Pet fish to be banned for sale in San Francisco

[CometKeith]

Malak, I was quite attached to mine as well. She ran away one time after digging a hole under a fence. I was heartbroken and looked for her 10-12 hours a day for a week going to every shelter in the Chicago Metro area. She didn't have her regular collar on because she was in training class. Years later when we had to put her to sleep because she was sick it was horrible. The same day my wife called me because our 4 year old daughter was sick and had to go to the hospital. It put things in perspective for me. I loved my dog but there was no comparison to the feelings for your child.(or at least until they become a teenager!)

 

[ididntdoit99]

I "rescued" my pup from a breeder (he was born a runt with a fractured elbow and they couldnt sell him)

I think its pretty wrong that they are A) forcing people to adopt or drive distances to find the dog they want.

My thinking is... before my two kids were born, yeah, I may have adopted a dog, but now, there is no way a would ever bring an animal into the house that I have no idea how it was raised or treated.

I spent two summers during college working for our local shelter, cleaning pens, washing dogs, taking them for excersise. I know first hand that if a dog is mistreated or mistrained, they may seem like the most lovable dog and suddenly try to attack for no apparent reason. And on many occasions... I got to be the one to find that when they first came in off the streets before they were put up for adoption.

I'm not saying that there arent hundreds and thousands of perfectly good dogs sitting in shelters right now, but since I've seen the bad side of shelter dogs first hand, I could never bring myself to adopt an ADULT dog to bring around my children, a new puppy is a different story.

Also, what about people that are looking for a certain type of dog? I love boxers, I dont want a mutt boxer, I love my brindle, purebred boxer. My parents own an english bulldog, You ever seen a $1200 purebred english bulldog sitting in a shelter? If you have, let me know, I'll make the drive. My aunt and uncle breed english bulldogs, I'd love to have one someday, but they are sure expensive little critters to buy and keep.

 

[jagan314]

Wow... I'm from San Francisco originally. And even THAT sounds ridiculous to ME.
I understand what your saying ididntdoit99... I wouldn't bring an adult shelter dog home to my children either, I'd be to worried about its temperment, and its not worth the surprise. A puppy is another story... And speaking of the bully breeds.. You can rescue those dogs as well. I've known the breed for many years and my last english bully passed just last year at 13yrs. I volunteer for French Bulldog Rescue Network. I have a rescue Pit/lab mix (got him at 8wks old), I had 2 english bulldogs, now only 1, and I have a rescue french bulldog and another I had since a puppy. This and my koi ponds keep me very busy. And I use the opportunity to teach my kids compassion and patience. Pet fish ban in San Francisco is ridiculous.

 

[j.w]

One year we went to the fireworks in Seattle and sat on the grass next to some people w/ an American Bulldog and I fell in love w/ that dog. He sat w/ his head on my shoulder for part of the time and he was so big but so gentle and sweet. The people raised them and gave me their card but I never called them. Had my best friend Zekerdog then and didn't need two big dogs in the house. Lost Zeke in 1996 to cancer, he was 3/4 golden retriever and 1/4 golden lab and I will miss him forever. Pets are so much a part of the family.

 

[taherrmann4]

This past October we had to put our dog down of 12 years, he lived a great life. At age 7 he was diagnosed with diabetes and the vet at the time told us he could live for a few more years if we we did our part and gave him his shots and feed him special food. So every morning he would eat and then we would shoot him up with insulin and we would do the same every night, this went on for 5 years. About 2 years ago he was considered blind due the diabetes but he still got around very good, just no longer ran in the yard but he knew where he could and couldn't go. I never had to worry about him fallling into the pond becuase as soon as he would touch the rocks he stopped. Now in the winter I had to put up a small fence that I made out of branches from a tree that I cut down so it wasn't tacky just sort of fit in with the surroundings, I did this so when it froze over and covered with snow he wouldn't go to the pond. The snow was the hardest thing for him to navigate, but in the house he did very well. When we decided to put him down the vet asked us if we wanted to be in the room for the whole thing and we decided that we needed to do this for him and us. This was probably the worst day of our lives, you see we don't have kids and this dog was our kid, we took him everywhere and probably had a better life than a lot of kids in this world. I use to joke with my wife when we had to pick up the supplies (food, insulin and vet checks) that this was another car payment.

So this past January we decided to get another dog and this time it would be a rescue. In order for us to adopt her they sent someone over to our house to check it out to be sure it was dog safe, we were interviewed, and had to give referencs. This process took about 3-4 weeks. When we fnally got her and she has turned out to be one of the best dogs I have ever had, she does a lot of the activities that we enjoy doing, and just has a great personality. She has her faults like hunting and digging but that just makes it a challenge just like I am sure raising kids are. Would I adopt again, for sure.

