So I found this on the Va.Bch SPCA's website... Honestly, I thought this was just an isolated thing. I didn't realize it was so wide spread throughout the military that the actual SPCA would need to issue a statement for it. I think it's absolutely pathetic that some people treat animals like this! I really don't see how it's even possible. We've had Mo for almost 4 years, and he's been a part of the family since day one, and there's no way, how much I may dislike him some times, and even though he may unconvinced me a lot of the time, that I'd ever actually get rid of him. But I've seen people who, like the SPCA said, "seem to view SPCA's as animal libraries". They get a dog, keep it for a few weeks, and then "return it" cuz they "don't like it" ...Or go get a couple dogs and then just give them away after a couple years because "they just can't deal with them anymore" or they inconvenienced them. And then it's even worse when it's the same people doing this over and over again... And they're not even phased by it. I mean how can you NOT be completely broken hearted by giving away a family pet? I don't know, crap like this just urks me. I hate those few people who give a bad name to the general military. Anywayz, here's the article.
The Military often gets a bad rap when it comes to pets. Many in the animal sheltering business consider military families to be "risky" adopters. The truth is, there are many military families who are extremely conscientious about their animals. In fact, some of our best volunteers and supporters are active duty military personnel and their spouses. But this does not negate the fact that some other military pet owners take less responsibility for their pets. Some even seem to view SPCA's as animal libraries, where they can turn in their pet at the end of a tour, and simply check out a new one at an SPCA wherever they are stationed next.
The real problem, just as it is with the civilian community, is a lack of education about pet reponsibility, and an even bigger lack of information about how to meet that responsibility, especially when faced with last-minute moves and other challenges unique to the military community. For this reason, we have put together a couple of links that we think will be helpful to military animal lovers. If you come across other useful information for this section, please email it to specialprojects@vbspca.com, and we will add it to this page for your colleagues.
Military Stats
In the year 2000, the Virginia Beach SPCA received
348 adult dogs, 213 puppies, 298 adult cats, and 199 kittens from military personnel.
That's 1,058 canines and felines out of the 4,844 total we received, or roughly 22 percent.
In the same year, we adopted 179 dogs, 203 puppies, 143 cats and 187 kittens into military homes -- 712 out of 2,544, or about 28 percent.
558 of the 1,102 military personnel who turned in an animal in the year 2000 (including those who brought in "other" animals such as rabbits, gerbils, etc.), left a contribution for the care of their animals. That's 50 percent, compared with 36 percent of civilians who left a "receiving" contribution.
Those 558 military personnel left a grand total of $14,415.07, for an average donation of $25.83. That compares with an average receiving donation from civilians of $25.85.
http://vbspca.com/modules/vbspcaadvice/item.php?itemid=3
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