I apologize if this doesn't belong here, I just need to vent.

[Karen]

I moved this into the Dog House, where upsetting things belong.

What a sad, sad, ignorant man. Thank goodness your husband didn't inherit that attitude!

[Lori Jordan]

I hear what you are saying .My stepdad was the same way i grew up on a farm,and there used to be cats tons of them and there was always kittens,well as a child i thought they should be in the house.But dad never agreed on that i find most Farmers have a bad attitude against animals in there eyes they only babied the cows (They made them money right)Not all are like that but a good majority are Now that he is older he has a total different attitude towards them as me and my sister have animals and they love them to death.Sometimes people need eye openers too see how precious these animals really are and how they bring so much love into our homes and THEY MAKE OUR HOMES HOLE!!!

[king2005]

I hear what you are saying .My stepdad was the same way i grew up on a farm,and there used to be cats tons of them and there was always kittens,well as a child i thought they should be in the house.But dad never agreed on that i find most Farmers have a bad attitude against animals in there eyes they only babied the cows (They made them money right)Not all are like that but a good majority are Now that he is older he has a total different attitude towards them as me and my sister have animals and they love them to death.Sometimes people need eye openers too see how precious these animals really are and how they bring so much love into our homes and THEY MAKE OUR HOMES HOLE!!!

Stray cats always went to my friends farm. They would put a little kibble out for the cats & hope for the best. They wanted the cats to remain wild & live in the barn with the cows. But from time to time a friendly one would appear on the farm & it would be welcomed into the farm house for a little loving & then put back outside. None of the cats were fixed or had any shots. I wasn't angry at them, as they didn't have the money to deal with all the cats that people would dump at their farm (they lived in the middle of nowhere). So it was survival of the fittest cat & they did a great job at keeping the mice & rats away.

They had farm dogs too, but they didn't breed them thoughtlessly, they were wild dogs, that got daily loving from the farmer before he went into the barn. The dogs needed to be fairly wild as they had to keep wolves & theves away. Their top dog was an outdoor simi pet. She was breed as they needed more dogs (their very old dogs had passed on) & the wolves were back. She had 10 pups & all but a couple remained on the farm (friends wanted a pet, so they gave them a free puppy). Those pups were far less wild as they were born on the farm, but they kept the wolves away.

Its one thing to view the animal as a tool with respect, but as a replacable object is wrong. My farm friends would never have harmed one of their animals, but they did live by the rule, if the farmer couldn't bring the animal back to health (the sick animal would be brought into the house for care) & it was suffering, it would have been shot, cried over & then burried.

[smokey the elder]

What a grade A, five star, galactic class, platinum-plated *$#@@!!!

[Scooby4]

My cat recently got hurt. It's got one broken hip and a dislocated one. Don't know what happened. I panicked and drove to the nearest Emergency Vet clinic. The ONLY vet open for 150 miles! I called my father to ask him to help me cover the bill since I was unemployed. The vet clinic demands payment upfront or you don't get the cat back I knew the bill would be atleast $200. (It was $280 in the end). My father tells me that I should let the cat die AND that he would NOT lend me the money for a cat bill!!!!
It hurt my feelings. I then called another friend to help me. She then told me to let my cat die too!!! That the cat was just going to be "in pain" and that was cruel to the cat!!!
My cat broke it's hip years ago and I was told it would never jump again. She survived and jumps up on the bed which is over 3 feet off the ground! There was NO reason for me to put the cat to sleep. Even the vet did NOT mention it was that serious of an injury. It was marked down as "Fair" as it's condition!
I get soo mad when people tell you to put an animal to sleep at even the minorist of offenses or injuries. Who's to judge when to put an animal to sleep until that animal let's you know?

[Daisy and Delilah]

People like your FIL make my blood boil!! Living around this jerk must be almost impossible for you. Unfortunately, as much as we would like not to believe it, the world is full of ignorant morons like this. They're everywhere. All I can ever think of in cases like this is, "What goes around comes around". One day, hopefully, something will happen to him that makes him have to suffer just like the animals he so strongly dislikes and punishes. I hope and pray that you and hubby can get away from him asap. No animal lover deserves to have to tolerate such torture. Best of luck to you in getting out soon

[barncat]

Although I am a teacher, I grew up among farms (right next to the family farm and in the barn half the time). Cats were respected working members of the operation. The animals were usually tended by my mom, gram or me. (We didn't go to the doctor either unless it was life threatening.) So please be careful not to lump farmers and country people into one catagory...

Your father-in-law is a jerk. It is possible he says this stuff to get a reaction...something emotionally sadistic people often do... and would not actually do it. I had an uncle who used to say stuff like that. I used to remind him I knew way more about herbs than he did and if any of my animal friends went missing I might just make him something special... (I probably wouldn't have used anything lethal, but he wasn't sure and it did stop the comments.) Now my other uncles used to bring me orphaned bunnies (cutting hay is inevitably a problem) to raise and set free in the swamp where no one hunted.

