Taming untamed pets
Until a strange cat started frequenting my neighbours’ home where it found comfort on their lounge or beds, I never really understood why some people reach the point of harming pets that cause such a nuisance to people who have chosen to keep their households pet-free.
While it is easy for one to keep away a dog by simply closing a door, this cat sneaks into the house through a window, making way to any room of its choice to the great annoyance of the neighbour who has made a deliberate choice to not breed a pet because no member of this particular family enjoys the presence of such animals.
No amount of chasing has helped this helpless neighbour who is now contemplating poisoning the creature whose owners also seem to not know how to stop the pet from trespassing into this house.
Then, there are the irresponsible dog owners who care less about where their dog eats plays or defecates, such that some households have to put up with the forced presence of hungry dogs that come in search of food before turning their lawns or yards into toilets.
Some of the ‘homeless’ dogs—which are a threat to people’s lives as they more likely never get necessary vaccines—enjoy sleeping on neighbours’ door mats where they sometimes drop their hair and ticks while the wounds on their ears invite flies to the wrong doorsteps.
Pets can be fun, and they are a reliable source of security and, of course, good company for other people, but if you ask me, not everyone should own a pet because some people are just don’t know how to responsibly keep these animals.
Take, for instance, some high density area households that choose to own a fleet of dogs when they don’t even have a fence or mere chains to help them limit movement of the dogs.
It is such dogs, which are usually poorly fed, that end up stealing food from neighbour’s kitchens, thereby attracting anger that leads to their being killed or injured.
If you don’t own a dog, the last thing you want to find on your lawn or yard is dog shit. Why should someone else decide to own a pet for reasons best known to themselves and leave you the duty to clean after them? There is more to owning pets that just acquiring the pet.
I don’t know if there is anyone who doesn’t own a cat or dog because they cannot afford it; most non-pet owners just choose to not have pets in their homes. So it is unfair for pet-owners to heap such responsibilities on unsuspecting neighbours who have to stand endless days of this kind of nuisance.
The same pets that others adore and love can and do often turn others, hence the need for owners to take interest in how these pets move about in the neighbourhood considering the absence of reasoning capabilities in the pets themselves.
