CREDIT: NICK REYNO
Owning a pet may sound like a great idea in the beginning, but it can add more stress to your life if you're not prepared and fully committed to taking care of it for the long haul.

Getting a pet is a serious thing to consider. It's not like getting a new laptop, it's looking at another living creature and saying, “I'd like to take care of you for the rest of your life”. Pet adoption comes with a lot of responsibilities and difficulties that people don't always think about.

For example, if you don't like that laptop it can be returned, given a factory reset and sold again as if nothing ever happened. It's also not about to poop on your floor.

If you don't like a pet, you can't just give up and return it. That animal has formed an emotional bond with you. Returning a pet is like going back to a hospital and saying, “Actually Doc, can you take my baby back? It just pooped on my carpet and I don't like waking up at 5 a.m. to take it to the bathroom anymore”.

Humans can be so reckless in how we value other forms of life. Not only do we have the audacity to think it would be ‘fun' to own another creature, we have the capacity to change our mind after we've affected that being's life. Sure you or I could move on to our pumpkin spice lattes and Instagram posts but that pet is going to spend the rest of its time wondering what happened to us. Waiting for us to come back.

This is why surprise pets and trendy pets are the worst thing to happen since kill shelters. If you surprise someone with a cat or a dog, you're volunteering them for a seven to 12 year commitment. Sure, that pet is cute and everyone's happy to snuggle up to a little puppy, but no one is ready for a 12 year surprise.

In a few weeks when that pet has to be fed and cared for and exercised day after day, can you be certain everyone's going to feel the same about it? If you wouldn't surprise someone with a baby, don't surprise them with an animal.

While I'm on the topic, there's another problem in pet adoption that's just as bad as surprise pets and that's trendy pets. These are dangerous because trendy pets aren't necessarily easy to take care of. Remember when Shiba's were trendy? Shiba's are one of the most stubborn and hard to train dog breeds in existence. Trends end, but that pet is going to live for another decade, so when you're over the trend what are you going to do?

Trendiness also leads to over breeding and impulse adoptions which leads to hundreds of animals ending up in shelters. A living being isn't a trend or a meme. Adoption is something that should be thought about and researched long and hard before a decision is made.

If you're looking to rush into pet adoption, there is only one pet for you. It will never be let down by your neglect, you'll never have to feed it, exercise it or even clean up its poop. The pet I'm talking about is of course the magnificent pet rock. Love it, walk it, give it googly eyes and see how long the love lasts. If you stop caring about your pet rock in a few weeks, are you really ready for a decade long commitment?
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.