Lisa Anselmo

Growing up in the country, with a brother in animal conservation,
I had a wide variety of pets, domestic and exotic. I loved them all,
but I was not the primary caregiver of any animal until I adopted
my cat, Winston, in college. I had no trouble accepting that
responsibility, and he is still with me today, 17 years later. We
now have three cats and one rat, the youngest cat and rat
belonging to my son, who is 8. He adores them, and loves to
play with them some every day, but he is too busy to give them
the level of care and attention they need to thrive. So I clean and
feed, groom and play with all of them. I wouldn't want them to
suffer from lack of attention, and I don't want him to miss out on
the joy of having pets, just because he is too young to completely
care for them. Besides, I adore them, too. He has been
interested in a variety of pets, and we always researched their
needs and discussed whether or not we could give them what
they needed and also get what we wanted from a companion
animal. The deciding factor has always been whether I, mom,
am willing to accept full responsibility for the lifetime care of the
animal. If not, then we don't get it.

In contrast, my son has a friend, the same age, who impulsively
wants every animal he sees in the pet store. They get it, without
having any idea how to care for it, and it dies shortly thereafter.
Then they just go get something else. He teases animals,
screams at them to scare them, and throws rocks. He has gone
through literally dozens of hamsters; I shudder to think. Instead
of learning love and compassion, he is indirectly being taught
that animals are disposable.

lisa