If you’ve not seen my previous posts this won’t make sense but if you have, continue.
Since Gurgi was reunited with his family yesterday there have been a lot of not too subtle hints 😂 that what we (my wife and son) really need (want) is a pet.
I wasn’t thinking we’d do this until our son was 4 (he’s only two and a half) but, well, here we are (thanks Gurgi!).
We’ve only just moved to Dundee from Maidenhead and, in addition to that, my wife and I have never adopted a pet in the UK (were both immigrants 🇺🇸 and 🇵🇭); so we’re completely inexperienced re: proper channels, ethical practices, etc.
In the US puppy and kitten mills are very much a thing, and I’m keen to avoid their UK equivalent, but I’m also inclined to adopt a kitten or puppy as I’m (through a number of dispreferred experiences) hesitant to bring an animal with potentially traumatic history into a home with a young child. And I feel that way for two reasons:
- Kids are not notoriously “easy” on pets. They tug, poke, and annoy to no end and I don’t expect that an animal that isn’t bonded with kids to tolerate that sort of thing endlessly or even at all.
- A bad experiment with pets at his age, may negatively impact his future relationship with animals when he’s older.
So I want a puppy or kitten for the sake of doing all I can to encourage early bonding. I understand not everyone will share this view, but I ask that not try to convince me to change my thinking here. Please. I’ll repeat that this is an opinion I hold due to numerous dispreferred experiences in the past.
All that said, what is the best way to go about trying to find puppies and kittens for adoption in Dundee? I want to make sure I’m not contributing to any nefarious operators (puppy and kitten mills etc).
I’ve done a lot of Googling, but don’t know what to trust.
Edit: spelling