Buddha is a great pet, very cuddly and playful. He needs a new home by the end of the month! I hate to give him away, but my new apartment won’t allow pets. Buddha is four years old, gray, and has a bent tail from being a stray (it adds to his character). He’s in good health, and has been to the vet for a check-up recently. He used to be fat, hence the name, but he has lost a little weight this summer. Please call Emily if you are interested. 0920378736
The bent tail means he’s inbred. 
Sorry, Alittoe, but if you hate to give him away, why did you move to an apartment with no pets?
It’s just such a shame to see an animal separated from its ‘family’ like that.
Anyway, good luck - I hope the cat finds a responsible owner who’s in it for the long term.
Sean
Yes, there are plenty of apartments for rent where the landlords allow pets. Or where the landlord will never even know that you have a pet. 
I just got a very … erm … informative PM from alittoe, and, just to fill you in, she inherited the cat from a roommate and it’s not hers and she’s doing a kind act by finding it a home and she would appreciate it if people didn’t make judgements based on an Internet message.
Then she made a judgement about me being a freak with too much time on their hands with which to post insulting messages. 
Anyway, I reiterate: Good luck to you, alittoe, and I hope the cat finds a home with someone responsible who’s in it for the long term.
I really hope the poor cat finds a new home and a new owner… anyone would be step up from his previous owners it seems…
If everyone hasn’t noticed some of the responses to this have become really judgemental. Considering none of us seem to know Alittoe and the cat was basically left with her (we don’t know if the roomate asked this of Alittoe or just left) and the fact that maybe she never wanted, and at the moment might not want a cat. I thought that this was supposed to be a forum where we supported and helped animals. At least Alittoe is taking the time to try and find a home for a cat that wasn’t even hers to begin with. I have been an activist for many different things and the way to get people to acknowledge and help fix a problem is not by calling them names or suggesting their useless. Animals in Taiwan does a lot of good and means well, but sometimes some of the things that are being said on this area get a little harsh. Lets set an example people and quite judging everyone who comes onto this forum looking for help. The key thing is that they are not just dumping the animals off at some shelter to be put to sleep and also realize that not everyone out there supports the same causes.
Of course, if it was not her cat what she is doing is very cool. However, my response, and I think DB’s too, referred to the above statement. Firstly, I do not like the idea of giving away pets just because you suddenly have a lifestyle change (not including serious prolems like health problems, inability to cope with a new baby, i.e. making it very hard to keep the pet). But secondly, it seemed like this person really wanted to keep her cat (“I hate to give him away…”), and was perhaps just misinformed about the availability of apartments allowing pets.
In fact, it is way more difficult to keep pets in apartments back home than it is here…most landlords don’t mind.
The irresponsible owner is definitely the first person who left the cat, not Alittoe then, but since this wasn’t made clear you can’t really blame animal lovers for responding negatively when it seems like an animal is just being tossed out.
Good luck with finding Buddha a loving family.
I agree with Stray Dog’s first response which was a simple question, but did you read the latest response from plasmatron? Wasn’t very nice, and it isn’t the first I have seen people being given crap for something on this website. I have given one of my dogs away twice after picking him up off the street and spending months nursing him back to health, the apartment situation isn’t always as straightforward as people seem to think. I only kept both dogs after realizing that he probably wouldn’t find a good home here and that all the shifting was screwing with his meds and his head. I can’t say whether or not I will even keep them both once I get back to Canada. I have no idea if I will have the time, space or money to keep them. Sometimes people do what they have to at the time because their is no other alternative and sometimes life throws things your way that make keeping an animal, even one you love, next to impossible. I really hated it when I felt I had to give away my one dog, I was half relieved and half disapointed every time he was returned to me. I wouldn’t not appreciate someone judging me for what I put the dog through those two times.
Zoinks, yes, I must have misread that…I thought plasma was referring to the original owner/roommate who abandoned the pet, leaving it to alittoe to find a home.
I have had personality clash issues with pets too…particularly one of my guinea pigs, and tried various horrible ways to get rid of them. But I failed, and they’re still here, and I’m actually quite fond of them, even though I will never get guinea pigs as pets again!
Like I said before, if you really have a serious issue, by all means try to find your pet a new home. Picking up dogs from the steet, nursing them back to health and finding homes for them is also wonderful, and obviously completely different.
However, you’d be surprised how many people suddenly decide to get rid of their pet just because they’re moving house or moving to a new country or get tired of them or for whatever lame reason. My cats are almost like children to me and I hope I never lose sight of the fact that having taken them in I have also made them quite dependent on me.
my somewhat curt comments above were directed largely at the previous owner who dumped their cat with Alittoe… Alittoe is to be commended for making the effort to find a home for the poor animal, but her justification for why she needs to get rid of the cat, and more importantly her petty jabs at Stray Dog’s character brings her right back into the firing line…
again, I really hope that between Alittoe, Forumosa and animalstaiwan.org this innocent cat can find a more caring and responsible new owner…
Woudsprite, you took on that dog because it needed your help; you spent time and money nursing it back to health and have worked hard to find it the kind of home that you are unable to provide (and that’s not easy here). That’s exactly what I do, and of course you have my full support. I wish there were more people like you. This case is very different. The cat was left behind by someone who only wanted the animal while in Taiwan. This was not a foster situation (if I’m wrong, I’m sure alittoe will put me right).
Within the international animal welfare community, one of the more successful methods for reducing the number of animals being dumped in shelters and later destroyed is to find out from the owner why he or she is giving the animal up. Many shelters now will not take an animal just because the owner feels it would be easier for them.
Counselling and advice is given, and the owner is encouraged to work through the problems that they perceive they are having with the animal. The owner even gets invited to behavioral training classes. I totally support this approach. Because of it, people have realised that they would have later regretted losing their pet and contributing to the millions of unnecessary deaths that take place every year due to owners no longer wanting to take responsibility for the pet in their care.
Every animal that is moved from owner to owner like this suffers. Furthermore, the person that eventually takes in that cat (as in this instance) is a person who now can’t take in another cat in much greater need of adoption. For every cat that is passed on to someone else, a cat in the shelter is being euthanized.
That greatly saddens and disgusts me, but I feel my response was fair. I do understand, however, why other people who see the bigger picture don’t want to hold back how they feel.
Animals are not possessions; they are sentient beings that get attached to their carers and suffer when separated. If you decide to take on an abandoned animal, either keep it forever or find it a home in as short a time as possible. These are the actions fairest to the animal. Keeping it for a year and then getting rid of it when it is no longer convenient is selfish and cruel. It’s as simple as that.
If we dump our pets like this, we’re going to get negative responses. Hopefully it makes others think before doing the same.
One more point: Those responses that seemed more condemning than mine came after I had mentioned receiving a very rude PM from the original poster for my comments on the situation. She posted on a public forum, then insulted (albeit via PM) anybody that had time to read the post and respond. Perhaps that contributed to the more direct responses that follow.
The role of AnimalsTaiwan is to reduce the amount of unnecessary suffering we see every day here on this island. I don’t think I have strayed from that goal.
I totally understand your post, however, Woudsprite, and you’re being very fair.
Respectfully,
Sean
*EDIT: Obviously some posters got in before me - the post above was in response to Woudsprites earlier post
Perhaps no one cares at this point, but I felt that I owed StrayDog an aplology for the comments I made about his character. They came from a bit of a fit of anger from being attacked by someone who didn’t know me or my situation except for an ad of 50 word or less. Regardless, it wasn’t very cool of me, and I’m sorry.
I’m happy to say that I did find a new home for Buddha. I did very much “hate to give him up” because I don’t like the idea of passing animals around or as you all say, “dumping them.” Buddha was a great pet, and he didn’t deserve it. That is why I vehemently opposed the idea when my roomate first got Buddha from his previous owners (yes, he is presently in his third home), and didn’t like the idea of keeping the cat when I knew I was also only in Taiwan for the short term. I suppose I feel very guilty for abandoning Buddha, and therefore, defensive of my choices.
I regret that being passed around is not best life for Buddha, but I hope that it is better than the life he would have led in the streets near MOS as a stray. That’s right, he was found as a stray four years ago by his previous owners, who also “dumped” him on some other foreigner, namely, my roomate who has left for Nepal and could not take the cat with her. Now, why are people who take in strays considered saviors but people who recognize that they cannot care for an animal in the long term, but who try to care for it the best they can anyway, considered to be bad people? I don’t understand.
Anyway, I don’t believe that I should be commended or attacked for what I have done. I was simply trying to do my best, as anyone would. I must say that I found the pets forum of Forumosa to be absolutely no help. As enlightening as the discussion on pet ethics was, I would have much prefered some advice, as that is what would have really helped Buddha the most.
I wish all of you luck in your crusade to help strays, but hope that you do not discriminate against the poor animals that had the bad luck to land a temporary home.
Hi alittoe,
First off, hats off to you for caring about Buddha and finding him a home! :bravo:
Your ad was very short therefore noone knew the circumstance surrounding the reason why you had to give Buddha away. People needn’t write an essay when they are looking for a new home for their pets, but it does help the Forumosa regulars understand the situation first.
I don’t speak for anyone else, but when I read your ad, I got the impression that your new apartment was more important than your four year old companion. I apologize for thinking that. Thank you for your explanation, even though you actually didn’t need to.
I know Stray Dog personally and everything he does is out of love for all animals. He did not mean to insult you. He is one of the most fantastic people you will ever meet.
Take care, alittoe. You can also check out www.animalstaiwan.org for information on animals that Stray Dog and I are involved in.
Cheers,
914
Alittoe, if you check the thread again, you’ll see that no one questioned your character until you questioned others. All they did before that was express concern for the cat. But I understand why you were defensive.
I stick by my original post and say that I’m glad Buddha has found a new home and I hope the new owners are responsible and in it for the long term. I really mean that, and I can see that you obviously support that statement.
It’s great that you took on the responsibility of finding him a home and succeeded, and I very much appreciate the apology, though it’s really not necessary. It’s rare for people to apologise on these forums, so I was very pleasantly surprised - and thanks for the PM.
Enjoy your new apartment.
Sean
p.s. 914, you’re so nice to me.
:bravo: great to hear that the Buddah found a home… Very glad that this turned out to be a success story rather than a tragedy for the little guy and hope he fairs well in his new home… Well done alittoe!.. :bravo: