Responsible Pet Ownership

It really offends me when I hear of or see people who have pets but view them as expendable property, and not as members of the family. Why get a companion animal when you're not going to view that animal as a companion?

Many people adopt pets and later grow tired of them. People need to be aware of the amount of care animals require. Not just basic needs, but also the need for love and companionship. Dogs and cats are not solitary creatures, and if you go to locations where stray cats and dogs are prevalent, you will see that they roam and live in groups. I think it's incredibly cruel to adopt an animal, live with it for a while, and then suddenly drop it off at an animal shelter (or worse, abandoning it on the street, which by the way is a misdemeanor in the state of Florida). Unless the pet was living in terrible conditions and was being beaten, it's probably not happy to have been taken from its home and the people it knew. How do you think the pet feels to be abandoned? Cats and dogs have complex personalities and are no doubt affected by life-changing events such as this. Hopefully these pets are placed in new, loving homes, but that, of course, is not always the case. And it's the animal that loses over and over again. What makes people believe that this is acceptable?

If you're going to adopt a pet, make sure everyone in your family is aware of the responsibilities. If someone in the family, even if it's only one person, isn't willing to care for the pet, then you probably shouldn't adopt a pet at all. It may seem unfair to the members of the family that want the pet and are willing to care for it, but it's in the pet's best interest. Animal lovers should see the logic in that. It deeply saddens me to see a pet suffer because one member (or more) of the family doesn't want it. I've seen it too many times, and it simply shouldn't occur.