Secret Love Nest

All about Pets

We don't have pets.

I saw an interview of Qing last night. The interviewer asked him if he has a pet. He said no, at least not on the house he is currently living anyway.

But Qing grew up surrounded by pets. He especially likes big breed of dogs the likes of Golden Retriever, Labrador or Huskies. In his parents house, he has a dog there that his parents take good care for him. When we visit his parents, he usually spent most of his time playing and taking care of his dog.

Me, on the other hand, was not lucky when it comes to pets. My mom had a cat when I was still young and I think that cat gave me anxiety problem. She just didn't like me. Hissing and spitting madly at me whenever I try to get too close to her. Maybe it was because when I came into this world, she was demoted from being the apple of the eyes of my parents to a regular household pet. She held grudges, that cat.

When that cat died due to old age (personally I think she lived for one hundred years because of her resentment and hatred for me), my parents decided to set up an aquarium for me. With all the pretty rocks, castle and three colorful fishes. Those fishes gave me nightmares.

One of the three fishes, the bright blue one, sure is a bully. One of his two companions, a small orange fish, always hide whenever that Big Bad Blue fish approaches. Then one day, the small orange fish disappeared. My parents are puzzled how a fish like that could disappear, but I knew what really happened. The Big Bad Blue fish ate the poor orange fish. I saw it with my own two pretty eyes. He just gulped it down in one go. I was stunned. So now we only have two fishes in the aquarium. The blue fish and a pretty yellow one.

One day, I just got home from school, my father asked me to feed the fishes. As I approached the aquarium I notice something strange. The blue fish and the yellow fish are swimming side by side, the fin of the blue fish is on top of the back of the yellow fish. They are so close to each other that I smiled thinking that they are getting along. I called my father to show it to him. But...

Father: (looking strangely at the fishes) That's weird, why are they swimming so close to each other?

Me: (smiling happily) Maybe because they are best friends.

Father: (shook his head) Dayu, fishes should have some space when they are swimming, so they can move their body freely on the water. But this two fishes...

Me: (scrunching my face now) Then why are they like that Baba?

Father: (in a surprised tone) I think they are mating.

Me: (still innocent, ah the good old days) Mating? What is that?

Father: (ignoring my question while scratching his head) But that's strange cause I think these fishes are both male.

That night, using the encyclopedia that my parents gave to me, I search for the word "mating". After reading what it means I immediately close the book. That night, I had a nightmare. My eight year old mind was scarred after that day. That Big Bad Blue fish is sooooo bad.

Anyway, those are just two of the many examples why I'm not really that fond of animals (or should I say the animals are not fond at me). In the CA novel, my character Wu SuoWei is fond of snakes but because I am afraid of snakes they leave it out of the script. (Thank God because I think if they force me to hold a snake I will faint right there and then)

Dayu, is that why you guys don't have any pet? Because you hate animals?

No, I don't hate animals. Well at least not all of them (snakes I can't really stand, and also lizards). I actually like cute, fluffy animals like dogs, cats, little squirrels...but I am just not confident that they will live long if they are left in my care. In short, I am afraid that my kind of caring can kill them rather than letting them grow. I am hazardous to animals.

But the real reason why we don't have pets in the condo is because Qing and I are both busy. I think it is irresponsible to take on a pet but neglect doing your duty because you are busy working. That is just plain wrong.

Animals need constant care too. And lots of love. You have to feed them, bathe them, groom them, play with them, take them to vets and take them outside for some sunshine. I truly admire people who can do all that for their pets plus doing their job. The world needs more animal compassionate people.

Having said that, I can't take responsibility for a pet so I decided to do the next best thing I know I can do. I donate to animal shelter organizations. By helping those organizations help animals, I feel like I can make some difference too for our fuzzy hairball friends.

If you guys are not like me and you are like Qing that can take good care of animals, please adopt one today. Don't buy, adopt. There are lots of animals out there that need the love you can give.

Now if you are like me, hazardous to animals, please donate to your local animal shelters and rescue organizations. There's no reason why we can't make a difference just because we can't take care of pets.

Let's all make a difference. So this world would change too for the better. Love animals...