Imagine coming home from a stressful day at school and being extremely cranky and ready to go to sleep. But all of a sudden, your entire mood changes because of your dog’s greetings of love and excitement. For many, it’s that love and affection that makes up many reasons why pets are important.
“They give us the ability to emotionally bond with a non-human. They also give us a purpose of responsibility to take care of animals,” said psychology teacher Catherine Dodd.
Many pets can be lovable and caring or unruly and mean, but many people love their pets regardless. Having much love toward animals is another reason why people decide to work with pets.
“I started working at Save-A-Pet because I always loved animals and wanted to do something that would make a difference in my community. I initially started volunteering when I was back in town from college in 2003, and shortly after that, applied for a job in the Animal Health Department. I have been working here ever since and still love coming to work every day,” said animal welfare and operations manager Sally Hubbard.
We see pets at houses, after work or after school, but imagine how it would be like working with pets all day.
“It’s amazing. You get to meet and socialize with so many different kinds of animals and you see how different each type of animal is. (There are) so many different type of traits and personalities that I never thought existed in animals, which is pretty cool,” said employee at Petland Denisse Fabela.
Many pets are homeless and are simply waiting to be adopted. Adopting a pet not only make pets feel loved, but it gives people more company to their homes.
“I think adopting a pet is great. You get to give a homeless animal a home and you also get to choose just the right pet for you based on their species/breed/age etc,” Hubbard said.
People have many opportunities to adopt a pet, whether they want to have company or they simply want one.
“It’s a good idea to adopt when you feel like it’s the need to add a new member to the family,” Fabela said.
Humans usually don’t think about adopting a pet, but when they do adopt one, they are happy with the decision that they have made.
“A lot of times, we find that animals provide an emotional connection. Also, pets keep us young and keep us playful,” Dodd said.
There are many places to have the opportunity to be able to adopt pets. Some animal rescue agencies are Save a Pet or Our House of Hope.
“At Save-A-Pet, we have cats and dogs available for adoption. But any type of companion animal/farm animal can be adopted through rescues all over the country and world,” Hubbard said.