My partner and I have been together for nearly six years. We made the decision to adopt twice since we have been together. Both our bundles of joy make us laugh almost everyday. They love us unconditionally and we love and protect them with all our energy. I’m talking about our two dogs. One was adopted at the age of 1.5 years old from a dog rescue and the other at the age of 2 years old captured our hearts and she came from the SPCA in Summerville. They are fun-loving sisters who use their charm on anyone they meet. If you are a gay or lesbian couple considering adoption and don’t want to fight the red tape of having human children. Consider adopting a pet and giving it all your love and attention. Having worked for an SPCA, I saw many gay and lesbian couples adopting pets. Let’s face it, it saves on college tuition!! LOL
Local SPCAs have their own websites where they feature photos and descriptions of the animals up for adoption. Do an internet search for Frances R. Willis SPCA (Dorchester County), Doc Williams SPCA (Berkeley County) or the John Ancrum SPCA of Charleston County.
Another avenue is to visit www.petfinder.com and see all types of breed specific rescue organizations in the Lowcountry, and throughout the state and nation. They also wonderful descriptions and photos of the animals available. They will typically make an appointment with you and interview you to make sure the adoption will work based on size of your home, lifestyle (working 40 hours or retired, not sexual orientation), children in the house, other pets, etc.
Give it a try! You will receive the unconditional love of a grateful, lost, abandoned or abuse pet who is seeking a loving and forever home!
6 Comments
Are you serious?
No, you can’t possibly be serious.
How could be quite that - shallow? Callous? Self centered?
Really: you are joking, right?
Your recognize the difference between the love parents have for children - or more to the point the difference between a pet and a child. Pets and children are not, simply not, interchangeable. But you already know that - right?
Sure - we love our cat a lot. She is a member of the family. But I do not love her as much as either of my daughters.
I mean, it is nice to encourage people to adopt pets who need homes.
But in case you have not been paying attention: there are a lot of kids out there in foster care and other places who need adoption.
Not every person (gay or straight) should or can be a parent. Pets can fill out a family. But please don’t suggest gay people equate adopting a pet to adopting a child. That is simply not the case.
But you know that - right?
Fear not Tom, I know the headline (my idea) was a joke and Bob wasn’t trying to devalue your child. He’s just saying there are needy puppies out there and, at least in South Carolina, the pet shelters are more friendly to gay families than the state’s adoption program.
So Bob’s created his own family and, yes, it doesn’t look like yours. But for you to suggest that his family is any less important than yours is, well, shallow, callous, and self centered.
There are, in fact, some gay couples who don’t have kids and don’t want kids who can provide homes for pets in need. And there are certainly families out there, like yourself, that have pets and kids and kudos to you.
Here at our house, we’re planning on kids without pets. But good for Bob for taking in his two dogs. I’d say we need more of both kinds of families. And certainly less trash talking.
Uhmm I agree that promoting pet adoption is good. It sounds like you are equating it to human adoption. But then again, pet adoption is more ethical than human adoption.
Bob,
Loved your brave and politically incorrect post. I am in complete agreement with your argument.
One of my best friend’s is a gay man (he & his hubby have been together for 16 years) who has 2 “kids”, sweet darling Tibetan Terriers. Just as is should be, IMHO.
Tom, yes, there is a difference between dogs and children. So, to be clear, as a selfless, giving person like yourself, you KNOW that your daughters have suffered probably one of the most profound losses possible for a human being, right? They lost their parents, their entire extended families, their culture, and heritage before they came into your lives. That you and your partner, while loving and kind, no doubt, can never replace these losses, ever, right?
You’re all about validating their losses, yes? You are sensitive to the fact that these girls, who have already lost their families, are growing up without a mother/female figure in their lives? You instinctively know about a girl’s emotional and physiological life, right? You reassure them that you’re doing their best, but you can’t possibly fathom what’s it’s like to be a girl being raised by two men, who has lost her mother, correct?
You’re sensitive enough, and not at all self-centered, to realize that these girls, who already have LOTS of emotional baggage, and losses, will wish, with all their hearts, that you and hubby were not gay? That this is embarrassing to them? That this is another facet of different ness that they have to deal with? And that they will never admit this to you, because they feel immense gratitude. This is inherent in the structure of adoption. You’re hip to this?
If you’re expecting these girls to be actresses in the play you’re directing, Tom, they’ll never really love you, they’ll just be grateful. If you validate all the things I mentioned above, you’ll have a shot at emotional health for these girls. Because it’s about what’s good for them, not just about you & your partner, right?
As an adult adopted woman, who supports gay rights in nearly every arena, I wish you’d have gone Bob’s way and adopted a Golden Retriever.
Great post Bob!
Rock on! loved the post!! I”d adopt a pet long before I adopted a child and fed into the adoption idustry b.s.