Pets are important to people, there’s no denying it.  Studies have shown that, on average, people with pets live longer, and are happier, than those people who don’t have pets.  It can be in part that pets, in particular dogs, simply provide unconditional love to their owners.  It can also be that pets, whether the aloof cat or the chatty bird, or even the snake or lizard, simply provides companionship.

Pets breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, just like humans.  They consume food and they excrete waste, just like humans.  And, just like with humans, all that does impact our environment.

Unfortunately, even though pets can provide unconditional love or companionship, they can, and are, frequently abandoned by their owners, who for some reason don’t want to take the time to bring them to shelters.  So they are abandoned into the wild where most die rather quickly, the victims of predators.  Others, such as cats and dogs, simply become wild, and live miserable lives trying to survive.  In addition, shelters are full of abandoned pets.

That’s why most advocates, not only for the environment but for the pets themselves, encourage people not to buy pets from breeders, but rather to adopt from shelters.  There are thousands upon thousands of abandoned dogs and cats in the world…it’s really not necessary to breed new ones.

In addition, any pets should be spayed or neutered.  Well…those pets that are fecund, such as dogs and cats, anyway!  Otherwise, there’s the potentiality for more unwanted pets to be born.  Of course it costs money, which is why most people don’t want to do it.  Or, they feel it’s not right to interfere with their pet’s natural well-being.  However, spayed and neutered pets can actually be happier and more healthy.

In addition, ways to practice “birth control” on cats are being explored, so that they don’t have to be spayed or neutered.  This will come with time.

If you’re thinking of purchasing a pet, for yourself or for a child, do a lot of research first to make sure your child can look after the pet properly.  And if you do acquire a pet and then change your mind – don’t abandon it into the wild.  Bring it to a shelter.  They are your responsibility – they were willing to give  you love, the least you can do is give them a safe place to live.