Giving up a pet

I've had to give up a pet before. When I lived in Seattle I had a cat, Lily. She loved to lay on my shoulders, and if I was stressed out she would stand on my chest as I lay in bed and purr until I relaxed enough to fall asleep. And it tore me up when we had to give her a new home. The Ragin' Mrs. interviewed people, and if something didn't seem right we would not allow them to take our cats.

In short, although we had to give them up, we hated to do it. And if we had been able to take them with us, we would have. But without going into a two page diatribe, there was no way we could take the cats without putting them through hell, and we didn't want to do that to our pets. Finding a new home for them was preferable. So that's what we did.

But we were a newly married couple, with very little money, and no way to accommodate the pets we had. We were lucky to be able to take our dog with us when we moved to Puerto Rico, and that took a hell of a lot of effort.

What if I had just left the Oval Office? With hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank, and thousands of people to do what I asked? I wouldn't have given up those cats if I didn't have to, and there are millions of pet owners who know exactly how I felt. It's a hard choice, giving up a pet, even if it's for the pet's best interests. I wasn't willing to put my cat into a kennel for months on end, to be cared for by god-knows who, fed god-knows what, and treated god-knows how. But if I had been able to take them with me, there wouldn't have been any questions. I would have.

Which is what makes this story even more chilling to me.

AS THE “first pet” of the Clinton era, Socks, the White House cat, allowed “chilly” Hillary Clinton to show a caring, maternal side as well as bringing joy to her daughter Chelsea. So where is Socks today?

Once the presidency was over, there was no room for Socks any more. After years of loyal service at the White House, the black and white cat was dumped on Betty Currie, Bill Clinton’s personal secretary, who also had an embarrassing clean-up role in the saga of his relationship with the intern Monica Lewinsky.

What kind of sick disgusting fuck gives up a pet when they have the means to keep it? I know how I felt once the cats were gone - it was like a punch in the gut, and I felt like shit for months afterwards. Even though I know they had gone to a good home, and that it was the best thing for them, I still looked for them when I came home from work every day. But I didn't have a choice - I could not continue to care for the cats while I was in the situation we were in. BUT I WAS NOT A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. I didn't have resources coming out my ass.

Clinton did.

Which is why this story sickens me. I wouldn't have given up my pets if there were any other choice. The Clinton's seem to have tossed their pets aside the moment it was politically feasible.

That's fucking disturbing. They used that cat to show their "human side", but once they were out of the White House it got dumped onto someone else without another thought. Giving up my cats was physically painful to me. To the Clinton's it was just another political movement.

Pet owners - what say you? I know that I would have cut off my fingers rather than give up my cats if I had that choice. And yes, Ragin' Dave has a soft spot for pets. If I could, I'd have an entire damn farm with pets on it. Dogs, cats, ferrets (the Ragin' Mrs. had a ferret when we first met), birds, you name it. And while the practical country boy in me would have certain animals for eating and nutrition (pigs, goats, cows, chickens, rabbits) I would still have tons of pets around. Hell, half the attraction to retirement is the ability to have pets and not have to move around.

But just giving one up? Nah. Nope. No thank you. Giving up a pet is the last option.

Unless you're a Democrat American Communist Party congresscritter who's only goal is attaining political power.