Pets vs. Children

I don't think anyone is feeling particularly good about rehoming pets. When my father almost died I rehomed my 6 month old puppy because I simply could not dedicate the time needed to train and look after her while holding my immediately family together--I had to be at work (including training in the next town over for shift work), at the hospital with my father, at home looking after my mom, and I couldn't justify keeping her just because I wanted to (and I so very desperately did), especially after I'd found a good home for her. So I made that decision and she's happy with her new family (they have kids that absolutely adore her, too, which makes me feel even better because she adores children and these guys were just lovely). I still feel absolutely awful about what happened and I miss her every day, but everything was falling apart around me and that was the path of least harm.

I don't understand families that are planning on having kids and then suddenly need to rehome the animals they got while knowing full well they were gonna have kids, like... really? But sometimes bad things happen and rehoming an animal might be in the best interest of everyone involved, hard as that might be. If they put the work in to finding a good home I find it hard to hold their feet to the fire and shame them endlessly. When animals are wanted and loved but ultimately rehomed it's something that no person undertakes lightly. If it's an easy choice, or one you feel deeply good about, then you never really cared about the animal to begin with.

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