Pets are important to us human beings. They provide learning and character building opportunities for young people. For all of us, especially the elderly, pets can be great company. They don’t answer back and tend to react positively to whatever we say, so long as our tone of voice is moderate. They can never understand the meaning of words but can learn to associate particular sounds with our requirements. For example, you can teach a dog to sit in response to any word or sound or signal you choose.
Taking responsibility for the care of a pet is a valuable experience because it takes the focus away from self and ties it to the welfare of another being. It is great practice for dealing with human relationships and it can even be a respite from them.
Having said that, I believe it is important that we get our priorities correctly aligned. Our first responsibility is to have consideration for our own species. Notice I said our first responsibility; not our only one, and I am not setting out to contradict my first two paragraphs. But I contend that as much as we are responsible for the welfare of animals we must never put them ahead of other people.
The inability of any person to give due consideration to the welfare of animals is a warning to the rest of us. It is well documented that peoples who are cruel to animals often carry that attitude over to other people. This is because they are in the habit of putting their wants first. In their eyes their wants are more important than the needs of any other being, human or otherwise.
So let’s teach our young ones, as early as possible, that they need to consider parents, siblings, friends and pets. Teach them what is acceptable behaviour and that they are not the only important being that there is. They need us to not give in to their whims. They need us not to indulge them to the extent that they think they run the show. They need us to teach them to take responsibility in accord with their physical and mental abilities. They need us not to give them, before they are ready, the freedom that responsible adults are allowed.
Young people need the guidance and supervision of responsible adults more than they need things (or even pets). Our time and attention is the most valuable gift we can give them. If they don’t receive that gift, if we don’t take the time to teach them properly, how can they be expected to take over when their turn comes? Young people cannot learn all that they need to know about life from other young people. They must learn to value the lessons they receive from those who are considerably more experienced than them, above what they are told by their peers. They need to learn to look discerningly at what motivates those that try to influence them. This learning comes best from those who have a proven track record for putting those young people’s needs ahead of anyone’s mere wants.