How did you choose your pet(s)?

[Bliss]

I know some people go to a shelter and find the neediest animal. Others just pick the first one they see. And some people find stray animals and take them in as their own pets.

How did you choose your pet(s)?

When I lived with my folks we had a couple of hamsters, a couple of rabbits, and some fish. I believe my parents and older sister chose them as I don't remember when we got them.

My boyfriend and I both love dogs but we're not allowed one where we live so we'll have to wait a while. We did have a hamster which sadly died last year. He was an awesome hamster. White all over. Beautiful. He was called Hamlet and we both went to a pet shop and he was the cutest of the bunch. His brothers and sisters were sleeping and he was the only one awake. I asked the guy in the shop to let me hold him (the hamster, not the guy) and he was such a fast mover! He jumped off my hand and landed on the floor! My boyfriend says I dropped him but I believe he jumped!
Anyway, I said "We better buy him now. I might have broken him."
No harm was done to him and he lived for almost three years so he had a long and happy hamster life. I miss him.

Anyway, I refuse to get another one because I don't want it to ruin his memory. He'd be a hard hamster to replace. It hurt too much when he died.

 

[Crouton]

I personally have researched enough about the pet industry now to NEVER again buy a cat or a dog through a pet store, breeder or ad in the paper. I vow to only ever adopt from shelters. I have one dog who is 15 years old, which means I was 5 when we got him and I didn't really have much say in how we got him, so he came from a pet store. I love my dog to bits but never again, the pet store business is horrible behind the scenes.

Aside from my dog I have a lizard. I would have liked to get a rescue lizard but I couldn't figure out how. The only 'rescue' places I knew were for cats and dogs, so I ended up getting him from a specialized reptile store.

I have a fish which I adopted off my friend when she could no longer look after him.

That's about it for now, I plan on getting many more animals in the future. I honestly don't think I could ever be truly happy living in a house with no animals in it. But as I said for the future I plan to only adopt rescue animals whenever I can.

 

[Jeanie]

The two dogs that I've had that came from the shelter were the neediest there. They each were the oldest there. The first one, Lucky, happened to be in the puppy room. I never asked them why, but I wasn't intending to get an older dog. I was looking at the puppies and there she was, her 8-year-old self, and I fell in love with her. I went home to tell my then-husband to come back with me and take a look. When we got there, he went to Lucky's cage and said to me "how would you feel about an 8-year-old doggins who might not find another home?" She was meant to be our dog. She lived another 6 years until cancer got the best of her. She was a great little dog; she helped me get through the divorce.

The next one, Abby, was allegedly 12 when I found her at the shelter. I didn't honestly believe she was that old when I adopted her because she was so spry. She was a great little dog, too. She held on for another 4 years, then one day her body just gave out. She was lethargic and not eating, and I looked at her gums and they were almost pure white. I took her to the vet and they said that her bone marrow wasn't producing red blood cells anymore, so I let her go.

My dog Sam was going to be put to sleep by her owners. I happened to meet them (and her) just a few days after Abby died, and I liked her immediately. I jokingly asked them if I could have her, and they said they were trying to find another home for her but they couldn't so they were going to have her put down. Jerks. She's a great dog.

My other dog Wiley came from an ad in the paper. His former owners had moved to a smaller home in a condo complex and didn't think it was fair to him to not have room to run.

My kitty Eliza came from a stray who showed up one day and was pregnant. Eliza and her brothers were born just a few months before my daughter. We found their mama dead when they were just two weeks old. I raised them from kittens, litter trained them, fed them formula with a syringe, all that good stuff. One brother went out one day and never came home. The other got hit by a car.

My other cat Jessie showed up as a stray at my former jerkFACE bf's house.

 

[Rebeccaaa]

I've had multiple rabbits and a guinea pig, mostly one after the other. They all came from the same pet store, and I have no idea why we went there instead of somewhere else. I was too young to recall getting them in detail, but I just remember the car ride home for all 4 animals, individually. I was soooooo excited at that point.

I can only imagine that I choose my first rabbit because she was the only white one there. There's no specific reason for the others. I'm pretty sure all of them will have been based on the colour of their fur (I loved my grey bunny's coat so much, it was lovely), and not personalities. Since I was really quite young for all of them. Nowadays, my decision on a pet would be based on its personality alone, almost.

 

[Konshentz]

We went to the local animal shelter and picked out the cutest, fluffiest dog there. We've had him for 11 years and he's the best dog I've ever met. Now that he's getting older, we have to start worrying about his health. It'll be rough when he dies. :-/

 

[Bubbles]

I got Cali from my brother's friend. His jerkass landlord told him to get rid of her. He was planning on giving her away to the BCSPCA, so my brother bought her to our place. We had to hide her in the garage for at least a month before my mom found out about her. That lead to weeks of arguing until I just told her that I'm keeping the dog, so deal with it. (Oddly enough, now my mom's the one that loves her the most.)

My cat Gary was abandoned by my douchebag neighbor in the middle of the freezing winter. It would break my heart every time I'd see him out there. So, I just kinda took him in without asking anyone - I couldn't really give two shits on what my family thought anyways.

 

[C-Mach]

We went to the local pet store (which is now out of business thanks to some overly litigious jerk) and saw three puppies in a crib. The one that barked the loudest was the one that got my attention: An orange Pomeranian puppy. So he came home with us.

 

[Starfire86]

I was living with a friend, her cat got pregnant and had kittens under my bed. I picked the one that looked like a russian blue because I like the way they look.

 

[geograpets]

Hi there!
I know how you feel about losing a pet, they are like a member of the family, and losing them is one of the saddest thing that had ever happen. I'd lost 2 of my first pet puppies in a same year and although we only shared 7 months together, they made a great impact on me. I now have 2 dogs, both 4 years old, one is a Japanese spitz, and a native Philippine dog, they are like a brother to me.

The importance of having a pet is one of the most delightful and noble responsibilities a man can have, not to mention a great learning experience that comes in many forms. A pet might take away a portion of your life, but that portion is not wasted, it may actually return to you tenfold.

___________________
Geograpets

 

[Saffy]

My sis in law rang me begging me to go look at a dog she had heard about from someone at work. The owner couldnt handle her and was talking about taking her to have her out to sleep. We went and took her straight away, she was so hyper as she obvioulsy didnt get enough exercise (shes a staffy) It took a while to calm her down but we love her to bits now and have had her over 3 years I always recommend people to use rescue centres or look for people advertising the need for a new home for their pet. There are so many unwanted pets and usually its through no fault of theirs:nod: