Whichever pet you love/like
I grew up in a rural town whereby life was very normal and everything seemed to quite go ok according to the norms then. I can’t really remember a day that passed by without either seeing a dog or a cat or their young ones from my neighborhood or at our own home. Those days, the animals were kept to benefit the owners and no relationship was between the two except the symbiotic one; I need you and you need me. Cats were kept due to rodents’/rats infestation while dogs were kept to act as watchmen in their various homes. This did not attract any pet-ish relationship at all. If a cat roamed the neighborhood and came across rodents or food, they would help themselves as quickly as possible and run for their dear lives. However, if caught, their lives would be in danger, they would lose a limb or their very lives. Similarly, dogs would be tied to poles during the day, but at night they would have their dog-meetings and do their stuff then. Some would invade the homes of those who had maize and literally feed on that when uncooked. Some would be naughty and leave their deposits in other people’s homes. This created bad-blood between the farmers and the dogs. If the owner found such dogs destroying their crops, they would look for an easier way to get rid of that problem; killing the culprit by poisoning or so. This type of a neighborhood knew nothing concerning animal rights. There would be no burial for these animals.
Whenever there was an accident and any of the animals died, for the whole time the animals’ bodies would lay by the roadside exposed and smelling until the last worm finished feasting on their carcasses. This type of a behavior would create more hatred for the children who grew up in such an environment. A less than 4*6 pit would cost too much for the grown-ups to bury the animals’ carcasses which is a habit we continue to witness to date. I know from our origins, even human beings would be disposed in the wilderness to be feasted on by wild animals and that was never an issue. However, we have seen such progress in disposing human bodies in recent times, and hopefully, this improvement should be extended to the animals.
Anyway, from such a background, it was not so much of children to manage a pet relationship with the animals. However, boys loved to race with their dogs and it would be a competition between whose dog would outrun the rest in some village competitions, whose dog would bark at visitors and so forth. This made them to have a relationship with their dogs. If one kept cats, they were viewed as witches or having some hidden agendas.
I will never forget one lady who kept cats and she happened to misplace them, as they may have followed a stranger or, may have been killed. She went knocking in every home to try locate her kittens. Dint she land on my grandmother’s door! The lady was so emotional by the time she got to my granny’s place she began by saying that my granny may have them, or one of her sons. The confrontation she received, what do you mean we have your cats, do you think we are witches like you, have you ever seen me with cats for the many years you have known me, get out of my compound you witch! My granny was so upset and their friendship with that neighbor collapsed. The lady was devastated since she didn’t expect such a harsh response.
My pet
I liked cats than dogs somehow even when I was young, though my mother still dislikes them to date. However, I continued my love for cats to date. I have at times saved kittens from the road and also bought some. I have parented kitties and at some point I lost all of them (2 adults, 3 kitties) sob sob! I was devastated and in despondency for a whole year and could not keep a kitten. However, I overcame the sorrow and got another kitten in January 2020, which I raised till he was eight months. I have had to give put him up for adoption due to my health challenges.
Why did I not develop interest in dogs?
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