 

[j.w]

What a nice but also sad story tmann. Your dog was treated so nice by you and had such a long and wonderful caring life. Lots of people would have put him down right away when they found out about the diabetes. Any dog would be proud to be a member of your family. When our dog was diagnosed w/ cancer we had them do surgery to open him up to see if he could be saved but when they did that he had so much of it inside that they said if they took out what they could by the time he healed up he would die anyway and so didn't want him to suffer w/ the pain and just let him go to sleep after the surgery.He was 12 yrs old also. It was like you said the hardest, worst thing we ever had to do. I'm sitting here w/ tears reading and writing this now.

 

[ididntdoit99]

Wow... I'm from San Francisco originally. And even THAT sounds ridiculous to ME.
I understand what your saying ididntdoit99... I wouldn't bring an adult shelter dog home to my children either, I'd be to worried about its temperment, and its not worth the surprise. A puppy is another story... And speaking of the bully breeds.. You can rescue those dogs as well. I've known the breed for many years and my last english bully passed just last year at 13yrs. I volunteer for French Bulldog Rescue Network. I have a rescue Pit/lab mix (got him at 8wks old), I had 2 english bulldogs, now only 1, and I have a rescue french bulldog and another I had since a puppy. This and my koi ponds keep me very busy. And I use the opportunity to teach my kids compassion and patience. Pet fish ban in San Francisco is ridiculous.

They do have a boxer resue here, and there is a bulldog rescue in the chicago area. Bad thing is, any bulldog brought to a shelter here, they automatically will send to the bulldog rescue, but the bulldog rescue wont let you adopt a dog from them unless you are within 50 miles of them. Makes total sense, theres is a bulldog right here in town, but they wont let you adopt it because they have to send it to the bulldog rescue, and the bulldog rescue wont let you adopt it because you live too far away.

 

[cl2smith]

wow thats crazy

 

[JenH]

I could never, ever live in CA. I'm waaayyyy to Conservative. Not to start anything, but just a thought. I quick internet search shows that CA leads this country in abortions by a landslide and that tax money helps fund those abortions. But, heaven forbid people mistreat a fish. "Animal activists say it will save small but important lives, along with taxpayer money, and end needless suffering." I just threw up a little. Ugh.

 

[CometKeith]

Jen, Then you should watch this. It's an intelligent discussion about the goldfish ban. lol

 

[JenH]

Don't get me wrong, I certainly do believe the welfare of animals should be protected, even goldfish to a point. But this whole thing is just so out there. What a waste of money and complete hypocrisy when you look at all the bigger things going on in this country right now. Why is this even an article/situation to discuss when there are literally people in THIS country living in conditions worse then the dirtiest fishbowl they've ever seen. Granted they are animal activists. And I really can't speak for anything in California. I've never even been close to there for a visit. But, people treat their pets bad and shouldn't be allowed to have them anymore. But we can for food. What about all the horrible conditions that animals bred for eating face? I swear it's stuff like this that make other countries think we are all a bunch of dumba$$es!

I'm with a lot of you other posters on here to as far as animals from shelters go. I have had several rescue dogs/cats. Ultimately I have had to give them back because their behavior/temperment was something I couldn't control. I'm a big german shepherd lover. But this is not a dog to keep in the home around children when it has behavior problems. I've literally had dogs chew through and destroy everything I own in a single afternoon. And when they are aggressive, forget it. My current baby came from a breeder and he has an excellent blood line. I'll never do it any other way from here out. This is my "other" child:

 

[HARO]

Beautiful dog, JenH. My first purchase, with my first paycheck, when I entered the working world was a year-old German Shepherd that was being sold because a child in the family was highly alergic. She was the most gentle dog I have ever seen; when our daughter was 9 or 10 months old she learned to walk by grabbing the dog's fur. The two of them would then slowly get up and walk very slowly around the yard. John

 

[JenH]

Thank you. He is about 5 years old now, and he is amazing with my twins. They're 2.5 and can do just about anything to him and he could care less. His only protest is if they step somewhere all males would be unhappy about. But even then he just moans a little and walks away. My husband's dog is a Springer Spaniel and she is no where near as tolerant of them. In fact she pretty much just avoids them at all costs. If they are downstairs, she's up and vice versa. I have pictures of them as infants laying on him like a pillow!

 

[pinon ponder]

JenH: "And I really can't speak for anything in California. I've never even been close to there for a visit. "

Thank you for adding that to your posts. I'm a native Californian and believe me the things you see on tv and those who want these types of laws passed do not represent most of the 36 MILLION people who live here. I don't want to start anything either but I really get tired of blanket condemnations of me and my fellow Californians, especially by folks who have never lived here. I've been all over this country and I can assure you most of us are hard working, tax paying, family loving, helpful to our neighbors folks, just like the rest of you. Oh, and most of us women don't have fake boobs and botox injections, either.

 

[addy1]

JenH: "And I really can't speak for anything in California. I've never even been close to there for a visit. "

Thank you for adding that to your posts. Oh, and most of us women don't have fake boobs and botox injections, either.

Darn you just destroyed all their dreams of millions of perfect women roaming the streets of california!