About having Pets (or Not)

We know at first the project is only started as a fun challenge project for Atit and I, but in the middle of planning it, we then decided that we will put almost all of the benefit to help animal shelters. By that, we started to think that this project could also become one of our way to make a small campaign to raise an awareness about one of the issue we both really feel attached to, which is animal's right, especially concerning to pet. So from now on, not only that we will share some of our stories in making the totes, we will also share some of our stories and mind about the issue, and here's one, hope you'll enjoy, and don't hesitate to share :). Cheers..

When I was a child I always thought myself as an animal lover.  Since I was five years old I always have pets, or having a dream pet (mine’s a unicorn and a talking tiger). I remember my first pet is two bunnies my brother bought me, they were male and female. I name the female one as ‘Tenik’ but I forgot the male one’s name. About two months later the male one is dead, and several months later, Tenik was escaped. For the next several years after that, I kept having pets, mostly are bunnies, sometimes it’s a cat, hamsters, turtles, little birds, some fishes,and etcetera, along with some dooffus name I gave them. There were once when I was crazy about Alanis Morissette, I name one of my bunny as ‘Alanis Morissette’, and I obligate everyone to call her in her full name. Nobody actually did it off course.. well, nobody except me..

When I first entering junior high, Alanis Morissette was escaped. I pretty much bummed out, several times I imagined somewhere near my home all my missing pets are making an alliance and having their own village, where their goal is to stay away from me. I guess I’m a bit of Elmyra-ish at the time. Despite that, I still asked my mother for another pet, to be precise, I was asking for iguana (it was the 90’s okay..! it is the time where iguanas and fur monkey sling bag is kind of ‘in’) and this time she say no. She says she’s been very disappointed in me, because she thinks I can’t be responsible for all of my pets. I don’t feed them, I don’t clean their poop, I don’t change their water or cleaning their ‘house’ and most of all I don’t care whether they were getting ill or stressed. And all that time, my mother’s the one who did the entire job. Off course I was kept insisted that this time it will be different and I will fully responsible for my pet, but apparently her answer is final. And from that moment on I don’t have pet anymore.

For quite some time I’ve was pretty mad at my mom, I don’t talk to her in three days, and she don’t even feel bother with that *sigh.. Off course I then forget about it, and I have to admit I kind of relieve I don’t have any more pet (especially iguana) after I’ve seen my friends being overwhelmed with the treatment. At that time I started to realize about the commitment it need for having pets. At that moment, the kind of commitment that goes in my mind is just to make sure they have enough food and a well maintained shelter, I haven’t think much of the thought about anything more than that.

Right now, as an adult, off course I have a full right to have pets, I have enough money to support their food or their shelter, I know what I should do or where I should go to adopt one, and I pretty much have more knowledge on how to take care of them, but despite that, I choose not to. I always says that ‘having a pet is like having a child’, in its own way off course (although in some cases it doesn’t seem any different). What I’m talking about is; I finally realize that having a pet is not only involve giving enough food or shelter, but also attention and life lesson. I’m talking about giving them enough love,  a secure feeling, a healthy and comfortable environment to live for, a sensible feeling about their physical and mental health, and knowledge to handle their certain attitude. It broke my heart to see people who thinks having pet is only like having this cute things, that you can cuddle and hug whenever you want to, and then put them in a cage when you just don’t feel ‘in the mood’. You might think I’ve been overthinking this, the problem is, I think many people are under thinking about having pets. Jeez.. having a pet is NOT a cute things, and it NEVER be, and it’s NOT SUPPOSE to be. It involves taking care of their poop, cleaning their puke, taking them to a doctor, dealing with their food, their vitamin needs, their regular injection, taking care whenever they got sick, play with them in a routine basis, even taking care their sexual treatment. In short, having a pet is supposed to be a real commitment. Corrected; having a pet is a real and never ending commitment.

And because I’m aware of that, I’m aware that I’m not ready for having a pet. I realize that at this moment I don’t have enough energy or capital to be fully responsible to support a pet. I don’t have enough income to support their health, I don’t have enough place to keep them feel comfortable or save, I don’t have enough time to play or walk them, and most of all I don’t think at this moment I have enough energy in having good attention about their health or their needs for affection.  I’ve met some people who bought pet just to compensate their lost feeling, ‘to fill the hole in their heart’ or whatever..  and in the end they did not taking care of their pet appropriately. I’ve even read some articles in a lousy and (sadly) internationally circulated magazine that suggested their readers to buy a pet in order to cope their feelings of loneliness, and worst, to give them as a gift to a friend or their lover, without thinking it before if he or she is ready to have a pet. In addition, recently I’ve watch one of this cover about this one celebrity whom claim herself as an animal lover by buying and having many pets including cats and dogs. Her ‘love’ of animals are shown by her smiling and posing in front of them being caged in this tiny weeny cage that being decked one another (ugh). I’m not saying that’s all wrong (except the last one, that one is wrong in any level), what I’m trying to say is; having a pet needs an endless responsibility and a fully awareness, and it’s not something that you can overthink it in a night. And most of all, having pets is surely not for the sake of ‘being cute’.

 In the end, in question of ‘do you think you’re ready to be fully responsible for having a pet?’ there is only one answer, whether it is ‘yes’ or ‘no’, there is never such thing as ‘maybe’ or ‘I guess so’.

So, have you figure out your answer?

PS: for more information about what you need to consider when you want to adopt a pet, you can go here . Or if you have another useful links realted to the issue, don't hesitate to share :)