In my part of the world, especially in the hood where I grew up, the only pets people were fond of were dogs, especially the local ones, whose breed I don't know(the name) because I'm not fond of them. I had an uncle, an elder brother to my father, who owned a dog that gave birth to multiple infants, and the lineage of the dog kept expanding. Many times, he offered to give my dad one or two of the dogs to rear, as well as give them to him as gifts, but my dad never concurred because he doesn't like dogs. Those days, anytime we went to their house, we would see dogs, especially the little ones(puppies), running around in the parlour and defecating anywhere and everywhere. I won't lie, I hated those scenes. In the whole of the extended family as I knew it then, my uncle's family was the only family that owned dogs as pets, and the dogs were many. Also, they didn't struggle to feed them as people do these days by insisting on buying expensive food to rear dogs. Although the dogs were the local breed, sourcing for their food was not a problem.
Do I like pets?
From the first paragraph, you would have pictured my answer. Lol.
Although I also understand that pets do not refer to dogs alone. There are cats, birds, and others. But hey, my senses have not succumbed to living with an animal in my living space, where I'll have to keep cleaning up its feces. The thought that people even go as far as having snakes as pets, puts me off a lot. I can't comprehend it.
Honestly, I give kudos to people who have a special bond with pets, where their pets understand them perfectly like humans, and they also go on errands for them. But the idea of me having that kind of bond is something I have never bought into.
In most of the shops in the city where I reside, they have cats as pets, though not exactly as pets that people keep for companionship, but rather, the cats are there for just one purpose, which is to kill off rats in the shop. Even at that, it looks "uncomfortable" seeing those cats coming out from every corner and running off.
Thanks for reading.
This is my entry to Indiaunited contest
Photo: Chatgpt
