What is the use of encouraging kids to have pet animals?

[janakiraman]

I would like to know in a space starved couuntry like ours where a sizeable population cannot even get food to eat why encourage kids to have or adopt pet animals?
Do you think it is a good idea?

[Anuradha]

This is a very interesting topic for discussion. Until I came to the U.S. I was thinking white people  are giving too much attention to their dogs compared to fellow human beings. I used to wonder why they should spend so much money and care for dogs. They take their dogs with them wherever they go etc. But when I came to the U.S. I happened to see how much a dog means to you. It is an honest animal. It gives you unconditional love. It can understand your emotions and be a great companion. When I visited the pet adoption centres, I was amazed to see so many volunteers, ready to spend their time with the dogs given away because owners could no longer look after them. Most of the volunteers are gentle and kind. The facilities provided for the dogs are incredible.  The Pet Smart is a leading chain store selling only pet related stuff. They have a saloon where the dogs are well trimmed and given a bath. Their nails are trimmed. Their teeth cleaned etc. They also sell dress for dogs for special occasions. Each dog has a name and its identity written on its collar. There are dog parks where you socialize your dogs with the rest. These dogs do not bark or bie or show signs of ferocity as we often see in India. I am from chennai city and every day I  used to see stray dogs barking and fighting with each other
on the streets.  Even dog owners in India walk their dogs im public places and allow them to defecate  right in fron t of their neighbour's houses. In the U.S. it is an offense. You clean your dogs' shit, take away in plastic bags  sometimes kept right above the  the public dog bins.

[nandhini]

USA is a big and rich country and people have too many family issues. They all need someone to turn to. Thats why some of them even give away their property to dogs.
Moreover there is plenty of space for breeding dogs. How can we  have dog parks in India when people are living on the streets.? I think  all stray dogs must be euthanised and the streets must be clean of dog menace. Dog owners must be fined for  allowing to dirty public places. We need to take care of the poor and downtrodden in India.Dogs are not the priority.

[Ramkumar]

if dogs  ok..Some are crazy to keep snakes and wild creatures as pets. There was a case  where one fellow in the USA had  kept a monitor lizard which ate him up when he returned home. It is also too disgusting to watch  how you can have pigs as pets. They keep squeaking horribly showing their horrible snouts. Animal love is good as long as it is within limits.  But you do not even know who lives next door but you hoard your pets witha twenty cats and fifteen dogs  means you cannot connect with other human beings. You can not also be clean or hygenic.

[sujatha]

Must be mental cases...bunnies, hamsters, rats, snakes, alligators to be adopted as pets. It is a jungle culture.

[george]

Love of animals and being humane to them is a cultural refinement. Our Indian kids have the first instinct to pick up a stone and throw at any dog. So much threatened for their lives, the dogs too are conditioned to defend themselves because there is no trust or love. It is also a racial trait I guess. In other disussions on kids where similar  opinions were expressed. I do agree...If you go to the dog sheleters in the USA i never see the blacks attending to dogs. Most of them are either whites  or the Latinos. Even a few chinese are kind to animals. I cannot and should not generalize this particular habit...But I think it is also a luxury and naturally in a poverty stricken country like India  people are very defensive, feel insecure and cannot worry about animals. They are worried about how to make money...there will be no sense commitment even among professionals. if you tell then dog breedng is a number 1 business and better than the IT industry they will all start doing the breeding business.

[reena kaur]

You are all braching off from the main discussion whether to encourage the love of pets among childre. My opinion is yes ofocurse...dogs deserve human love. I am not quite sure Then there are insects and other strange animal to be adopted...either wild or creepy. I vote for dogs. Some religions dogs are a taboo. I am not worried about them. In some countries they hate dogs..I have seen that quite often. They will run their cars over them and kill them for their fun. Some smart guys make  money by breeding pedigrees or training them....Good for them. But...I have also seen some old men and women truly caring for dogs. Dogs do respond to you. Dogs
are devoted to their masters. they love human beings..I mean good human beings. Human beings are dangerous , deadly  ungrateful, and selfish. Ofcourse , I do not mean the good ones. Kids learn love and gratitude from dogs. Every dog has its day !

[Jeeva]

Dogs are the best pets. There is a proverb saying "barking dogs do not bite." So we can choose and train a dog not to harm the kids.

[Nityanandhan]

yeah....you know the proverb and I know the proverb. But the dog doesn't know the proverb. A  dog is a dog. It is an animal without the sixth sense . I t does not
reason out . it works on instincts and habits.  If you are bitten once...you would know

[Richard]

I do not know how many of you guys truly love pets, understood how to raise them and what to expect of them. Quite a number of us keep pets for our personal entertainment or some sort of gap fill for our emotional vaccum. Very often spinsters, widows and single mothers seek pets . Good for them. There are others who keep pets for protecting or guarding their wealth and their pets are trained  to  be unfriendly with strangers. They choose certain ferocious  breeds  like Dobberman and pitbulls. Whatever be the motive you must understand and love your  pets and you will learn a lot about animal values. They  are nonscheming and non corrupt
and non scandalous unlike human beings. A well trained dog will never steal your food. Could you say the same thing about human beings? Our culture is defiled by powerful human beings and used to steal public money.  Is there a dog anywhere on earth which would demean itself in big time scandals such as Spectrum?

[Selvakumar]

To all Dog lovers.Bangalore:

Please Read yahoo news
Child mauled to death, police ‘arrests’ dog
By Clint Thomas – January 13th, 2011

An 18-month-old child was killed by street dogs in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Around 5am, a snarling pack of 15 stray dogs dragged the sleeping 18-month-old S Prashanto out of his hut and mauled him to death near Bagalur off the Bangalore International Airport road, TOI reported.

Police arrested Gonti Yadav alias Chandrasen, around whom the stray dogs live, and charged him under IPC sections 289 and 304 (A), which deal with negligence towards animals. Police also caught one of the stray dogs which mauled the baby. “We’ll hand it over to BBMP officials” said inspector Babu Anjinappa.

And I wonder what the officials will ‘officially’ do with the canine — banish it to a lifeterm in prison or hang it till death?

Although the authorities are keen to terminate the menace of canines and clear the streets of them, animal rights groups oppose any such move. I wonder why.

I don’t know how to avoid such incidents or induce social responsibility, but after reading such a story for the umpteenth time, I just wanted to ask one question to those animal lovers who stop the government from taking any measure — Whose life is more important for you? A street dog’s or your child’s?

PS: A billboard near Chinnaswami Stadium reads: “Save your children from stray dogs”. Is that all we can expect from the authorities?

....

[Muthanna]

yeh...it happens at times when the dog goes mad ..but many human beings  are  always mad...madder than dogs. We have not
put them in cages and starved them and they go scot free. They are seen in most of the government offices and in public places.
As a matter of fact India is run by by a few mad people who are mad after money.They are doing more harm ,.

[saritha]

Well guys...I hate cats ...just hate them....I would love to kill those thieves. They are complete evil, ungrateful and untrustworthy.
They keep mating round the clock and littering everywhere. If you let them in your house you would have lot of problems. I will never allow cats near any kids.

[kanthimathy]

There is nothing like watching birds. They are so wonderful. Kids must watch them and learn how to be friednly with them. I mean those good ones not crows or eagles. So0me playschools have birds and aquariums for kids to watch..Thats good. When we  learn to love animals and birds, we turn soft and sober. Our wild instincts are slowly toning down.