Pets for Kids

Saturday was a busy day. I ended up spending half the day cleaning up aquariums. These are not aquariums for fish but tortoises...different types of weird looking tortoises. Crocodile, long neck, box tortoise and a few other different types, big and small and they ain't pretty.

The aquariums are extremely dirty, filled with dark green water. I started with sucking the yucky water out of the aquariums. The tortoises looked calm. Kids joined me and they cautioned me that the tortoise can actually jump and bite. Anyway, when we started to fill the water with fresh water, the tortoises started to move towards me and opened their mouth wide. I started to feel sorry for the creatures. It looked like these creatures have not tasted fresh water for quite a bit. I felt sorry for them, they don't deserved to be treated like a non-living thing. My sister joined shortly and it looked like even though it was tiring, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. Once all the aquariums are cleaned and filled with fresh water and seeing the tortoises swimming about happily, the feeling was pure satisfaction!!

I just don't understand why anyone would want to have such animal for pets. My brother is definitely a weirdo. It's not like you can cuddle or kiss these creatures, you think twice even to touch it, they look like dangerous reptiles and dirty. As the kids have been bugging me for years about having pets. I told my kids that, even though the tortoises are not theirs, they can actually take care of it. That they can find out more about it in the internet, stuff like the food, their natural habitat etc so that we can care for it the way it deserved to be cared. Having pet is a Big Responsibility. One obvious example is the tortoises. I can't imagine these creatures living in such a filthy place. These are living creatures and must be treated with respect and empathy.

I promised the kids that if they can earn my trust by showing me that they can be responsible pet owners, I will let them have any pets they wish to have. (I hope I can keep this promise). First step is to take care of the tortoises like their own. Keep the pet's home clean and feed them well. Lets see if they can deliver.