Animal refugees

After lunch today, I gathered the food scraps and prepared to go out in the back yard (if you can call the small area behind our house that) and give them out to the stray cats in our village. For as long as I can remember, it has been our practice to feed the stray cats in our area with whatever leftovers we have after every meal. As I called them (well, they don’t really have individual names, just the general “miming”), I counted how many cats came to eat today. Seven! And they all shyly came over to share what little leftover food I had for them.

I have no problem sharing my place with stray animals, as long as they don’t make a mess. And if they’re too much to handle, I just shoo them away without really hurting them. But there are just people who like hurting animals. Chasing them with water or sticks is fine, these animals aren’t smart but they’re not too dumb either, they get a hint when they’re not welcome. They just sometimes get too hungry that they resort to destroying our garbage bags in search of food. Hey, they’re just animals trying to survive.

What I’m getting at is, you can get all creative on driving away the stray animals if you hate sharing your place with them, but at least be a little bit humane in your ways. You can splash them with water, but please, not boiling water. Our planet was made to be shared with every inhabitant; it wasn’t created so only humans can call it home.

We talk about rescuing endangered animals like the eagle, dolphins, sea turtles, monkeys and other wild animals. Sure it’s exciting to save these kinds of animals. But what about the ones that are in our streets? The abandoned animals? Don’t they have the right to be saved, too? Just because they are ugly askals and pusakals doesn’t mean they are less of an animal than the endangered ones. They have every right to be saved, too.
My own pet is a kitten we’ve rescued. We found her in the far corner between our fence and the neighbor’s wall near our gutter. She was abandoned by her mother. She was so small she fit in the palm of my hand. The poor thing, she wouldn’t have survived had we not adopted her. So we took care of her and she lives with us now, inside our house.

But the most important thing here is, please be responsible pet owners. Sure, the animals look cute when they’re still babies, and the excitement of feeding and bathing a new baby pet is there on the first few weeks or months. Please keep in mind that your pet is not a toy, it’s a living thing that you took under your wing. And keep in mind that buying a pet (or even just asking for it from a friend, neighbor, classmate, politician, teacher, celebrity, or whoever you got it from) is taking into your hands the responsibility of caring for another living thing. Being human and so having a higher intelligence quotient (I hope so) and a better capacity of doing things than the pet, it is your responsibility to take care of the animals.
Here are some pointers to keep in mind before buying a pet (still useful for those who already have pets):

1. Make sure you have the time to care for pets. A pet, even something as simple as a fish, needs your time. Make sure you have time to feed it, bathe (or clean) it, or even just look at it to say “kumusta”.

2. Make sure your house is ready for a pet. If you want a pet dog, make sure you will not be able to disturb your neighbors. There are some subdivisions where the houses are so near you’d hear your neighbor snore at night. It’s annoying for others to hear your dog bark at every vehicle that passes by. Be practical and consider this first before buying a pet that vocalizes every now and then.

3. Make sure you know your pet’s needs. Food, water, shelter. As I’ve said, pets aren’t toys, they have needs. Make sure you can handle their needs.

4. If you’re ready to buy one, make sure you’re ready to take care of a pet for as long as it takes, not just for a few months. Some pets have life spans as long as 80 years, and some just 5 years. Having a pet could be a lifetime commitment (kinda like marriage), so be sure you are ready for that.

Having a pet is hard work, but the companionship that it gives you is very rewarding. A pet will listen to any ramblings you might have (don’t ask me if they understand human language), it will keep you company even when you’re broke, it doesn’t care if you’re fat or ugly, and it is forever loyal to you. Perhaps pets are the ones that can give what is called “unconditional love” to their owners.
Please, be responsible pet owners. Pets are not toys. Before getting one, please make sure that you really are able to take care of it.