The "Poor Puppy" thread made me think of this...
A few days before Ruby found her way into our lives, we had visited a few local animal shelters with the intention of getting a puppy. My husband travels quite alot and we were looking for something substantial enough to be a guard dog when it got older, but good with kids as well. We decided we needed a puppy because a full grown dog would be too intimidating for my youngs kids. So we found a sweet 16 week old lab and asked for the application. We were told that because we had children under 6, we could not have an animal under 6 months. Period.
I did quite a bit of research on the reasons why shelters might have this policy. They cite the facts that puppies and kittens scratch or nip and the children might have animosity towards the animal and vice versa.
Well now we have a houseful of kittens and my children are wonderful with them. The 3 year old is gentle and, although she is covered in scratches
, has never once complained. Once she got scratched pretty badly, and you could tell she wanted to cry, but sucked it up. Now she shows her scratches to anyone who will listen saying "Look what the kittens gave me," like they're presents.
The 17 month old keeps a respectful distance and the kittens give her a wide berth. The kittens have had free reign for a week or so and no problems.
Anyway, long post...but what are your opinions about the no pets under 6 months in houses with children under 6? You'd think animal shelters would be trying to adopt out the animals to good homes despite the ages. A parent knows their children and , I hope, would know whether or not the kids would be kind to the animal and be allowed to make the decision to adopt on their own...
A few days before Ruby found her way into our lives, we had visited a few local animal shelters with the intention of getting a puppy. My husband travels quite alot and we were looking for something substantial enough to be a guard dog when it got older, but good with kids as well. We decided we needed a puppy because a full grown dog would be too intimidating for my youngs kids. So we found a sweet 16 week old lab and asked for the application. We were told that because we had children under 6, we could not have an animal under 6 months. Period.
I did quite a bit of research on the reasons why shelters might have this policy. They cite the facts that puppies and kittens scratch or nip and the children might have animosity towards the animal and vice versa.
Well now we have a houseful of kittens and my children are wonderful with them. The 3 year old is gentle and, although she is covered in scratches
Anyway, long post...but what are your opinions about the no pets under 6 months in houses with children under 6? You'd think animal shelters would be trying to adopt out the animals to good homes despite the ages. A parent knows their children and , I hope, would know whether or not the kids would be kind to the animal and be allowed to make the decision to adopt on their own...