Pets Abandoned As Rental Market Heats Up

[Steve]

I fear I'm going to sound like a old fart or crazy reactionary but that has never stopped me in the past

When it comes to dogs, it's not just housing, it's relationships, work, a whole raft of things.

OH and I were each living in rented share houses when we met, both driving banged up second hand vehicles and no other assets. We were finally in a position to buy a house after being together about 6 or 7 years, in that time we both worked jobs we loathed. The house we bought was a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom ex-Govvie in an unfashionable part of Canberra. It needed a lot of work, which we did. Up until that point we were renting with cats and that in itself was a nightmare, there was no way we were going to try renting with a dog. That is the part I don't understand, we waited 5 years before getting that dog because we knew that renting was a crapshoot. I also think that looking forward to finally getting an Afghan was a motivator for my OH when it came to paying down debt and saving.

Luck did play a role in where we are now, the unfashionable part of Canberra we were in, was actually a lot closer to the city than a lot of McMansion suburbs and there were good capital gains while we were there. Now we have our dream country home - got a sizeable mortgage too, but a plan to pay it off.

The other thing I wonder at is women who put their financial future in someone else's hands. So many women I know were trapped or are trapped in relationships they would not otherwise be in if not for the dogs and/or a lack of income. I'm not talking about ill-health here, I'm talking about life choices that mean that if it all goes to shit, you're so vulnerable you can't leave. I hope my home and relationship won't ever go to shit, but if it does I would be able to walk with my dogs and still take care of them. Am I just overly cynical?

Yep shit happens and it can happen to the best of us without us even seeing it coming.

[Curlybert]

The other thing I wonder at is women who put their financial future in someone else's hands. So many women I know were trapped or are trapped in relationships they would not otherwise be in if not for the dogs and/or a lack of income. I'm not talking about ill-health here, I'm talking about life choices that mean that if it all goes to shit, you're so vulnerable you can't leave. I hope my home and relationship won't ever go to shit, but if it does I would be able to walk with my dogs and still take care of them. Am I just overly cynical?

Not cynical - just cautious, SSM. I'm the same. I recall an older cousin's marriage carked it after nearly 20 years (husband traded her in for a younger model). My cousin had been old-fashioned enough to let her tosser husband manage all the household finances and she hadn't worked outside the home since the children were born. She scored the house as well as its big, fat mortgage and found herself looking for a job at the age of 53 when other women of that age would be thinking about retirement in a few years. Fortunately she was a trained teacher, so with some skills updating got a job fairly quickly, but there is no way she can retire before she is 65, despite ongoing ill health. Meanwhile, her ex-husband is unencumbered and living a carefree life with the Whore of Babylon (as we affectionately refer to 'the other woman'!).

Moral of story: Maintain some financial independence!

Edited August 29, 2010 by Curlybert

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Yep shit happens and it can happen to the best of us without us even seeing it coming.

I think you're disagreeing with me, or at least agreeing that I'm overly cynical. To clarify, I don't doubt that shit happens, I pretty much expect it. That's why I have the point of view I have. It's the "shit's not going to happen" POV that I find hard to get my head around.

That said, I remembered on the way home after a day out with the dogs that I had posted into a thread about renting with animals with tenants and landlords going hammer and tongs and realised that cynical or not, I'm a complete idiot for posting in the first place

[Steve]

Yep shit happens and it can happen to the best of us without us even seeing it coming.

I think you're disagreeing with me, or at least agreeing that I'm overly cynical. To clarify, I don't doubt that shit happens, I pretty much expect it. That's why I have the point of view I have. It's the "shit's not going to happen" POV that I find hard to get my head around.

That said, I remembered on the way home after a day out with the dogs that I had posted into a thread about renting with animals with tenants and landlords going hammer and tongs and realised that cynical or not, I'm a complete idiot for posting in the first place

:rofl: