Selfish Acts

Question: What exactly is love for another living being?
Love can be defined many ways. One of the best examples of love is the sacrifice. If you love something enough to let it go for the greater good of that particular thing, then you must love it unconditionally. There are more cases of people keeping an animal in unfair conditions because of their fear of separation do to their love of that animal. Is that what love is really about? Keeping the animal no matter what the circumstances are?
We as care takers of these magnificent creatures should constantly be asking ourselves are we providing the best care for our loved animals. Now life, as it is, may bring unfortunate circumstances to us but should our beloved pets suffer because of these fallacies.Our pets are trusting us to make the right decisions for them. It’s vary similar to taking care of a child. The animals basic needs must be met no matter what. Basic needs go way beyond “food, water, and shelter”. Like humans most animals need some type of enrichment and interaction. Without these two key elements an animal will suffer a great deal.

A few good examples are birds and reptiles. If a parrot isn’t given the attention it deserves that parrot may begin to mutilate itself or a snake who hasn’t been held in a long time will revert back to it’s wild ways. It’s the job of the care taker to meet these “basic” needs.
Exotic pets aren’t like dogs and cats. While, they too, need enrichment and interaction most are content with just being by our side. Dogs and cats have been domesticated for a long time. Where as most exotics have only been “pets” for a minute compared to the domestication of dogs and cats.
Keeping an animal that is missing these two essential element is selfish. If for whatever reason that animal can’t be given either of these, the animal should find a new home. While some may say it’s a little irresponsible to get an animal that must be given up. It is understandable that life is constantly changing and things can come up without notice but we must always consider our animals as our children. All to often, a bird, snake, dog, or cat is kept because of separation anxiety but keeping them knowing that the animals interests aren’t at heart is selfish and isn’t an unconditional love.

Thanks for Reading!
James Ward

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