Now, moving on to what I'm actually here to say today. . .
As animal lovers, it's often very hard to say no to getting an animal. But you can't always be in the position to take a new animal in.
An obvious example would be if you live somewhere that doesn't allow pets. Taking care of an animal is not worth violating a contract. In that kind of situation, you probably can't keep it a secret for long. When it comes out, you would probably be evicted and / or fined, and you might have to give up the animal, which would be painful for you and the animal involved. This also applies to people who live at a parent's house if said parent(s) won't allow animals. Keeping an animal a secret from your parents won't work. Trust me. They're smarter than you probably give them credit for.
I had a friend who tried to keep animals multiple times when she wasn't allowed to. She had found a stray puppy, and talked her mom into keeping it while they found the owner. No one ever claimed the dog, and her mom told her they'd have to take her to a shelter where someone else could adopt her. So, my friend, who didn't have the best relationship with her mother, decided to leave home. At this point, she was 18, but still in high school, so she moved in with her boyfriend and his parents. (Which I would imagine was really awkward, but that's just me.) she later moved into an apartment that didn't allow animals, tried to sneak the dog in, and eventually had to give the dog away, and if I recall correctly, had to move again.
Here's another thing, I don't like the term "pets" because it implies that it's something that you can pick up and put down when it's convenient, at least that's how it always seems to me. Maybe that's not the impression that the word gives you, but the impression that I get from it is an irresponsible way to think about animals. Animals require attention and regular interactions like feeding them and cleaning up after them at the minimum. If you can't do that, whether it's because you can't afford the food and supplies, don't have time to care for them, or just realistically recognize that you have too big of a lazy or forgetful streak, it's not fair to the animals to deprive them of a chance to be in a home that can and is willing to care for them properly.
I have a friend who had adopted a puppy who lived at our house until my friend moved out on his own. He could afford the food and supplies, and even paid one of my sisters to walk the dog regularly. On weekends, when he had time, he would take his dog downtown to this really cute doggy cafe and buy him treats. But once he moved out on his own, and had to move for his work, he realized pretty quickly that all by himself, he worked way too many hours to pay enough attention to his dog. So, while he could afford it, he knew his dog was getting lonely. Though it was extremely difficult for him, he gave the dog to a family that could spend more time with him.Sometimes, you can't take in an animal because you already have several. Now, it's okay to have multiple pets if you can afford it, but sometimes one more is too many. When that happens, the animals might fight with each other because there isn't enough room for them to all have their own space. You might not even be aware that they're fighting, as it could be mainly happening while you're at work or school. It can also make clean-up overwhelming. If you have several cats, you really need multiple litter boxes. If you have fancy self-scooping litter boxes, then it's a whole lot easier. But, if you have normal litter boxes, and you don't clean them often enough, your cats are going to start using the rest of your house as a litter box. They won't want to use a filthy litter box just like you wouldn't want to use an unflushed toilet in a public restroom. With multiple dogs, it can be very difficult to make sure they're being walked enough. Some dogs can be walked together, but larger dogs are often too strong to be walked together.
This is a problem that I had once. My older sister had moved out, and taken in 3 feral kittens. She moved back in and brought them with her. At the time we already had 4 cats. (2 had been feral kittens that my sister talked my mom into adopting. 1 was a cat who we were taking care of temporarily, but the original owner abandoned with us and moving away without notice. 1 was a cat that my sister talked her boyfriend into adopting from a local animal shelter, but his family wouldn't let him keep, so we took him in, and then that particular cat adopted me.) But anyway, that is 7 cats in an average suburban house. At the time none of us kids would admit it, but that is too many cats in one place. After about a year, my sister bought her own house, and soon took her 3 cats with her (3 cats is acceptable depending on their personalities), so the problem was solved. Now, it really was too long to have that many cats at once, but she had never intended to move back in for so long. But that's exactly how things like that tend to happen, right? In a situation where too many animals have been acquired, it can be extremely hard to pick which one(s) to find new homes for. It's a whole lot easier to say no right at the outset so you are less attached to the animals that you can't take care of. You can always adopt more animals in the future when one passes away.
