The Grey Pet: a Forgotten Hero

Have you ever seen a grey pet? They lie on the floor weeping for hours on end and have no interest in anything but the simple sport of moping. Their eyes are droopy and as they often refuse to eat, they are generally malnourished. The question is, who would inflict this torture on their beloved ones?

Avatar Collectors

This is probably the most obvious. Ever since the grey avatar came out, Neopia has gone mad with grey pets. These so called ‘avatar collectors’ are destroying their pets' lives for a few pretty pixels and an extra number on their lookup. The least these collectors could do is paint their pet another colour after they get the avatar. But no, they spent too much money so they’ll just lend the pet out instead. This poor pet being carted off to home after home, week after week, never knowing when it’ll end. Yet they never complain, instead they soldier on in the face of unwantedness, with only the occasional *sigh*.

The Style Gurus

Ever since grey became the new ‘it’ colour with the support of the certain someones mentioned above, if you want to become anything anywhere in Neopia, you need a grey pet. Going into fashion shoots and shows, the ultimate accessory has become the grey pet. Even better with a limited species. These Neopians don’t really care about little Fluffy or Benjy, they see their pets as a way to increase their own popularity in the vicious world of fashion.

The Rich

A grey pet is the ultimate show of riches. With grey paintbrushes costing a whopping 2,000,000 + only those with large wallets can dish out the cash. Coupled with a plushie sibling and an expensive Petpet (often grey as well) a grey pet is a sign of wealth and a habit of poor spending. The cruel thing about this scenario is that no owner is even there to help the pet deal with their issues. Why? The rich have a habit of sending their pets away to neolodges for weeks at a time, while they spend their days counting their money and bragging about it on the neoboards. And these poor pets are locked up in their hotels, desperate for someone to complain to.

The Ignorant

Sad as it is, there is yet another type of owner that forces this colour on their pets. These owners are not evil, just neglectful. Often they are young and don’t feed their pets or they don’t spend enough time on the computer to care for them. These pets become so miserable that they first turn to silver and then to grey. But perhaps these are the luckier ones, for their owners still care for them deep down, even if they don’t show it.

(Mistreating your pets will most likely not make them turn grey, but rather make them get very sick.)

So what should you do about it? You could start by telling people to read this article. Then maybe you should start protesting the use of painted pets as items and accessories. You should take into account however that some owners truly love their grey pets and that the miserable colour is a result of a lab experiment gone wrong or a badly thought out Christmas present. Also that some pets were born to be grey…

(Runs off to get living, breathing, pixelated example…)

So here’s the spokesperson for the grey pets who like it that way. Drum roll please…Ta da…Callinean.

(If you are getting confused at this point, I’ll tell you what’s happening. Callinean is my grey Kacheek who became so sick of being happy, he ran around in circles until I managed to paint him grey. No, I am not a hypocrite. Callinean is the ‘happiest’ grey pet there is.)

Callinean: Uhh… Hi everyone. Umm, can you make it quick so I can get back to moping.

Me: Sure. Callinean, do you like being grey?

Callinean: Yeah, Of course. What other colour would let me be true to my depressed nature without being ridiculed. I mean, I’m ridiculed anyway, but that’s out of jealousy rather than true distaste. *sigh* Why can’t they just accept that I’m smarter than them.

Me: Thank you, Callinean. You can go back to your moping now.

Callinean: I think that I’m grateful, but it’s so hard to tell whether I’m grateful or about to cry.

Me: I liked doing this too.

Anyway, as you can see, some pets were just destined to be grey, though these are few and far between. A Grey paintbrush is like a pair of stonewashed jeans. You get it because it’s expensive or stylish or because it’s something your little sister doesn’t have. But in the end, the jeans only fit the grand amount of two per city and sometimes less. You’re better off getting those trackpants which, although they might not bring you fame or glory, are sometimes the perfect fit.

Author's Note: I would like to stress again how I am not a hypocrite, and how Callinean begged to be that colour and so on and so forth. Also that I have used a certain amount of artistic license in this article and that many grey pet owners are responsible and caring. Like me and about thirty other people who are scattered throughout Neopia. If I have offended anyone, I am sorry, and I invite you to neomail me, although by then my mailbox will be full. I’ll try and clear often though, so that all the angry Neopians can call me names and complain about the unfair observations that I made. If you agree with me, I’ll try not to clear your neomail, and we can talk once the angry mob stops hounding me.