Four.. a-frack-m. I am so tired that I feel like I could just fall asleep right where I am.. which is a public college campus with more than one things that costs over $100.. I am that tired.
Creedence Clearwater Revival's song "Looking Out My Back Door" is the most perfect song for right now. Any song with the line, "a dinosaur vitrola listenin' to Buck Owens" is worth a listen. Combine this with the fact that it was written about a man going home from work and being so exhausted that he may as well have been on LSD and, well, you see why I'm listening to it.
Ben and I went to our local Superpetz to find a cage, we found more. We found a Midwest Critter Nation bi-level cage, which is epic in of itself but we also found Siamese rats. Let me say this again, we found Siamese rats in a PET STORE. I know some of you may immediately come off with, "too bad they'll die from pet shop diseases." To all of you, shut up. Now. You have no right to belittle me or my pets because they are rescues from feeder bins.
This is something that constantly annoys me about the rat fancy. There is prejudice against rats from pet stores and there is prejudice against novice breeders. Admittedly I can see the latter because very few people stick with it because there is no money to be made in this world if you're breeding properly and for the right reasons. I should know, not because I am a novice breeder, but because I lived with someone who ran a rat mill in Phoenix AZ. They thought they could make money with the rats, but you can't. It won't happen.
But rats from pet stores? How is it their fault, I know you say you blame the store not the animal but you would not believe the crap I've seen people say when someone says something about their rat being from a pet store. Many people are scarily quick to say, "oh don't bother with pet stores, those rats are no good." Are you kidding me? What makes your pet better than mine? A pedigree? Hate to break this to you but the reason I go to good pet stores is because all of the breeders in my area are crap, they are worse than the pet stores. At least the woman closest to me is.
We rescued two boys from Petsmart yesterday, one of whom, Henry, had been in the store for months with barely anyone playing with him and he was over one year old. He didn't have a cage-mate. I couldn't leave him in the store to die alone. So we bought him and Louis, as well as buying them their own cage.
Henry was incredibly skiddish and is still a bit cautious of us and Louis has been adapting well. The girl working in the store that helped us get Henry was telling us that she was the only one playing with him because no one really considers the rats. It's so sad because he is a great squish and very loving.
I know a lot of people don't discriminate, but some do and it bothers me. We always harp on how you should always treat people equally and when one person says one thing that isn't politically correct lawyers start frothing at the mouth because they can smell the impending lawsuit. Yet when someone turns away what could have been their perfect pet for being from a rescue organization or because the rat is from a pet store and not a breeder.. a lot of people accept it.
I don't know, I needed to rant. Feeling nauseated and tired and grumpy. I'm a grumpalumpalous. Ben'll love it. :)
G'mornin, g'night or g'day
Afterthought: Rescue animals are by far the most endearing, appreciative and loyal animals I have ever had the pleasure of sharing my life with. They know what it's like to go without and when you adopt them and love them, they never forget it.
