h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My 7 year old loves his rabbits. He waters and feeds them, moves them between the hutch and the run, loves and cuddles them, and shoves them about with his feet a bit.

He does do his best to look after them, but if I wasn't behind him to encourage him not to 'put them in a tent' ie, hide them under a blanket and make them stay there, he wouldn't be a responsible pet owner. He's simply too young. He isn't aware that they are not moving toys yet. With my supervision, he is learning though. I wouldn't like to think kids could go and buy pets without an adult. Maybe there should be an age limit for selling live animals. 14? That's probably about right. And parents should be responsible for the animals in their children's care. If they aren't, what's to stop the kid getting bored and abandoning it?

I agree that small children don't appreciate that animals are really living creatures and not 'moving toys'. I would personally put a higher age restriction, 16 possibly? This wouldn't stop small children buying pets under the supervision of their parents but then again, most adults don't seem to be capable of keeping an animal fairly. I admit to being a bit of a staunch when it comes to pets, they are really pointless and breeding an animal so it has big long ears just for our amusement seems cruel...oh well.

I don't think it's fair to say that *most* adults can't look after animals properly. It's a minority who are deliberately, or even unintentionally cruel to their animals.

There are ways round buying mutated (sorry, pedigree) animals, go to a rescue centre and get a mongrel or a cross breed. My dog looks pretty normal to me. Maybe a bit on the small side, but no exaggerations like spots, a squashed face or a bizarrely shaped tail!

Just a bizarrely shaped brain, bless his little cotton socks.

16 sounds like a good age to me.
I really don't think any younger can have the time to spend on looking after pets.
But what I really think that the law needs to be changed-with much heavier sentences being handed out for cruelty cases-I mean a small fine and if you're lucky they are not allowed to keep pets for a certain length of time---It should be an automatic lifetime ban.

My daughter is 13 and she has always had pets: hamsters, fish and we have two cats. She is a little rambunctious with the cats, always picking them up, springing out from behind a wall, picking them up, whirling them around, hugging them and then sending them on their way. They are not harmed in any way, however they are not happy either. Cats do not like to be "whirled around in the air"! So they used to make themselves scarce when she would get home from school. She would always complain that they liked me better, because they would come up to me and get on my lap. I would very patiently explain that it was because I never "jumped out at them" or "whirled them around" or picked them up and carried them around (unless I had to remove one from the dining room table!). Now that she's older, they have started to relax around her. However she still gets bored with her fish. Then she decides she wants new fish, and wants to flush the old ones. (I don't let her of course!)

So over the years I have tried to instill the fact that if we are pet owners, then we have a responsibility to the pets. It's not their choice that they are with us. So it is our duty to make sure they have a quality life. Healthy food, excercise, things that they like to do, paying them attention when they want it, etc. and just generally loving them like we would a family member. That includes fish. So I make sure she feeds them everyday, that their water is clean, that they get plenty of light, etc. Now she wants a dog... (does it ever end?) Of course - we aren't getting one! After the last hamster died (Joey) I told her no more hamsters, cause I had to get after her to clean the cage all of the time.

We take our cats to the vet every year for their annual checkups, have them spayed and neutered, feed them the healthiest cat food we can find.

I agree - if the parent is not willing to take on the roll of caregiver or at least care "mentor" of the animal, then children have no business with pets. Now I can't say that about all children - as I have seen some that are very responsible with their pets at a very early age - but that seems to be the rarity and not the norm.

And I definitely am not one of those that think that God put the animals on this earth for us to enjoy (as one lady who came into work in a new fur coat told me once...). We have the ability to destroy these animals world, thus making it our responsiblity to make sure that doesn't happen. And I also believe that if a person is cruel to animals - that it's a warning sign that they are that way with people also. If you see an adult who is cruel to animals - look to his/her home - more than likely there is physical or mental abuse going on, either to him/her or caused by him/her.

Oh dear - I was just going to type a few words!

most pet shops won't sell animals to children..there can't be many worse than my local pet shop..he's had his animal licience removed at least once..(shouldn't have got it back..in my opinion)..even he won't sell pets to children without an adult present..a previous owner of the pet shop..got a bit annoyed at me..he was encoraging a customer to buy 2 hamsters..(not russian, they can be kept in pairs)..i pointed out that the hamters would probably fight to the death..the customer..decided to buy just 1..so i lost him the sale of the second..i know there are some good & caring pet shop owners..unfortunately..most are more interested in making money..than the care of pets in their shop..

why don't they have some ort of back up in pet shops, like a volunteer from the rspca, on hand for advice? that would put paid to the money grubbing aspect!

We had 36 guinea pigs once, mainly because Dad thought Boris looked lonely so he put him in to play with the girls.

Boris?
same name as my dog.

A friend of mine used to have a Red-Knee Tarantula called Boris..i have no comment on it's suitability as a *pet*....

sounds a bit like my only kidding-I love him to bits!

He was the blackest guinea pig any of us had ever seen. Like the black pudding in "The Testing Of Eric Olthwaite," even the white bits were black

There is actually a law saying you can't buy pets under 14 (I think) unless an adult is with you.