Feel like dissing instead of kissing your former lover this Valentine's 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 — and raising money for a cause — with a slew of darkly funny fundraisers for those missed by Cupid's arrow.
Options include naming a feral cat after your old flame before it's neutered — or giving rodents or cockroaches your love bug's name before feeding them to bigger animals. The Minnesota Zoo's 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 anti-love campaigns, including naming a hissing cockroach after an ex.
Scott, who is celebrating her first anniversary as a newly single woman, views the donation as a gift to herself.
"We do this in good fun," said Laura Atwood, the center's executive director.
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's gone, will be emailed to donors.
After Valentine's 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.
"This is the most incredible thing," 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. "I'm hoping that a few people will come through."
