Stargurl80's Blog

From frequenting a lot of pet blogs, pet forums, pet websites and talking to animal lovers and pet owners, I have learned a lot about the mind of a pet owner.  There are a lot of things about pet owners that didn't surprise me:  they are kind, caring, selfless, organized etc.  However, there were a few startling things that I discovered out on the pet blogosphere.

A lot of pet owners don't know their pet's personality before they get it.  I see a lot of my personal friends get cats and dogs that have the total wrong personality for them.  Whether you are a laid back person, a playful person, an affectionate person, a person who needs protection...you have to do some research on pet information to find out certain breeds' personalities.

Secondly, there are more than a few pet owners out there who don't know what to feed their pet.  Sometimes the cheapest bag or can of food out there isn't the right thing to be putting in your pet's body.  In addition, sometimes the most expensive brand isn't either.  Research food choices and feed your pet accordingly.  Proper nutrition is vital to pet care.

Finally, many people don't know exactly how expensive owning a pet is.  One thing that breaks my heart is seeing a pet get adopted only to end up a stray or right back in the shelter a few months later because the owner didn't do the math.  Please make sure you can handle the responsibilities of a pet before you take one on!

As all of the readers of my blog know, I love animals. I love talking about them, learning about them, being around them. I am a firm believer in animal rights, and detest people who don't value lives other then theirs whether it be an animal's or person's.  With that being said, there are some mainstream animal rights organizations that I am not a fan of.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is a group dedicated to animal rights.  They have been very mainstream now for several years, gaining a good celebrity following.  I do believe organizations like PETA do some good, as do all other animal rights groups.  However, I do not support any kind of extremism.

I've heard horror stories of PETA extremists harrassing people, doing physical and emotional damage to people and being detrimental to society in general.  It's gotten to the point whee people assume that a PETA member is going to spraypaint people in fur coats, attack people carrying leather purses and so forth.  I've always been an advocate of being reasonable and tolerant.

I'm not much of a football fan, but the Michael Vick story a few years ago gained popularity in animal rights circles.  What Mr. Vick did is absolutely inexcusable, and he is taking his medicine right now.  I have heard that when he is done serving his 2 year sentence, he won't be able to return to the NFL or normal society.  What he did was absolutely heinous, but everyone deserves a second change.

I am constantly researching pet care, pet information and all things animal...and have come to one conclusion.  Love animals with all of your heart and know that without them, there would be no us.  With that in mind, love your fellow person as well.  People do deserve second chances, and it is unfair to ruin someone's life after they have "paid their dues".  I think it would be a nice step for PETA to support Mr. Vick if he truly is a changed man, and use some of his lucrative contributions to get a level headed, convincing message out.

I wanted to gauge some public opinion here.  I was wondering what everyone out there thought about dressing your pets in clothes and accessories.  I, for one, am not really for it.  Personally, I think it's a little tacky.  It seems like kind of a ploy by certain designers to get an extra buck out of pet owners.

I guess I've never really thought about it until I went over a friend's house this past weekend.  She has a newborn kitten and she went out to buy her a little sweater.  It was a tiny pink and purple cat sweater, which was kind of cute.  However, when she put it on her cat Chloe, Chloe was having no part of it.  Now I understand that it could seem cute to put a small sweater on a kitten, but Chloe was very obviously not loving it.

A pet owner's first responsibility to their pet should be proper pet care .  Proper pet care doesn't involve putting a restrictive, hot sweater on your cat.  When you do something to your cat that they don't like that doesn't improve it's health or happiness, then why do it? You and your friends may think it's cute and adorable, but how would you like it if someone tried to put something on you that made you hot and uncomfortable?

Thanks to the internet, all kinds of information is at our fingertips.  Whether you are looking for the capital of North Dakota to the first movie Brad Pitt was in, it is all there.  Most of the time, all you have to do is a quick search engine query and you have your answer.  I'm very thankful that the days of fingering through an encyclopedia or a library index are in the past.

One of my favorite things to research online in my spare time is pet information.  As you all know, I am very interested in pets and animals.  One of my short term goals is to learn something new every day, and it just happens that new pet information is the first thing I go to.  In my research, I've found 3 really neat, helpful pet websites that any animal lover would be interested in. 

PetWave.com

PetWave is a terrific site to visit for any kind of pet information you are looking for.  They have a good amount of information on several different animals and breeds.  I strongly recommend visiting if you want some background and information on a specific animal or type of animal.

FunPetNames.com

Who doesn't love naming pets?  I am a big fan of creativity, so "Spot", "Fido", "Snuggle" and "Kitty" just won't do.  FunPetNames.com has thousands of names and their meaning.  This is the first stop for anyone looking for a great, unique pet name.

PetPeoplesPlace.com

PetPeoplesPlace.com is an interactive forum for pet lovers.  I have used this forum before to find out very specific things.  You can leave any kind of question on this forum and it will be greeted with a respectful, thought out answer.  It is a must for any pet owner to register on this blog.