Animals and Society: Childhood Pet Keeping

I see a lot of difference in the way that people who have animals treat animals if they have had them from a young age or not. I have always been surrounded by animals. I have been with people as friends or roommates that do not have the experiences I do. I grew up on a farm. I expect for instance, chickens will be chickens and get dirty some. Horses and dogs play in the mud. Ducks swim in not so clean pools. I have noticed with some people they will not get emotionally close to an animal because they think it is too dirty or large. I have an interest in exotic animals since we spent a lot of time at zoos and we did some primate observing with my mom (she could speak sign to the chimps and was in a psychology program). This gave me a closer understanding of how to communicate with the other animals and the realization that they were perfectly good communicators (as a child I Would talk to the chimps in sign language, but I have forgotten it all now, but we had conversations).

My mother documented the process, so it was interesting, and later, we would apply it to our home animals (which is one way I got into horse training for so long). My pets were the horses, I lived breathed, ate and did all my homework in the barn on a horse most of the time. I was climbing up on them every opportunity and considered them my “pets” even closer to them than I was the other animals like the cats and dogs (but I was close to them too). Other people I meet think animals don’t even have any feelings. I tell them what the chimp said, because she certainly had some opinions! Anyway I think its important to look at how my experience with my personal pets helped me bond with the chimpanzees at the zoo. I was close to horses and cats for the most part, but raised birds too. I think learning the responsibility of caring for an animal is absolutely vital. I see a lot of attitude differences in people, those who have had animals know that animals are unique individuals and people who don’t often see them as “scary” or dirty or unattainable. I grew up with horses, dogs, reptiles, cats, goats, and a variety of birds. Many of them were my personal pets or I was personally responsible for them. My attitude has pushed me more into the veterinary technology field.