pet. petpet. petpetpet

that guinea pig that looks like a wombat. from the other day at the pet store. i simultaneously love and hate going to pet shops because they make me wish for a pet i can't own. yet. but i plan to, sometime.

the incidence of pet ownership out here in the 'burbs is quite high. some families with kids owning up to 3 or 4 dogs at the same time. pets also provide companionship for the elderly. i once saw a programme on tv that featured an octogenarian (or thereabouts in age) who lived alone with his basset hound. the life they shared involved dependance and a lot of giving on both parts. and both fared better for it.

i've once heard it being said that if you're kind to animals, you can't be too horrid a person. my grandma, whom i loved dearly, was a tyrant in her younger days, but had a very kind heart for her pets. she mellowed well with age.

and it was sirius (black) who once said 'if you want to know what a man is like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.' a pet, i think, is frequently as close to a total-dependant as you can get. animal abusers should not be given the death penalty immediately: they should be tortured as how they had treated the animals.

on my top 10 list of pets i'd like to own right now (bearing in mind i've got 4 cats back home):
10. guinea pig (i've never had one, but i've played with a neighbour's. it squealed whenever we stroked him)
9. bunny (one of those raggedy brown/ash lop-eared darlings)
8. squirrel (and it'll sit right on my shoulder and nibble my ear affectionately from time to time)
7. blue-tongue lizard (it smiles. and it's freaking cute. the baby lizard at the pet shop fell asleep on my arm)
6. owl (right off the pages of harry potter!)
5. cat (another one. i love cats. either completely black or gray)
4. salamander (one with black and orange markings)
3. piglet (apparently it was quite a happening pet to have in taiwan this year)
2. wombat (lovely dark brown lump on legs)
1. dog (i.want.a.puppy.real.bad.)