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Post by hollie on Jul 2, 2006 10:06:50 GMT -4
1) What does a pregnant dwarf look like? There was one among the others in the cage today who looked double the size of the others - she's much, much heavier, too, and I don't know if that's because she's either fat or she's pregnant. I took her home anyway, because if she is, I'd much rather find good homes for the babies than have them face near certain death at the pet shop (more about that in a minute).
2) Can anyone direct me to a website that has good shots of a dwarf hamster's 'bits'? I want to be certain that I've picked up all females, but all that I can find are drawings. I'd find it much easier to judge against photographs...
Now, about the certain death part... they keep the dwarves in a cage that's about 30cm x 60cm, with no water and no food. There's about 20 in that cage. Out back, they've got two cages that are about 1m x 50cm, and there's probably about 200 hamsters between the two. While I was choosing which hams I'd take (I was set on 2 only), a guy came in and told me to make sure that AC was on in my car while I was taking them home. Obviously it would be (the temperature here's in the mid 40Cs at the minute, and this was at midday so it was around 45C), and he told me that so many people's hamsters had died - they'd put them in a box with no ventilation in either their boot or the back of the car, so the poor things had died of heat exhaustion before they'd got home. I felt terrible after that, especially knowing that the majority of those hamsters that made it home alive will be treat like toys without the proper food and care they need.
So I ended up with five. Originally I had intended on getting four, but then I saw this poor girl who looks pregnant, so I just had to take her, too.
Oh, by the way, the local animal sanctuary here has no legal rights to do anything about any of the animal's situations.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jul 2, 2006 10:12:55 GMT -4
Can't answer the first.
Have no time to search for photos, but if you see two separate openings it is a male. If you "can't find" the second opening it is a female.
If you can find a way (perhaps in a pet store) to compare male and female side by side it will be obvious to you.
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Post by hollie on Jul 2, 2006 13:30:18 GMT -4
www.petwebsite.com/sexing.htmThis site has photos, but not too clear. I'll have to try again with sexing them One's taken up residence in the sleeping house, while the others are curled up together asleep. So far they've eaten carrot, cucumber, baby corn and a little piece of lettuce. And I've got one loopy rabbit jumping around behind my laptop making me laugh as I type this! I've got binkies galore at the minute!
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jul 2, 2006 17:00:40 GMT -4
I hope you're having fun.
All you can do about conditions is get people, and yourself, to complain. Maybe a Humane Society would give advice. But do something. I did with petland Discounts here in NYC, and I got gerbils and Syrians separated by gender.
Keep us posted.
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Post by hollie on Jul 3, 2006 2:51:05 GMT -4
Nothing will be done, no matter how much anyone complains. This part of the world still don't recognise the value of pets like the Western world does; the only things they will step in on are dog fights.
When it comes to small animals, they couldn't care less. Rabbits are mainly sold as food, and kept in tiny little cages, more often than not with some nasty injuries; I've seen some that have only a gaping hole where an eye is supposed to be, some with ears half hanging off, and some with horrible wounds in their sides. But the majority of the guys breeding them don't care.
We have only one humane society over here, which is the BSPCA (www.bahrainspca.com, if anyone's interested). They have no legal rights like the SPCAs in the Western world does; they can't force entry to retrieve pets and, if I'm not mistaken, they can't force anyone to give their animals up, either. For the most part I think they buy the animals off their owners. They explain it very well on their webpage, but they don't receive any funding other than what they can raise and donations, their facilities are very poor, and they're overrun with cats and dogs, which is what the sanctuary is mainly there for. They do have the occasional horse, donkey, goat or cow, but their facilities aren't designed for any other animals. My bunnies were sat in a small cattery pen.
Yeah, animal cruelty over here is something you see on at least a daily basis, but until the locals are educated, it won't stop. They think it's 'fun' to cut the ears off a dog or cat using scissors, or to kick a kitten around in a bag like it's a football, or to beat a donkey pulling an overloaded cart with a plastic pipe so that it tries harder to keep up with traffic. If you comment, they only hit it harder.
The world sucks, and unfortunately you can't save every animal. Much as I'd like to :/
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jul 3, 2006 17:59:04 GMT -4
>> Nothing will be done, no matter how much anyone complains. This part of the world <<
Where are you from, again?? Oh yea. Bahrain. Well. women aren't treated that well either. But. . . Go into the Animal News forum and read the thread I started on Henry Bergh and the ASPCA. No one felt anything could be done here back in the 1860's - until he did it. He at least tried despite ridicule and abuse, and he awakened peoples' conscience.
Bahrain sounds really primitive, morally. As Bergh did, try, somehow, to get people to realize such needless cruelty diminshes US as human beings, and ALL beings are God's creation. To treat such a creation in that way is actually blasphemous, and in my opinion insulting to God.
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Post by hollie on Jul 4, 2006 6:10:39 GMT -4
Oh yea. Bahrain. Well. women aren't treated that well either. But. . . I'm not from Bahrain, I just live here... I'm English Women aren't treated badly here. Bahrain was once ruled by the English (handed back in the 1960s, I believe), so it's very Western in comparison to Saudi Arabia, for example. Believe it or not, there are some women who don't want to have equal rights - recently there was a story in the newspaper discussing how they should be given equal rights for divorcing (I think), and there were protests by women to stop it! Madness! Generally, though, people are treated equally. Go into the Animal News forum and read the thread I started on Henry Bergh and the ASPCA. No one felt anything could be done here back in the 1860's - until he did it. He at least tried despite ridicule and abuse, and he awakened peoples' conscience. We have the BSPCA (Bahrain Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) here, but as I mentioned above, they don't have any rights and rely entirely upon donations and fund raising activities to get by. The truth of the matter is that animals are seen as simply working creatures still; a Bahraini child won't be taught to respect an animal by it's parents. Most people here don't even like animals. No matter how many campaigns are run, it still doesn't actually reach those people it really needs to touch. It's sad, but the mentality over here is so dense that they can't even figure out what's good for themselves half the time, never mind what's good for other creatures It's frustrating, it' makes you want to cry and scream and kick up the biggest fuss ever, but this part of the world is still trying to get to grips with it's human issues. Animals, unfortunately, have a long wait before they're treat with the same respect as they are in the Western world. Fingers crossed that the wait won't be too long... I recommend you take a peek at the BSPCA's website to get some idea of what it's like. www.bahrainspca.com
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jul 4, 2006 8:34:08 GMT -4
Well, even a small start is a START.
Yes, I assume Bahrain is more advanced than Saudi Arabia, and SA more advanced than a lot of other Muslim countries vis a vis women.
Interesting site. Seems like they are trying. Maybe first sanctuaries, and then changing peoples' attitudes. Removing an abused animal from a bad environment is helpful even if nothing can be done to the abuser.
Attitudes take a long time to change. But the longest trip starts with one step.
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BTW, identifying pregnant dwarfs is very hard.
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Post by hollie on Jul 4, 2006 9:11:24 GMT -4
Saudi's the most 'backward' country of the lot - Bahrain's very Western.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jul 4, 2006 19:27:36 GMT -4
Saudi's the most 'backward' country of the lot - Bahrain's very Western. It is also the home of Wahabism - the most extreme and virulent form of Fundamentalist Islam.
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Post by hollie on Jul 5, 2006 3:17:01 GMT -4
Yeah, they're a bit weird like that.
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