle together in their hammock, and Buster likes to groom Gob. It's kind of sad, though, Buster wants Gob to groom him, but Gob is so clueless, he doesn't know.

The last thing I want to say, I had to delete my last Tiny Cages gmail account, so my new one is tinycages2@gmail.com. Thanks!

PETA

By Mira P.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is an extremely well-known animal rights activist group. Before I get to writing anything else, one thing I want you to know is that this is an opinion post, which means I may post something that you disagree with or are offended by. Please let me (Mira) know in the comments section if anything did offend you.

I am not a fan of PETA, at all. I think they are obnoxious, and they go too far. They once handed out (I think; if I got anything wrong, feel free to tell me) disturbing "happy meals" to children to show them the cruelties of McDonald's, or maybe just eating meat in general, I don't know. Then another time they handed out flyers to children going to see a play, I believe, who have mothers and fathers who wear fur. Now, I absolutely hate it when people wear fur, but jeez, don't traumatize the kid - it's not their fault.

And another time, a more popular instance, is when they made a billboard that said "Save the whales. Lose the blubber: go vegetarian", and depicted a large woman in a bikini. If it didn't mean to purposefully, it accidentally calls overweight people "whales".

They have a few other billboards, though the other ones I've seen are less offensive. There's one that says "Boycott the circus", which I mostly agree with. I'm pretty sure that the circus does not treat the animals fairly or humanely - the only weird thing is that there's a naked woman on it (she's covered by her legs and body position, but still).

They've also made "parodies" (if that's the word) of video games, like Cooking Mama and Pokemon. In the PETA Cooking Mama, in the first part, you're basically cruelly and strangely killing and cooking a turkey, in a very unrealistic way (with evil Mama). In the second part, Mama goes vegan and turns into Good Mama, and proceeds to cook a tofu turkey. So the moral of the game? If you're not vegetarian, you're an awful person.

The other one was Pokemon, as I stated before. Now, how you can think of Pokemon as they apparently did is completely beyond me, but they managed to think of it as abuse, I guess. I haven't researched it much, but that's what I remember. I'm definitely not a fan of Pokemon (excuse me for not being able to put the accent-thingy on the "e") but I always assumed that the Pokemon just shrunk when they went into the Pokeballs . . . I didn't think there was a full sized animal (or whatever Pokemon are) in a tiny ball like that.

So for me, PETA isn't good and is actually anti-helpful to the cause of preventing animal cruelty. I've seen way more "eating a steak for PETA" than "I think PETA's doing good". And why put other animals before humans? I don't think you should put humans before animals, but animals aren't worth more. We're all equal, in my eyes.

Pets for Presents

By Mira P.

Hey, everyone! It's December, and everybody's going crazy  for Christmas. The stores are packed, and my neighbors have had lights up since November!

One thing I want to address is a common thing - giving small animals for Christmas presents. It's a fun idea - you wake up on Christmas morning, and go downstairs to find - a puppy! Or maybe a hamster? A fish? What else could a child want - their very own pet! The best Christmas ever!

Now, I'm for both sides on this subject. If you've already discussed the responsibility of a pet, and made sure they want them and will care for them - then that's fun! But I think a lot of time it's just a bad idea. The kid's happy - oh my god, my very own hamster! - then a few days later they're bored, or don't know what to do (or how much of it they'd have to do!).  The excitement is gone and all the work is placed on mom and dad.

You need, I think, to discuss pets with your children before you adopt one. You cannot just adopt a dog and say "surprise! Happy birthday!" In a perfect world, that would be perfect. But one, a dog is a lot of responsibility, even as a family pet. Two, a surprising amount of times, children get something, love it for a few days, a few weeks, hell, a few months, and then they get bored of it. And if the thing they're getting bored of is a dog, a cat, or even a fish? It isn't good.

It's awful when someone adopts a dog (for example), then doesn't keep him or her. A dog is not a pet, but a family member, and you should never give up a family member. A dog is a big decision, it's not really a  "Merry Christmas!" type thing.

What do you guys think? Is a small animal, even something like a fish, appropriate for a Christmas present? And what are you guys planning for your holidays? I personally can't wait to watch Elf on Christmas Eve! :)

How We Treat Our Food Before It's Food

 by Mira P.

Humans are omnivores. Of course, not all humans, as some are vegetarians, but the human species is an omnivorous species (we are able to eat both meat and other sources of food).

Back in the early days, humans hunted for their food - in fact, some still do. But a large majority of humans now simply go to the supermarket and buy it there. But how does the meat get there? Do the people hunt it, or do it by other means?

Now, many people reading this will already know what most people do for our meat. But even I don't know the extent of it, and to be honest, I am not curious and too sensitive to research it further. To put it very simply, we don't treat them nicely.

I don't like hunting as a sport, where you do it simply for fun and don't do anything with the animal. But current tribes and old, extinct ones mostly use all of the animal - the meat for food, the hide for clothing, and anything else they can use to help themselves. This doesn't waste the animal - you don't kill it to kill it.

Think about it - were you to be killed, would you prefer to be left there, killed for nothing? Or would you rather your meat and your skin (as creepy as that sounds!) to help them, so that they can keep on living healthily?

Anyway, back to the original subject, the way we treat the cows, and pigs, and chickens isn't okay. It's not how we're supposed to do it, and we're doing it just because it's cheaper. In my opinion, that's not okay.

Another subject is vegetarianism - I have nothing against them (two of my best friends are vegetarians), except for the ones that try to get to convert you to vegetarianism. I eat meat, and always will, though I do not like to eat anything I know hasn't had a good life. The problem I have with it is not necessarily the trying to get me to be a vegetarian, it's why.

Most of the time, they're saying about how it's wrong to treat animals like we do. And yes, I agree. But I disagree that trying to get people to stop eating meat is the right way to do it. Not everybody will stop eating meat, no matter how hard you try (especially because humans are designed to eat meat). There are entire cultures that would laugh at the idea. The right way to try and get it to stop is getting to the core of it. Go to the people who make the meat, not the people who eat it.

What do you guys think of the subject?

A P.S. - Here's a site dedicated to informing and helping. I only looked at the first page, but it's not a gory- picture site - but may contain sad words, so be careful if you're sensitive like me :)

My First Pet

by Mira P.

My first pet was a dwarf hamster named Rosetta. Rosetta was gray with a white stripe down her back, and was feisty. She would always turn down every single chewing toy I gave her, but she chewed on her cage bars at night (hamsters are nocturnal).

She bit me quite a few times, but I wasn't mad at her - most likely, I smelled like food! 

I remember one time, she escaped from her cage. Hamsters are generally pretty small, so I was worried I wouldn't ever find her. We found a pile of her food in the bathroom next to the toilet, so at least at that point we knew she was okay!

We put a bowl of water out for her, so she would have food and water, and waited a while to see if she returned on her own. We did think of a few "traps" we could set, but thankfully those weren't necessary!   Rosetta came home (back to her cage) fairly soon. My dad walked in and saw her next to the table her cage sat on, so he put her back in.

Rosetta was an amazing pet, but I think I'm more a rat-person than a hamster-person. Rosetta will always have a place in my heart (figuratively, of course) as the best hamster and first pet I've ever had. :)

Does anyone have a first pet experience they'd like to share? Or any pet story? I'd love to hear them!