Apparently I own the Devil

I've decided it's time for me to make the commitment, to settle down, to take the plunge... I'm getting a puppy. Yup, you heard me. A fluffy, crapping, shedding, yipping puppy. And no, I don't even have the sense to get a puppy that's going to stay small. I want a BIG dog.



So I've started looking at shelters and rescue organizations. I'm completely and totally against breeding puppies. There's no reason in the world someone should buy a puppy when there's so many out there. Then again, I'm pro-choice, too. I was looking at a rescue organization called Proverbs 1210. "A wise man regards the life of his beast." I first saw Fido walking into the Petsmart one morning with my boyfriend. I like to go and look at the adoptable pets. I fell in love with this puppy. Well-mannered, calm but playful, and absolutely adorable.

I then offered to at least foster the puppy for a period of time, see if it fit with me, and if nothing else, help out a rescue organization that relies solely on foster care providers and other volunteers. I wanted to help, and possibly find myself a little companion in the process. I thought I was helping, but I must have been mistaken.

I filled out the application they had for all potential foster/adoptive pet owners. One of the questions was about other pets in the household. I own a snake. A Ball Python that's about 2 feet long, and extraordinarily nice, even for a Ball. His name is Fluffy, and I've had him for about 6 years now. He's been around plenty of other pets, and while he may stare at them from his little log hide in his tank, aggression has never been an issue. Frankly, he has trouble eating a small rat, I'm not sure what he'd have done with the feisty-ass kittens I had with him for a year.

So Proverbs got back to me about my application via email. They denied my application! A loving, pet-friendly, willing applicant got turned down. What's the most amusing about the entire situation was the reason they turned me down. The only reason they denied me was Fluffy. They apparently weren't comfortable having one of their puppies in the same house as a snake.

I should have realized they wouldn't like Fluffy by their name, but I thought they'd be more concerned with helping "all of God's beasts" than worrying about my 1.5" diameter snake eating or otherwise harming the Australian Shepherd puppy that it took me two arms to hold.

The hypocrasy of some people still amazes me. They'd turn down a willing parent because of some ancient and out-dated stigma attached to snakes. I can't have a puppy because they think I own the devil.