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jkaufman comments on How can I spend money to improve my life? - Less Wrong Discussion

15 Post author: jpaulson 02 February 2014 10:16AM

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Comment author: jkaufman 04 February 2014 04:20:17PM *  6 points [-]

If you call a shelter they're often happy to have people look after one of their dogs or cats for a while.

(EDIT: Julia and I did this for a while in 2010 when we wanted a cat but couldn't commit to keeping one.)

Comment author: Alsadius 09 February 2014 06:29:34AM 0 points [-]

Be aware that giving an animal back to a shelter is often a very good way to kill it. Generally, they assume that there's something wrong with it, and it doesn't get much of a second chance before it's put down to give space to others that don't have a black mark.

Comment author: jkaufman 09 February 2014 04:50:40PM 2 points [-]

I'm not talking about adopting a pet and then returning it; instead you explicitly ask them "would you like me to look after one of your pets for [time interval]?" This temporarily expands their capacity, and you returning it later doesn't tell them something's wrong with it. (Well, it does tell them the pet wasn't so awesome as to overcome your defenses and make you adopt it, but I think most people who do this really can't adopt.)

Comment author: Alsadius 09 February 2014 08:09:25PM 0 points [-]

Fair. I've just heard horror stories, and I wanted to make sure those reading weren't inadvertently adding to them.

Comment author: kalium 10 February 2014 04:39:11AM 0 points [-]

I had a couple friends who would foster kittens from the shelter and house-train and socialize them for a few months, and then either the shelter or some other agency would find a more permanent home for them. I don't know the details but this is a thing you can do.