Feel like dissing instead of kissing your former lover this Valentine鈥檚 Day? Think your ex is more like a rat than a prince? Do you believe your former paramour should never procreate?
Animal shelters and zoos around the country are encouraging little cathartic avenues for revenge this holiday 鈥� and raising money for a cause 鈥� with a slew of darkly funny fundraisers for those whose Cupid鈥檚 arrow missed the mark.
Options include naming a feral cat after your old flame before it鈥檚 neutered 鈥� or giving rodents or cockroaches your love bug鈥檚 name before feeding them to bigger animals. The Minnesota Zoo鈥檚 campaign to name a bug after either a friend or a foe has attracted donors from across the world.
Teri Scott of Poulsbo, Washington, said she was bombarded on social media with the anti-love campaigns, including naming a hissing cockroach after an ex.
She said she couldn鈥檛 bring herself to name a bug that鈥檚 so hard to get rid of after her former husband, fearing that it could be an omen she鈥檇 never shake him despite the court costs she paid.
Then she ran across a promotion for the 鈥淟ove Hurts鈥� fundraiser at the Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage, Alaska. She ponied up $100 to name a frozen dead rat after her ex, and it will now be fed to a resident raptor at the facility.
Scott, who is celebrating her first anniversary as a newly single woman, views the donation as a gift to herself.
鈥淵ou never enter a relationship thinking it鈥檚 going to end, but when it does it鈥檚 just hurtful,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 just thought, I need to do something a little bit special for myself.鈥�
She laughed out loud when she saw the 鈥淟ove Hurts鈥� posting. 鈥淚t just seemed like a beautiful way to give back,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e do this in good fun,鈥� said Laura Atwood, the center鈥檚 executive director. The money raised helps the facility pay salaries and care for birds 鈥� the nonprofit rehabilitated 580 of them last year. Just over $18,000 had been raised by the time the campaign closed Wednesday. So many rats 鈥� more than 130 鈥� were purchased for the campaign, the center ran out of supplies until another batch of frozen rodents arrived Wednesday,
鈥淧eople are sometimes hurt by a relationship, and this just gives them a little cathartic way to maybe work something out,鈥� Atwood said, adding that they don鈥檛 publicize last names.
The videos of raptors like Ghost, a snowy owl that swallows the rat whole, or a peregrine falcon named Breland, which keeps one talon on the rodent and pecks away at it until it鈥檚 gone, will be emailed to donors.
There鈥檚 also a cheaper option: People can pay $10 to name a mealworm after their ex before it鈥檚 fed to a crow or a magpie, and a video will be posted on social media.
The Memphis Zoo in Tennessee gives you two options 鈥� one for your lover and the other for a nemesis, each for $10, in its 鈥淒ating or Dumping鈥� campaign. If you鈥檙e happily coupled, you can get a digital card and a family-friendly video of a red panda eating a grape to share. But for those harboring a grudge, along with your card, you鈥檒l get a video of an elephant pooping signed with the words 鈥淪cent with Love.鈥�
After Valentine鈥檚 Day, the zoo will post a recap video showing the names of people memorialized in a video and will list the names that popped up the most for both daters and those earning a stinky shout-out.
鈥淭his is the most incredible thing,鈥� said Caleigh Johnson, who is campaigning for her ex-boyfriend to be at the top of the smelly list by encouraging her friends to give to the fundraiser. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that a few people will come through.鈥�
Johnson doesn鈥檛 talk to her ex anymore; instead, the video will be a treat for her friends to laugh at as they celebrate 鈥� Galentine鈥檚 Day. 鈥�
