Why People Keep Pets

Why people keep pets? We know that a lot of people keep pets, but if we ask why they do, we would be bombarded with many answers. It teaches us about selflessness. Owning a pet teaches discipline and responsibility to a child. We can learn how to share our time, savings, and companionship with a being that is solely reliant on them. Depending on whether you have a feline friend or a canine companion, cats and dogs can increase your sense of security. How so? Dogs can augment personal security when walking alone at night, while cats can ward off potential burglars by meowing to alert you to thieves' proximity. Exercise is a great side effect of owning an active pet. If your pet requires frequent physical stimulus, you'll find that the amount of time you spend outdoors will increase dramatically. Pets are a prescription for good health. How can owning a four-footed friend or winged companion help you live longer? Pets can increase a person's level of activity and ease stress. Medical studies have shown that seniors benefit especially from pet ownership, since owning a pet can decrease blood pressure, fight loneliness, comfort the pain of a departed spouse, and combat depression.
There are certain responsibilities that every person will assume when they consider owning a pet. Pets require the same amount of love and tenderness that a person would bestow upon a newborn child. Pets need attention and interaction with the people at home, and an animal needs to be exercised on a regular basis in order to help keep weight gain from occurring and to help the animal feel more like socializing with others in the home. Many pet owners are quick to select a pet from a pet store and even quicker to select a certain pet food. The quickness is usually founded on cost issues because owning a pet is a major responsibility that will incur costs of many kinds. Pets will need to visit the veterinarian as early as possible after entering the family because pets need to be checked for rabies and any other diseases that they might carry that would affect the health of everyone at home if left unchecked. Some pet owners do not take pet ownership responsibilities very seriously and rely on the rule of supplying food, shelter, and water as the minimum daily requirements that a pet will need once they enter the home. For the pet to be happy, other needs must be met on a regular basis or the animal could begin exhibiting some odd behaviors that could be compared to temper tantrums that a child would do when they were unhappy about something happening in their life.

A number of species have proven to make excellent pets and keeping such animals can provide comfort, companionship and a rewarding experience. Domestic dogs make excellent pets. They’re intelligent, sociable, playful and, thanks to centuries of selective breeding, have an affinity for people and a unique ability to communicate with and understand humans. Dogs form tight bonds to their owners and can be trained to do numerous things for entertainment or practical purposes. They love to please and, if raised properly, will be submissive to their owners. Cats are another option. They tend to be more independent and demand less attention than dogs. They can be kept indoors and easily trained to use a litter box. Domestic cats also develop bonds with humans and can be affectionate and inquisitive. Many other animals have proven to be highly successful as domestic pets. Small mammals like gerbils, hamsters and even rats have long been kept as pets. They don’t have the same kind of social interactions of dogs and cats, but may also be less demanding to keep. Many species of birds have also proven to be highly successful pets. Some of the more intelligent species of parrot can be highly demanding to keep, but for those who know what they’re getting into, it can also be a rewarding experience that provides great companionship.
Yet for some reason, which I honestly don’t quite understand, many people insist on keeping animals as pets which are very poorly suited to captivity and in some cases are downright dangerous. It may be a desire to be different or an admiration for the traits that such animals display in the wild. It may be an attraction to the “cuddly” stereotype associated with animals that are not cuddly at all or it may even be a desire for status. Whatever the reason, there are a number of animals which are just not good choices for pets. Yet people keep them anyway, and sometimes pay with their lives. Even when these animals do not kill or injure their owners, the inability of the average person to care for certain animals often leads to the animal either suffering or being discarded.