[Porsche-O-Phile]

Feline HIV is not all that uncommon and is pretty treatable. Still sucks.

This is a good, responsible pet parent. Good to see. The problem is for every person like them, there are 100 that go out and get a dog and three weeks later are bored with it. People need to realize that pets are lifetime commitments and while you have lots of other things - friends, hobbies, work, etc., all they usually have is you.

A few weeks ago I was waiting at the train station to go home (Xmas eve afternoon). The place was packed - a lot of commuters but a lot of people catching Amtrak too. One guy who was obviously waiting for an Amtrak train to somewhere (several large, heavy-looking suitcases) had a little puppy about three or four weeks old. Naturally lots of people were fawning over it and gushing about how cute it was, etc. It just kind of made me sad because I overheard him saying it was a "surprise gift" for his brother. Made me cringe. Now there's a chance that the guy's brother will be like the fellow in the CL ad, but more likely he'll be an average doofus who will like the puppy but tire of it when it becomes actual work (constant play / exercise, needs to be walked all the time, needs lots of attention, needs to be fed, can't ever be more than 6-8 hours away from home, etc.) and the poor dog will likely end up getting given away again or passed around from one idiot to the next who wants a "fashion accessory" and then runs away screaming when it becomes actual work and expense - or god forbid, a lifestyle impingement.

The shelters are packed full of animals who became "inconvenient" to people. Most of them end up dead. It's despicable. I applaud the guy in the listing above for having the right attitude. I wish more did.