Why go out for Valentine’s Day when you can get some real puppy love for just $14?
Your date this Valentine’s Day could be a real dog.
And why not? Why waste a wad of money on a human when you can go adopt a dog or cat for just $14?
Pets are way more loyal and affectionate than people, you know, and studies show petting a dog or cat is a great way to reduce stress, which romance usually worsens.
Plus $14 is far cheaper than a date, if you’re not just having dinner McDonald’s or Burger King or something, which likely would cause the sort of tension and resentment you need to pet an animal to relieve.
Paws Humane Society, the shelter that takes dogs and cats from Columbus Animal Care & Control and markets them for adoption, is offering a $14 adoption special this Friday and Saturday, for Valentine’s Day.
But you don’t have to wait that long if you’re a big spender, because both Paws and Animal Control were full last week, and had to hand animals off to foster care to deal with the overflow.
It was a challenge, but so far the city animal control service has not euthanized a dog or cat for more than a year, despite reaching capacity.
“They still haven’t had to,” Paws’ Development and Marketing Manager Mary Yenter said Friday.
It’s like one of those signs you used to see in factories and warehouses that said how many days they’d gone without an accident: No one wants to go back to zero.
But the pressure’s on with Paws also at capacity, Yenter said.
“Right now we want to help out animal control as much as we can,” she said, adding Paws pulled seven dogs from animal control Friday and sent them straight to foster care.
The next day, animal control had a Valentine’s Day event, inviting visitors to spend time with its pets.
The two-day Paws Valentine’s Day adoption special runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the 4900 Milgen Road shelter, next to the animal control center. It’s online at www.pawshumane.org.
The special applies to all dogs and cats at least six months old. Right now the shelter has around 120 animals in its care, including those in foster homes. Last week it had more dogs than cats, with 10 to 15 felines available.
The special price is a bargain, as adoption fees usually run around $75. But that’s not bad, either, for a pet that has been spayed or neutered and fully vaccinated. Rendering a pet unable to reproduce can run around $150 at a veterinarian’s office, if not more, Yenter said.
For life
Pets are not people, of course, so adopting one is a long-term commitment akin to marriage, except marriage doesn’t mean you have to house-train, feed and clean up after an animal.
Or maybe it does. But at least pets don’t talk.
So, if you’re not prepared to care for an animal for 15 years or more, then you should not go out and get one just because you’re lonely, like you would a spouse or a date.
You can dump a human anytime. Most people do it right before Thanksgiving, because they can’t handle hanging out with someone else’s family when dealing with their own is hard enough. The “turkey drop,” some call the pre-Thanksgiving breakup.
Paws last week had five fresh owners wanting to return pets. The reasons vary, Yenter said, but these are typical:
- They can’t afford it.
- They’re moving to rental property that prohibits such cohabitation.
- It has too much energy.
- It peed on the carpet.
Too bad you can’t return a spouse or date for that.
Also, similar to a romantic partner, you should not adopt a pet “just because it’s cute,” Yenter said. “Make sure it’s the right one for your family.”
You can’t “turkey-drop” a pet like you would a human, as you ducked out of a family event.
Without you, it has no family.