Breeding dreams on the Internet
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Some myths and pointers for the holiday season
WHO WOULD expect that an ad on Craigslist not only takes me back to my childhood but also reminds me that it’s that time of year when I should write about the dangers the holidays might pose for your pets.
You’ve probably already heard of the ad, which is offering two unicorns for US$1.86 million (about Bt65.1 million) – yes, those horses with horns in the centre of their foreheads.
Whoever wrote the ad makes it sound just like any ad offering puppies or kittens for sale. The writers, the ad assures, are the only fully-licensed unicorn breeders in North America, and the two unicorns have been hand-fed from birth.
How this ad would have delighted me in my childhood! When I was six or seven, the only thing I wanted for Christmas was a unicorn.
Relatives laughed at me. “Unicorns are a myth! They don’t exist,” they said, but I didn’t know what a myth was, and I really didn’t care.
To me, unicorns were so graceful, so beautiful with their flying manes and tails that they had to be real, and I wanted one.
No one ever tried to bring up practical considerations to persuade me to give up my dream, such as where I would have kept such a wonderful animal, or how I would have fed it or exercised it or kept it clean. No child would have thought of these problems anyway.
These questions are, of course, rather silly in terms of a mythical animal. They are, however, extremely important if you’re thinking of giving a cat or dog to a friend or family member as a holiday gift.
There are common sense rules for giving anyone a new pet at this time, or any time. First, the gift shouldn’t be a surprise. Yes, you need to let the recipient know that the pup or kitten is arriving.
Even beforehand, you need to be sure that the one who’ll end up actually taking care of the animal really wants the animal. Ask the kid, “Do you want a puppy?”, and the kid is sure to say: “Yes!!!” Ask the parent, who’ll be responsible for an animal that requires care, cleaning and feeding, and that parent may not be so happy.
At this time of year, the gift of life seems so appropriate, but please remember that the gift is itself a living creature, one that needs much more than to be a gift, and certainly one that shouldn’t be abandoned in a vacant lot when the owner doesn’t want it anymore.
For those of you whose pets are already well-loved members of your household, please remember the dangers they face at this time of year.
Food, such as nuts, fatty foods (from meats or in cakes) and fruits like grapes can be toxic or even fatal to pets.
On the top of the list are alcohol and chocolate. Ingesting either one of these can kill your pet.
One more thing. Lots of people now buy their pet off the Internet. To me, that’s not a good idea. You pay your money and get the animal, but you don’t ever see the animal’s parents or meet the breeder. You really don’t have any idea of what the animal will be like, or if the breeder is reliable.
At least, you can tell the unicorn ad is fake. The breeders are also offering unicorn eggs for sale. Obviously, they don’t know unicorns. Everyone knows that unicorns are born in the sea, in the foam of the waves. So now you know. Don’t buy your unicorn from these people.
