Pets for Kids
|
Posted by Denise Oliveri Jun 21, 2007 |
Just recently we had a family of cats living in our shed. There was a mama cat and four kittens. At first, we didn't do anything about it because we weren't sure they would stay or if they belonged to anyone. Besides, it was so cute to watch the kittens play. Well, it turns out they were staying and they made it very clear that our shed was their new home.
Because of having three boys and neighborhood kids always in our yard, my husband and I decided it was time to do something about it. We called the Humane Society who sent out Animal Control to set traps. In the meantime, me and my kids were kinda getting attached to the cats.
First came mama. She wasted no time going after the food in the trap. She was taken away. We were told that they were definitely wild cats, and if we did not take care of the problem, we would wind up having lots of cats, and the rate of rabies in Virginia is very high this summer. The next day we caught a kitten. Then came another. The last two kittens managed to get trapped together. Now they are all gone. It was fun to watch them, but the danger was too risky to let them stay.
So what am I getting at? All this made me think to list the10 most popular pets and how many are kept as pets. Here it goes...
- Cats: 70,796,000
- Dogs: 61,572,000
- Fish: 49,251,000
- Birds: 12,999,000
- Horses: 5,107,000
- Rabbits: 4,813,000
- Turtles: 1,070,000
- Ferrets: 991,000
- Hamsters: 881,000
- Snakes: 661,000
Source: 2002 U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographic Sourcebook
Remind your kids to stay away from stray animals. I learned that there is a huge population of stray/wild cats roaming around because most places do not have leash laws for cats. Unless you specifically know that a wandering cat belongs to a neighbor, you should never go near it. They may have contracted rabies from other wild animals, and that is not very fun.
Keep your dogs and cats spayed and neutered!
What do you think about this blog?
