THE EDUCATIONAL HUMANE SOCIETY 



411 



A Chapter of the Agassiz Association. (Incorporated 1892 and 1910.) The Law of Love, Not the Love of Law. 



How to Obtain a Pet. 



Some people receive pets, some peo- 

 ple find pets, some people go to the 

 market to buy pets. Between the first 

 two there is not much to choose. If a 

 friend offers to give you a pet, you 

 have to decide whether or not you are 

 willing to accept it. I must confess 

 that I have accepted such gifts that 

 were small in size but elephants in 

 other particulars. 



If the pet voluntarily comes to you, 

 you cannot say, "Go change yourself 

 into something else." I know a 

 woman who won the first prize with a 

 cat that she found as a stray kitten in 

 a country road. It was unlike anything 

 else she has ever heard of in that vicin- 

 ity and, so far as she knows, it might 

 have dropped from the skies, though 

 for reasons biological and physical it 

 is unnecessary to say that it probably 

 did not. 



A letter from a woman in a dilemma 

 about the purchasing of a cat has just 

 come to my desk and from it I quote 

 the following : 



"I am trying to buy one or more 

 kittens and am taking considerable 

 trouble to get them, as I want to be 

 sure that I am* doing the right thing 

 when I make my purchase. I don't 

 want exhibition cats nor fine breeders, 

 though I am not unwilling to raise kit- 

 tens, but I want them now mainly as 

 pets for a little girl. I have just received 

 a catalogue from the 'Black Short 

 Haired Cattery.' I had thought it 

 would be no trouble to buy a cat, but 

 since going through this catalogue I 



find that I am mistaken. But I don't 

 want pedigreed cats, nor prize winners, 

 and I know there are kittens to be had 

 for pets, somewhere, and at lowei 

 prices than those given in this book, 

 but I don't know where to find them. 

 I want some information about the dif- 

 ferent breeds, their dispositions, and 

 which are safest as pets for children. 



"Until I saw this catalogue I thought 

 I wanted pure white, blue eyed Per- 

 sian kittens, but now I don't know 

 what I want. Can you help me ? I 

 shall be grateful for any information 

 that will help me to make a choice." 



It is easy to give specific information. 

 It is this — do not get into your mind 

 the notion that there are any standards 

 of comparison between the different 

 types or breeds of any particular pet 

 better than your own personal pre- 

 ference. Decide what you want and 

 then get it. You will not be satisfied 

 until you do get it. If you want a 

 poodle do not believe that a St. Bernard 

 is better because it is bigger. If the 

 poodle fits you take it. Do not be like 

 the proverbial Irishman who wanted as 

 big a pair of shoes as he could get for 

 the price, because he would get more 

 leather for his money. Happiness may 

 be expressed in the terms of the bi- 

 ologist, "Adaptation to Environment." 



A Plymouth Rock chicken cannot be 

 compared to a Bantam, nor a long 

 haired Persian cat to a Manx cat with- 

 out any tail. Find out your preference, 

 and proceed on that basis. As to 

 quality and value, if you do not know 

 anything about vici kid or calves' skin 