I hope you get to move soon. Living in stress is awful.

[Sevaede]

People like your FIL make my blood boil!! Living around this jerk must be almost impossible for you. Unfortunately, as much as we would like not to believe it, the world is full of ignorant morons like this. They're everywhere. All I can ever think of in cases like this is, "What goes around comes around". One day, hopefully, something will happen to him that makes him have to suffer just like the animals he so strongly dislikes and punishes. I hope and pray that you and hubby can get away from him asap. No animal lover deserves to have to tolerate such torture. Best of luck to you in getting out soon

Hopefully, one day he will get what's coming to him. For having such disregard for living creatures is heinous.

He fails to realize that he is just a mammal, an ANIMAL, as well. Just because he walks on two legs doesn't mean he's better than anything else. Besides, it's not like he's primo example of peoples anyways.

[Sevaede]

My cat recently got hurt. It's got one broken hip and a dislocated one. Don't know what happened. I panicked and drove to the nearest Emergency Vet clinic. The ONLY vet open for 150 miles! I called my father to ask him to help me cover the bill since I was unemployed. The vet clinic demands payment upfront or you don't get the cat back I knew the bill would be atleast $200. (It was $280 in the end). My father tells me that I should let the cat die AND that he would NOT lend me the money for a cat bill!!!!
It hurt my feelings. I then called another friend to help me. She then told me to let my cat die too!!! That the cat was just going to be "in pain" and that was cruel to the cat!!!
My cat broke it's hip years ago and I was told it would never jump again. She survived and jumps up on the bed which is over 3 feet off the ground! There was NO reason for me to put the cat to sleep. Even the vet did NOT mention it was that serious of an injury. It was marked down as "Fair" as it's condition!
I get soo mad when people tell you to put an animal to sleep at even the minorist of offenses or injuries. Who's to judge when to put an animal to sleep until that animal let's you know?

I am sorry. It infuriates me when people think that something that can be managed pretty well is still cause for death.

Who's to judge when to put an animal to sleep until that animal let's you know?

I agree. Well, there are certain circumstances (like those who hide debilitating diseases/conditions pretty well) but those are individual.

[Sevaede]

What a grade A, five star, galactic class, platinum-plated *$#@@!!!

My sentiments exactly. I couldn't have put it better myself.

[Sevaede]

I hear what you are saying .My stepdad was the same way i grew up on a farm,and there used to be cats tons of them and there was always kittens,well as a child i thought they should be in the house.But dad never agreed on that i find most Farmers have a bad attitude against animals in there eyes they only babied the cows (They made them money right)Not all are like that but a good majority are Now that he is older he has a total different attitude towards them as me and my sister have animals and they love them to death.Sometimes people need eye openers too see how precious these animals really are and how they bring so much love into our homes and THEY MAKE OUR HOMES HOLE!!!

Yeah, my dad was never really keen on animals up until he married my stepmother (awesome gal who brought in, originally, two doogs and two ferrety little monster faces). We had TONS of fish, crabs, and frogs. My brother had a lizard. My aunt moved in for a while and we even had a cat and a Rottie. You would never imagine how heartbroken he was when "his" German Sheppie girl or the sweet little Mimi ferret passed away.

[Catty1]

Here is a wacky idea...someone who posted here said your FIL might be doing it for the attention(sorry, forgot the name).

Treat him like a teenager who acts bad to get attention. Just say, "Oh," and carry on whatever you are doing.

It's the only attention he can get...I am willing to bet that when he doesn't get attention(even bad attention is better than none, and he feels he has WON when you react), he will eventually stop.

Just a thought.

hugs
Catty1

[Sevaede]

Here is a wacky idea...someone who posted here said your FIL might be doing it for the attention(sorry, forgot the name).

Treat him like a teenager who acts bad to get attention. Just say, "Oh," and carry on whatever you are doing.

It's the only attention he can get...I am willing to bet that when he doesn't get attention(even bad attention is better than none, and he feels he has WON when you react), he will eventually stop.

Just a thought.

hugs
Catty1

I'll give it a try. Usually, I just raise my eyebrows and walk away.

hugs

[Catty1]

Also...the squirt bottle works for cats, so...naaah....never mind....

[carole]

Ah i love the idea of these people coming back in to a life run by animals, wouldn't that be great, they could be left out in cold, with empty bellies,and sick and cold, just desserts, i wish that upon my neighbour everyday,who neglected her kitties and still does,but who are happily residing at the cats backpackers at my place.

Let us hope that your FIL gets a wake up call and realises just how much love a sweet furbaby can actually offer him, especially in his mature years.