*I wrote this story a little while back when these pets were still in the
pound. All the pets named are real and I am happy to say that most of them have
found a home. However there are many more pets who have not. Please think twice
before abandoning your pet*
Neopia seems to evolve each day. With exactly 29,280,506 Neopet owners and
their 45,267,464 pets, its no wonder that the Neopian world is spinning. But
with new features like NeoHome Gardens and more on the way, it's easy to forget
about those lost in the Neopian system.
We all know the sad faces of all the pets in the pound. The tearful eyes as
you pass by each of them through the Adopt-A-Pet Search Engine. Each hoping
to leave their nightmarish world and return to a normal life of friends and
family. But for some the dream comes months after being dropped by their owners,
or never at all.
The Pound is filled with dozens upon dozens of unwanted and abandoned pets,
and the number of pets in the pound increases on a daily basis. Many Neopians
think species ranking below 8 in the Top Neopets breakdown make up the pound
population. While that is true, all pets can be found in the pound... even painted.
The sheer population is impossible to record, and with only two staff members
(Rose and Dr_Death) life is difficult for those living on the inside. I took
the initiative to ask Rose if I could interview a handful of the pets she looked
after. Gladly, she agreed and introduced me to five random pets in her custody.
I was taken into the meeting room, where owners spend time with the orphaned
pets before adopting them. There I met Tracker_200, TomPetti, and Allie26009325.
Little did I know how much they would change me.
AeroTagz: Do you remember who your owner was?
Tracker_200: No.
TomPetti: Not a lot of pets in here remember their original owners. Many of
us choose to forget them. It hurts to know you once had a home and now you're
living here.
Allie26009325: I remember having two owners. I was the neglected one in the
family, and the first to get dumped at the pound.
AeroTagz: How long have you been here?
Tracker_200: For a while now. It's difficult to keep track of time when you're
in a cage.
AeroTagz: Cages?
Tracker_200: That's where we sleep and eat. Unless we have a chance to go
outside in the meeting room.
AeroTagz: And how often does that happen?
Tracker_200: The meeting room is open to pets everyday since some owners browse
through. But you only have a limited amount of time outside. Like two minutes
before the owner moves on.
AeroTagz: What is it like living here?
Allie26009325: It's not what people outside believe it is.
AeroTagz: And what do the people outside think goes on?
Allie26009325: They think we have it easy in here. That Rose and Dr. Death
feed us and groom us for the big day when someone will come and adopt us.
TomPetti: Rose does her best but there's so many of us there's often not enough
food to go around.
AeroTagz: What meals are you fed?
Tracker_200: The Soup Faerie donates to the pound and sometimes we get contributions
from the money tree.
AeroTagz: Well with those donations surely you should have enough to eat,
yes?
Tracker_200: No. Soup doesn't fill your stomach long and there are hundreds
of other pets waiting to grab items from the money tree.
TomPetti: You have to think about it logically. Our chances of actually catching
something are a billion to one. And if you do grab something, what good is one
item for a thousand pets in the pound?
AeroTagz: How many new pets do you see here?
Tracker_200: You mean on a daily basis? Shyeesh, I can't even give a number.
AeroTagz: How many pets do you see leave here?
Allie26009325: Not as many as come in. You may get one hundred or so pets
abandoned and five adopted. I'm able to watch since my cage is behind Rose.
Aerotagz: What kind of owners do you see come in?
Allie26009325: Usually they're angry with the way their pets stats are. Most
of them complain about their names which I find very odd since they're the ones
who name us.
AeroTagz: Would you say that having a name without numbers or dashes garuntee's
you a better chance of being adopted?
Tracker_200: It depends.
AeroTagz: How so?
TomPetti: The Adopting system works by your name. A name that's free from
dashes and numbers is more likely to appear first in the search engine. However
your not counting the names with double X's, O's, or V's. The engine works alphabetically.
So if your searching, your more likely to see "Jimmy" before "XxJimmyxX".
Tracker_200: If you have a dash and number name your best chance to get out
is if someone knows you. Other then that your stuck until you appear on the
search engine.
AeroTagz: What's the most common species in the pound?
TomPetti: I would say Grarrl's but then you have allot of Skieths and Lenny's.
Allie26009325: It's mostly Grarrls. Often it's the -popular" pets who are
sent to the pound. If I were a Poogle I probably wouldn't be here.
AeroTagz: Do you wish you were another species?
Allie26009325: Sometimes I do. If I had a choice I'd be a painted or rare
pet just to have somewhere to call home.
Tracker_200: I thought like that for a while. But I'm a Shoyru and Shoyru's
are the MOST popular pet in Neopia. Yet I'm here.
Allie26009325: Some owners just create pets to abandon them.
AeroTagz: Creating pets to abandon them?
Allie26009325: Some people will go to the Create-A-Pet and select a species
they hate. A Lupe lover may choose to make a Chia then name him "DumbDumbLoser533".
He'll neglect him and when he's starving drop him into the pound.
AeroTagz: And this really happens????
TomPetti: All the time.
Allie26009325: My friend is a cybunny and his name is ewwwihatecybunnis. His
owner did the same thing.
AeroTagz: Doesn't anyone try to stop them??
TomPetti: How can you? Your not in their homes to say "Stop!"
Tracker_200: And the pets in their homes are just like them or are too afraid
to speak up. NO ONE WANTS TO GO TO THE POUND.
AeroTagz: When you first got arrived how long did you think you would be in
here?
Tracker_200: Not long. At first I thought I'd only be here for two weeks since
I was in one of the front cages. When you first come in your placed in the front.
But as time passes your pushed further into the back.
AreoTagz: What cage are you in now?
Tracker_200: Lets just say I can barely hear Rose's voice from where I am.
AeroTagz: Do you think you'll ever get out of here?
TomPetti: I still have hope. I believe that one day someone will adopt me.
Maybe even you *smiles*.
Tracker_200: I don't believe I'll get out. No one ever really sees me since
I'm so far back.
Allie26009325: I dream of getting out. I dream that maybe someone will adopt
me. But Chia's aren't very loved and I'd rather stay here then be some Lupe
lovers attack toy.
AreoTagz: What do you want people reading this to know?
TomPetti: Don't just drop your pet and think that a few seconds later someone
will adopt them. Even if you don't like our name or species respect us as your
pet. We didn't have a choice in what we would be like, we trusted you with that.
There's potions and scools you could use to raise our stats or change our species.
And if you can't afford it you could at least try to find someone to whom to
give us. That's the least you could do.
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