An Annual Lifelong Commitment

We’d been married about two months when I looked in the newspaper for Free-to-Good-Home cats and found Butler, a grey and white tuxedo boy about nine months old, and the best friend a young, often-to-be-alone, far-from-home gal could have hoped for. I needed a pet. I’d always had one. The year we lived in Australia, we left Luke, and cats, Katrina and Joe, in Oklahoma with my brother and his family. It added to the feeling that we weren’t in Kansas anymore. Not only was it strange but, I had no idea how much food Luke vacuumed off our kitchen floor.

Most of our pets were adopted, except for Luke, who we bought from a pet store. Judge, if you must. I will say I think “adopting is better than shopping” but I’m certainly not sorry we got him. You probably haven’t heard much about our non-dog-and-cat-type adoptees, the ones that others might find a bit harder to relate to. Ralphie was a Syrian hamster that my kids gave me for Christmas one year, and now that I think about it, who Rachel bought at a pet store in Jacksonville, NC. So, yes, a pet but not adopted. When Andrew was working at the PetSmart PetsHotel, he was introduced to two baby bearded dragons, both with damaged tails and not able to be sold, he named them Shady and Rocket and brought them home, to love and spoil.

Maybe you’d like to complete this one for me. Would you like to ADOPT AN ANIMAL? I’m not interested. Not today, not for the foreseeable future. Please, DO adopt one if you have the interest, time, money, etc., but if you, like me, have all your animal slots currently filled, may I offer a suggestion?

I once held a koala. It’s fur was stiff and it’s butt, which I was to cradle under my forearm, was crusted with what I can only assume was dried poop. A photo was taken, and I handed the poor animal to the next poor person. It was a very touristy thing to do. We paid a very touristy price for the privilege. It was an encounter that I remember, but not fondly. We were exploring Australia, Brisbane to be exact, me with my kids, and a friend from Canada with hers, while our husbands were back home in Canberra. Overall, it was a great experience. But that koala piece. I don’t love that.

At the time, it just seemed sad and a bit gross, but now, I can’t help but think about what I’ve learned about those types of up-close animal experiences. I’m going to believe that the koala was well cared for until he died, surrounded by his loved ones and a never-ending supply of eucalyptus leaves. Wow, this went dark quickly. Sorry about that.

In February, I started volunteering as a Tour Assistant for a wildlife sanctuary, in the woods of Pittsboro, NC, about 30 minutes from our home. During my short time at Carolina Tiger Rescue, I’ve learned more about what animal exploitation looks like and it often looks like holding koalas or petting tiger cubs or bottle-feeding baby lions. I know, I know, still dark. Some of the animals at Carolina Tiger Rescue were once kept as pets, not necessarily the tigers, although don’t think that hasn’t happened, but the smaller animals like bobcats, kinkajous, and servals. These wild animals lived in someone’s home until their owners could no longer ignore what you’ve hopefully been thinking all along: these animals are not pets. As much as we love to look at them and wonder what it might be like to touch them, the tour guides always say, you can’t love the wild out of them.

So, here’s my suggestion, adopt an animal that you never have to take home or groom or do anything with other than enjoy. For a small fee, you might get a photo and updates and, you definitely get to keep all of your fingers. Over the years, we’ve adopted an Woodland Box turtle named Wilson (no relation to the cat we adopted named Wilson), an Eastern Ratsnake named Severus, a Ring-tailed Lemur named Teres, and a Coquerel’s Sifaka (another lemur) named Pompeia, to name just a few. We didn’t have to feed or house them, just love them, from afar. Sometimes we adopted them for other people, this I definitely do not recommend for in-home pets!

There are many wildlife organizations and animal sanctuaries that offer the opportunity to symbolically adopt their animals, which helps support the needs of both the animals and the organizations in caring for them. Wilson and Severus were adopted through the Wildlife Center of Virginia, and Teres and Pompeia were adopted through the Duke Lemur Center. You can even adopt an animal from Carolina Tiger Rescue, a big commitment at a big price, for what they consider an annual commitment for the lifetime of an individual animal. That’s not unlike our own pets, honestly, a lifetime commitment and a big price. You get a great return on your money, though.

Thanks for reading. It’s hard for me not to be preachy about animals. I’ll squeeze my lecture into this tiny sentence: please avoid roadside zoos and have your pets spayed or neutered.

Before you go…I must admit that I adopted more animals from the Wildlife Center of Virginia than I would have, because, for a time, you could buy a Folkmanis brand wild animal finger puppet on the cheap if you adopted an animal. How could I pass it up?! Remember, I am a Children’s Librarian by training and by heart, so puppets are fun, not creepy.

One more thing. That’s Scout in the post image. We call him Buddy sometimes, too. Look at him now.