When my mother was growing up, she owned lots of animals. There were dogs, cats, ducks, a bird, a hamster and a pig at different times. After owning multiple pets, my mom now has the mindset of pets adding more excitement to life. I agree with her. When I was born, my family had two dogs and a bunny rabbit. Throughout my life, I have had various fish, dogs and cats. Plenty of frogs, snakes, lizards and other wild animals have visited  my home. My family when through a period of time where we had a goat and a whole bunch of chickens. The goat was not planned, we gained him by a joke my dad made at an auction. Now we just have a dog, a cat, a fish, and two birds.

Having pets forces you to put other creatures’ needs before your own. If you are running late in the morning and it’s really cold outside, you still need to feed your dog. If you just want to sit around and do nothing, you can’t because you need to feed your birds and clean out their cage. Often times you find that your whole life revolves around your pets, trying to quiet them when they get loud, taking them outside, feeding them, chasing them down if they escape, worrying about them when they are outside in the pouring rain. In a way, owning a pet teaches you that the world does not always revolve around you.

Having a pet teaches you responsibilities that you possibly could not learn otherwise; that your actions can have consequences for others as well as yourself. If you don’t feed your fish, it could be possibly be your fault they are dead. The possibilities for what you could learn from a pet are pretty endless.