On Adoption & Abandonment
A/N: I've been thinking about this a lot lately, this is just a little essay that sums up my feelings in the Neopian adoption/abandonment system.
I created my first Neopets account roughly two years ago. I had a beautiful blue Peophin that I loved very much. I was poor, I was a 'newbie', but I was happy, & that's all I was concerned with. Things have changed. I currently run four accounts—two with four neopets each, one with two neopets, & one with one neopet. My oldest active account is going to hit twenty-one months in six days. On that account, I created all of my pets & love them very much. It might seem to be an odd combination to some neopians, an Aisha, a Kau, an Elephante, & a Quiggle, but they seem to get along wonderfully. But on my other account with four pets, I decided that I wanted to try something different. I created one pet, a beautiful red Wocky, & for the first month & a half or so it was just the two of us. Periodically I enjoyed going to the pound to look at some of the pets, & wonder who could abandon such beautiful creatures, but I never adopted any. Until three days ago, that is.
I was looking through the crying pets, wishing I could take them all home, when I stumbled upon a sad purple JubJub. Now, some people would probably take it home just to say they owned a painted pet, but when I saw the JubJub I sincerely fell in love. I never pictured myself as much of a JubJub activist, but I quickly found Rose & gave her my money, taking my new friend home. The poor this was dying of hunger, & I rushed to the shop wizard gathering as much food as I could afford, feeding the poor animal. I gave him books, played with him, gave him a petpet to teach responsibility, & now he's happy & healthy. For those who have never adopted before, the sense of satisfaction is over-whelming. Watching a sad, lonely pet develop into a happy member of your family is one of the most rewarding things you can do with your time on neopets. The next day I was back, looking for more pets.
I don't know how long I walked around the pound, sifting through countless pets, trying to find the two perfect playmates for my Wocky & JubJub. I eventually found a red Lupe & a blue Gelert that I couldn't possibly leave behind, & scooped the two neopets into my arms as quickly as I could. Again, I fed them until they were bloated, gave them their own books, toys, & even petpets. I went to 'Quick Reference', to look at all of my beautiful pets & name the new petpets—a Horus & an Apis—& had a wonderful time, just my neopets & I playing together. It wasn't until I looked at my Lupe that I felt a surge of worry & disgust. She was only fifteen hours old! I noticed that she was small, but not even a day old that was ridiculous!
For a moment I was speechless, just staring at the thing I had just rescued from loneliness. She finally worked up the courage & asked me, "Mommy, what's wrong?" I had to fight back tears as I looked at my Lupe—her beautiful crimson fur & precious little grin—& asked her in a whisper, "Demon, sweetie, how long were you in the pound before mommy came to get you?" She began to paw at the ground nervously, & before I could figure out that this question was probably a mistake, she looked me directly in the eye & said, "I think it was a few hours… I don't know exactly." I nodded, gave my pets hugs, all round, & went to call the pound.
"Neopian Pound, Dr_Death speaking. Can I help you?" said a tired male voice on the other side of my phone. I knew that Dr_Death had a bit of a temper, so resisting the urge to tell him that 'may I help you?' sounded more polite, I asked him,
"Yes, Hello Doctor, I recently adopted a red Lupe, her name demon_luperess, & wondered if you could tell me how old she was when she was abandoned." The yellow Techo seemed very dedicated to his job, & I prayed that he kept very detailed records of the pets in the pound.
"Hold on a moment." He said in a bored tone, & a smooth tune by Jazzmosis played for about a minute before the voice came back saying, "demon_luperess. Red Lupe, female. Age at abandonment: approximately nine hours. Will that be all?"
"Yes" I replied softly, & hung up the phone, speechless. Who could possibly give up such a small neopet? Then I realized how scared Demon must have been. I went back to my neopets, gave them more hugs, & tucked them all into bed.
I realize that this essay hasn't really told you much about my views on the Neopian pound, & I'll make my message quick. I understand that some people must discontinue neopets for their own reasons & that giving them up for adoption & giving them a chance is much better than deleting them. But please, never create/adopt pets for any reason other that wanting to play with & love them. I can't imagine how much guilt must be put on people that get rid of pets, because they're weak in the battledome, or just to be mean, & to abandon a beautiful pet that loves you for such petty reasons is horrible. I can't make anyone adopt pets instead of creating them, or stop disowning pets daily. But I hope that my story has shown how much of a problem this is becoming for Neopia, so I give my final plea, I know that many of you are hesitant to adopt pets, I was too, at one point. But the three pets that I've adopted are some of the most lovable pets in Neopia, so do a sad, lonely pet a favor. Pull them out of the pound & put them in a loving home.
Oh, & it will make Rose & Dr_Death's jobs easier also. ^_^