Sometimes I Hate People.

Today, at the Bill Foundation Adoption Fair:

A couple walks in with a 4-to-5 year old girl.  The little girl kept shoving her fingers in cage after cage, even though we asked her and her parents to stop poking at the doggies.  Finally, her dad approached the table and asked me about a dog [an adorable, poodley looking guy] that was listed as "not good with kids"

Can I still look at the dog? he asked.

Is that your daughter?  I asked back.

Yes.

Then no, you can't.  I'm sorry, but it says it's not good with kids.  We have many great family dogs here, I'd be happy to show you them.

But that one looks like it would be the best around kids.

And I'm telling you it's not.

Another volunteer joins us.  No, that dog can't be around children. According to the shelter it was in a home with children that terrorized it, so we want to find him a quiet, adults-only home.

Well, I want to look at that dog, he insists.

I'm sorry, I continue, I will be happy to have any of the volunteers show you another dog--

Clearly you don't care about these dogs, because you'd want them to go into good homes like mine, he says.  He snorts and grabs his daughters hand and they stride off.  Maybe he'll get her a pet lion instead.

There was also a couple who left their dog unattended in a shopping car for ten minutes and the family who boasted that of course they would keep the dog inside - that's what their garage was for!  But it doesn't have A/C, so they need a sturdy dog - could we hook them up?

/headdesk

Comments

[lawfulevil]

The proper response was to tazer him in the genitals... OK it should be the proper response.

[Green]

People are so stupid.

[Shawno]

A "sturdy" dog? Which breed is it again that can live inside of an oven? Oh, yeah. None of them can.

[that girl]

... and then you put him in a cage and poked him, I hope.

[sizzle]

Jeeezus. If only people had to go through this kind of screening before they had kids. Seriously, you're doing a good thing.

[Keely]

Oh, man this really pisses me off. If you can't control your kid, then you have no business getting a pet. Ugh! I'm going to go cuddle with my munchkins now.

[Greg]

ah stupid people....so annoying and yet so fiercely dedicated to their stupidity they insist on escalating when they need to have a tall cool glass of STFU.

the death of this country and the like will be because we have an entire generation of people who walk through life thinking the laws of reason and physics simply do not apply to them. Add to that a dose of entitlement and a dose of self righteousness and this is why I want to move my future family into exile in some remote nation that has amazing Internet access but doesn't allow morons across its borders.

[Piglet]

yeah, i hate those kind of people too. i used to work in a pet store and i always had to chase the kids away that tapped on the fish tanks and tortured the furry animals.

glad you stood your ground with the guy, not that you wouldn't....

[Annika]

Can I see this lion? It LOOKS LIKE it won't bite me.

[Nichole M]

Is there a way you can flag people so they can *never* have an animal?? There must be.

Then again, any idiot can have kids, so I suppose pets aren't even close to being safe. :-/

[justJENN]

That is ridiculous. Just today I took the kids to a pet store and threatened their behinds if they stuck their fingers in or did any poking. It's the parents that don't watch their kids that are the worst. The Baby was very sad for the animals that they had to live in cages.

[savia]

Wow. There really are no words.

Maybe one.

Idiotstick.

But mostly no words.

[Jodi]

WHAT SIZZLE SAID!!! What an asshole. He doesn't deserve a dog. I feel bad for his kid too. When you work events with large numbers of people, you see the worst. I'm extra sensitive after being at a weekend event with tens of thousands of mostly well-behaved people with a smattering of absolute fucktards.

[Caveman]

Sometimes?
I work in retail...It seems like it is part of my job to hate people.

(me on the phone the other day)
"No sir, I don't know why you'd buy a mouse if you don't own a computer."
...
"Well..If you bring it in we can get you your money back."
...
"Oh, you didn't buy it here? You bought it at Best Buy? Well..Have a nice day, sir."

[The Literary Vagrant]

Must go cuddle my shelter-adopted cat now and be grateful no crazies got ahold of him before I did.

[Tag]

@Greg - Good luck with that. LOL! While there are many countries that are generally much more favorable living in than here, people suck. Everywhere. Yet, somehow I still have a spark of hope for hopelessness.

Slack you rock! I can't tell you how many times at the zoo I have to literally PULL people out of the Aldabra Tortoise enclosure or *calmly* explain to children that the lions are not going to roar for you as they are doing what lions do 22 hours a day...sleep. All this while contemplating how bad of indigestion this kid would give our lions. *sighs*

Thankfully there are dozens of good adoption stories...good place to find some solitude in them: www.bestfriends.org

Thanks again for your work Slack!

[jen]

Sounds like Mr. Dad was trying to be the Big Bad Ass in front of the ladies. What a toolbag.

Hey, you need to write for the show iCarley. I'm a mom of a girl aged 5 and we're sick of seeing the same episodes week after week after weeks. It's pretty bad.

[Tote Board Brad]

you needed to show him the dog that's trained to pounce and clamp down on dumbasses' genitals.

[Nanette]

Ugh, I hate people even more after reading that.

[Joe]

I get these stories on a daily basis. VetGirl's current hospital has a shelter attached - and is near some poor neighborhoods. If there's a story about dumb, dumb cruelty, I've heard it. And it makes me want to go postal.

[yeti9000]

Man, I hate people like that. We went to an adoption fair one time and squared off with some pretty militant chicks, but after reading your post, I think I get why they were so hard-core. If they're dealing with a-holes like that dude and his daughter all day long, no wonder they're jaded.

Thank God for the adoption fair folks who stand their ground!! You rock!

[Racho]

EEEEEWWWWWW!!!
I've been wanting a dog since I was 3! I will adopt really soon but I am sooo freaked out at being an irresponsible dog owner since I've never done it before...
These people seem horrible. Maybe they should get a pet snake or just a good therapist!