Responsability- Sequoyah Thomas

I got my first pet when I was about eight or nine. My mom had bought me a bunny rabbit for my birthday. I had thought that it was the best thing that could ever happen because, I really wanted one. I had thought that my life couldn’t get any better because, aside from all the other toys I had got for my birthday, the rabbit was really what I had wanted. I had named him spot because he was white with black spots; he was the most adorable bunny I had ever seen. As a care-taker I had to refill his drinking water almost everyday or whenever it got empty and it was the same for the food. He pooped and urinated a lot which had a very unpleasant odor so it was important that I changed his litter frequently. I also had to refill his food, and take him outside. It was a lot of work taking care of him being so young. After a while all that work got tiring and it was too much responsibility because, I really wanted to have fun and it isn’t much that one can do with a rabbit; not to mention it’s difficult to pick-up a rabbit and as a child I often tried to avoid “difficult”. One day I was at the park with my brother and cousins having so much fun, then my mom had came to pick us up to go home and on the way there she had unleashed the unfortunate news that spot had died. In a way I was happy to not have so much responsibility but, looking back I regret being so selfish, inconsiderate, and careless. I know it sounds cruel but, I was only a child. I kind of miss him now.

I think children shouldn’t be given a pet to take care of. As you have read above, some children aren’t psychologically fit to do so. I wasn’t that’s for sure. My focus was on playing and having fun and not enough of it contributed to the well-being of my rabbit. I got bored with him and became irresponsible so I didn’t care anymore. Some would say, “what a cruel thing” but, that’s just the nature of a child. Some are not aware that animals are living breathing species just like we are. We need food, water, bathing, nurture and so forth. They also need to feel love, care, and safe as well as do humans and children younger than twelve shouldn’t be given the responsibility to take care of another species, it’s just too much for them; they aren’t ready. I said twelve because, when a child reaches age twelve they start to become more mature so they begin to realize what’s real, what’s important, and what matters.

Fortunately, when I was 13 or 14 I got a dog! A white and black pit bull that I, myself named chewy because, he loved to chewy on people. Since pits are so rough we had to get rid of him because, my mom was pregnant. It was the saddest day of my life; I had to get rid of my baby for her baby! I miss him too!