Sort along the lines of having several pets already, sometimes, whether you realize you're doing it or not, you might go from animal-lover to animal-collector. The idea of having exotic or wild animals as pets can be really enticing, but keep in mind that wild animals are just that. They aren't suited for living in your house like a domestic animal would be, and your house isn't suited for them living in it either. Having a rare pet isn't going to make you cooler, and once the novelty wears off, no one is going to pay you extra attention for it, and you may even get bored with the animal, which could lead to you not caring for the animal like you should. You have to keep in mind that animals aren't decorative. People often forget that when it comes to animals like fish. People frequently buy a really fancy bowl or aquarium and put some really pretty fish in them to make a space look fancier. However, people often don't realize just how much space a fish needs to thrive, and their fish die or become bored, or fight because they lack space. Also, fish are often captured from their natural environments (there's some truth to the story of Finding Nemo, afterall. . . ) or they're bred on farms where they are frequently not cared for well, and used to make money for large corporations. (Don't buy into The Man!) Or maybe it's not exotic animals that interest you, but specific fancy breeds of animals, and you just want to have this kind of dog, or this kind of cat, and then, oh there's this other breed or other color that's just so pretty, and you have to get it, and you accidentally reenact the story Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág. Now, I'm not saying that it's wrong to own a purebred anything. But if you're treating animals like collector's items, chances are, you're getting them for selfish reasons, and not just because you want to give an animal a home. With so many homeless animals in the world, it's really unfair to the animals that are euthanized in shelters every day because no one will take them in. Purebred animals rarely have trouble finding homes. If you have room in your heart and your home and your budget for an animal, rescue one! But don't just collect animals to show off what cool pets you have.
I know a girl who has several "exotic" animals, as well as several more common animals. She's also a photographer, so she's always posting pictures of them and using them in photoshoots. I'm sure she takes care of them, but it comes across as though she is just using them as props. For a while, it felt like she got a new animal every week. She has several cats, 2 snakes, a chameleon, and at least one tarantula. I'm pretty sure she has some other kind of reptile, but I can't remember. Now, to give her some credit, I don't think she's taken in any new animals recently. (I know because I've seen her posting things about having found animals, and trying to find homes for them. And she instagrams pictures of them enough that I'm sure I'd have noticed if she had gotten another one.) However, I do know that she thinks that she is better than other people who only have "normal" animals. She and some of her friends actually have "reptile parties" where they bring their reptiles over to one another's houses and take pictures and brag about how cool it is that they have such unique pets.
Finally, not all animals are for everyone. If you ask most kids, they'll probably tell you that they'd love to have a puppy! Kids like the idea of having an animal to play with, and puppies are good at that, and they're really cute! But when the puppies grow up, and the kids grow up, not everyone can handle the responsibility of having a dog, or the energy it requires. I mentioned earlier that my family dog-sat for a while for my friend. Well, that was when I realized that I'm not really a good person to be a dog-owner. I'm definitely a cat person. Cats are pretty low-maintenance. Dogs on the other hand, need way more attention than I am capable of giving. Cats are much more individualistic than dogs are. While it's good to groom your cats every once and a while, dogs can't bathe themselves whatsoever, and dogs get pretty nasty if you don't keep them clean. But anyway, Just because you love animals, doesn't mean you have to have one. There are many ways to express your love for animals by speaking up for them and giving them a voice to ensure their well-being without necessarily living with one. It isn't hypocritical not to have an animal companion if you're an animal lover. As the saying goes, sometimes if you love someone, you have to let them go. Or to reference ABC's Once Upon a Time, you have to give them their best chance, and it isn't always with you. Putting this into practice takes a lot of maturity, because it's probably not what anyone wants to do.
Alright. This has been a really hard topic to talk about, because it is so much easier said than done. But it's a good thing to keep in mind. I hope it has been helpful. If you have any other reasons why loving animals sometimes means not having one, please tell me in the comments! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I'm sure I've missed several good points. Even if it's just a story you have that is a good example of one of the points I made, go ahead and share it! I'd really love to hear what you have to say about this topic.
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