The Pound - Spot for Painted Pets?

[ladyredhat]

My first pet was a blue uni. Sure she was only blue, but I adored her. It took me over a year to earn an island p/b for her, but after that I just had this wonderful sense of accomplishment when I looked at her. It was like... look what I did. A personal achievement. Adopting pets from the pound doesn't give you that... it just gives you something to show off. Pets aren't "hood ornaments". They're the focal point of the site, and I think it's sad that people don't take pride in painting their pets themselves anymore.

*ducks*

I know what you mean! I've never created a pet, but mine are still special to me. I adopted pound pets with numbers in their names and just refer to them by the name part. They were both plain and un-wanted but I have given them: decent battle stats & sets, distinct personalities, etc. My kyrii is special because I painted her with the only pb I ever won, I think she is the first ever Shadow kyrii since I painted her the same day it was available. My other pet is a lab rat who will be a fancy color whenever I'm happy with his stats. Wouldn't mean as much if I had just adopted them as they are now, even if they came with awesome weapons & petpets

[hyperflutterby]

I feel the same way. My main pet was a blue Acara that I adopted from the pound a few days after creating my first account. Right now she's being labbed for battle stats, but I can't wait for the day when I finally stop labbing her and make her into a gorgeous maraquan acara. I'm putting a lot of work into her and I would be tramatized if I were to lose her due to freezing or anything else.

In the long run, I would like to lab pets for adoption, but when I do that, I'm going to limit it to the adoption thread here so that I can be relatively assured that the pets are going to a good home that will take care of them, they just don't have the money.

[bgryph]

I agree, having painted pets for the sake of having painted pets is something I've never really understood.

On the other hand, I know quite a few people who really wanted a pet of a particular color and species that they couldn't afford, who ended up getting their dream pet because someone else got it via the Lab and adopted it out to them. You can give your pet a personality after you adopt it as easily as you can after you create it.

For that matter, although I could have afforded a Darigan PB eventually, it would have been a huge investment for me, and I don't love my Darigan Peophin any less for having gotten her via the lab.

I have two Labs -- once on my main account that's doing to lapse into disuse (at least for a while) once I've finished zapping my main pet for stats -- and one on a second account specifically for zapping pets to adopt out. Haven't gotten any takers on the pets I've gotten off that Lab so far, though. :grumble:

[Full Metal Alchemist]

I used to have a Lost Desert Shoyru, a Shadow jetsam, and a Mutant Chia in my old account before it got frozen.

[AutumnElf]

Whether people have noticed or not, there ARE adoption guilds, who pride in "prettying" up poor neopets from the pound, and adopting them out to others. Great, you feel good at having snagged a pretty pet from the pound...chances are, the previous owner of that pet had found a trustworthy person to take care of that pet. I'm not implying that any of you aren't trustworthy, but does the previous owner feel happy the transfer was not sucessful? Does the person who was supposed to adopt the neopet feel happy? Not really. I know this is true because I've had my experiences before, too.

Whether you agree with me or not, it doesn't really matter. I just wanted to say what I think is right, whether you think it's right or not.

My first pet was a blue uni. Sure she was only blue, but I adored her. It took me over a year to earn an island p/b for her, but after that I just had this wonderful sense of accomplishment when I looked at her. It was like... look what I did. A personal achievement. Adopting pets from the pound doesn't give you that... it just gives you something to show off. Pets aren't "hood ornaments". They're the focal point of the site, and I think it's sad that people don't take pride in painting their pets themselves anymore.

Ditto on that. I mean, neopets.com is about accomplishment, mainly for your pet. If people are just going to pick up pets from the pound because they have an expensive color, what is the point of even BEING on neopets anymore? Where did saving up to paint your neopet, then feeling proud about it go? Has it all come down to it, where people are more interested in being "rich" and having "lots of avatars" that neopets don't matter to them anymore?

[Arka]

Well, there are a lot of people who will pick up unpainted pets from the pound and paint (through lab ray) and play with them and put them back so they could go to a good home. Some people even attach petpets or battledome items. It's fun sometimes to follow the pets and send a little message to whoever picks them up explaining what you did. I have received responses from many people thanking me and saying they didn't know about the lab map or that have decided to do the same for others. It's good to know you are helping give painted pets to people who wouldn't have been able to afford them.

I do this, too. I still check on the little guys that I adopted for a while. I am disappointed when their owners don't show up for months. I wish I could get them back when they aren't treated well. I am currently taking care of a grey skeith who is building up his characteriistics. As soon as he is painted a pretty color I'll put him up for adoption. Probably.

[plducala16]

Whether people have noticed or not, there ARE adoption guilds, who pride in "prettying" up poor neopets from the pound, and adopting them out to others. Great, you feel good at having snagged a pretty pet from the pound...chances are, the previous owner of that pet had found a trustworthy person to take care of that pet. I'm not implying that any of you aren't trustworthy, but does the previous owner feel happy the transfer was not sucessful? Does the person who was supposed to adopt the neopet feel happy? Not really. I know this is true because I've had my experiences before, too.

Whether you agree with me or not, it doesn't really matter. I just wanted to say what I think is right, whether you think it's right or not.

My first pet was a blue uni. Sure she was only blue, but I adored her. It took me over a year to earn an island p/b for her, but after that I just had this wonderful sense of accomplishment when I looked at her. It was like... look what I did. A personal achievement. Adopting pets from the pound doesn't give you that... it just gives you something to show off. Pets aren't "hood ornaments". They're the focal point of the site, and I think it's sad that people don't take pride in painting their pets themselves anymore.

Ditto on that. I mean, neopets.com is about accomplishment, mainly for your pet. If people are just going to pick up pets from the pound because they have an expensive color, what is the point of even BEING on neopets anymore? Where did saving up to paint your neopet, then feeling proud about it go? Has it all come down to it, where people are more interested in being "rich" and having "lots of avatars" that neopets don't matter to them anymore?

Agreed. I've twice now lost pets to transfers. Although I personally am very sad, I do realise that the new owner must be very happy that they found such a great pet, so I can be on both sides. I would be happy if I found an orange grundo, for example, in the pound.

[bgryph]

Whether people have noticed or not, there ARE adoption guilds, who pride in "prettying" up poor neopets from the pound, and adopting them out to others. Great, you feel good at having snagged a pretty pet from the pound...chances are, the previous owner of that pet had found a trustworthy person to take care of that pet. I'm not implying that any of you aren't trustworthy, but does the previous owner feel happy the transfer was not sucessful? Does the person who was supposed to adopt the neopet feel happy? Not really. I know this is true because I've had my experiences before, too.

Whether you agree with me or not, it doesn't really matter. I just wanted to say what I think is right, whether you think it's right or not.

I certainly think that if you intercept a transfer you should pass the pet on to the intended owner. (Assuming, of course, that the pet's former owner can provide some sort of evidence that they are indeed the pet's former owner and not just another pound-surfer who missed the pet themselves.)

But so far my experience has been that unless you have a pet of a VERY desirable color -- Darigan, Maraquan, Grey -- adopting them out is actually not all that easy. I think a lot of people eventually simply pound pets with good-but-not-super-expensive paint jobs to free up space on their lab accounts for new pets to zap.

So I don't think it's the case that most of the painted pets in the pound are actually transfers. Sure, some are, but I think there are quite a few genuinely abandoned pets as well.

:shrug: Of course, I've mostly been trying to place pets via Neocolours... maybe if I tried a larger forum like this one, or an adoption guild, I'd have better luck.

[everconfused]

Hmm, well, the pet I created on my lab account is a blue kougra. She will never, ever be changed. I her just the way she is!

The pets I have labbed and put up for adoption have been snapped up within literally a couple of minutes (at most) of putting them in the pound.

I used to check in on the pets I'd adopted out, but have pretty much stopped doing that now. I can only hope that they're being cared for. I look at caring for a Neopet as, at the least, good training for caring for a real life pet and as an extension, for caring for other people. To that extent, I do care for my pets and I encourage others when I see them on the boards or wherever saying things like they never feed their pets, heal them, etc. that they should. After all, the name of the site is NeoPets, not Neopoints, neoitems, etc.