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      Can you name anybody who didn't dream about having a small kitten or a friendly puppy as a pet in his/her childhood? Ask any child "What's the best present for your birthday?” and a lot of them will definitely answer "a pet!”. No matter what pet it is – a dog, a cat, a parrot, a hamster or even fish. A child wants to have something (or somebody? Sometimes your pet is like your family member) to take care of. But... there's one great difficulty that can't let their greatest dream come true... the parents are against it! And the most terrible thing is that they can explain why they will never buy you a fluffy friend.

      Pretext number one. "You are unable to take care of yourself, how can we entrust this lovely creature to you?” wonder one's parents. And they are somehow right: if you have a pet you have to: feed it, walk it over, wash it, train it... The bigger the animal is, the more problems it causes. Even a small hamster demands your time and attention. But how can a boy who even forgets to wash his hands before dinner remember to clean his parrot's cage? Have you read Antoine de Saint-Exupery's "Small Prince”? "You become responsible forever for what you have tamed.” Have you recollected this phrase?

      Taking care of somebody you like is a great responsibility and it also happens that not everybody can cope with it. All of us have come across the following situation: a man buys a pet.. let it be a dog for example. First the man is so happy, he's overwhelmed with pride because his precious pet has won a competition and has learnt so much. But after a while... "I'm bored with having a pet”- says this "proud master” and his dog finds itself on the street among other unlucky dogs and cats. Poor ones. We can't judge the people who treat their fluffy ex-friends like that, we can only give them an advice: "If you are unprepared to take on such a responsibility, avoid having a pet”.

      Pretext number two. "We can't afford it”. It's one of the most popular parents' lame excuses. "You know, dear, our flat is too small for this dog. It won't have enough place to run”, "We won't buy you this aquarium – it's so bulky, it really leaves no room for you”, "What? This nasty creature? Too exotic for us. You'll fork out money for its food! By the way what does it eat?”. These phrases can kill any child's desire to have a pet. Very few of them are ready to sacrifice their comfort.

      Pretext number three. "It''s death will make you suffer”. Nobody lives forever. And one day a kid will find out that his dear Bit-of-fluff has passed away. Sobbing, weeping and crying. It can be a real shock for a child, for whom the pet was much more than just a domestic animal. It can be compared with the loss of the best friend. In order to protect their son or daughter from these sufferings some parents try to avoid keeping pets at all. Quite a radical way to solve the problem.
      Pretext number four. "It can be dangerous!”. A dog can bite you, a cat can scratch you, a hamster can turn out to be an infection carrier!” say caring parents in order to warn their children. And it's obvious that their remarks are quite logical. Reading newspapers and watching news we face a lot of shocking stories. "A dog has bitten a baby to death” - this title is enough to make some parent panic. So, regarding all animals as potential danger, they just don't let their children have any.

      Well, all these pretexts seem quite logical and convincing, but to my mind they all have one great negative feature. According to all these statements having a pet is a huge burden on a child that demands a lot of time, attention, money and so on. But to my mind nothing is as unpleasant as it seems to be. Yes, taking care of a pet means a lot of responsibility but the very responsibility makes a child grow up. It can teach him how to be answerable for himself and others, to be punctual, exact, to understand that everything he does has certain effect on everything that surrounds him. If a child has a pet he becomes more and more obliging, kind and conscientious and less egoistic. Parents who are reluctant to buy a pet for their children because it may be dangerous are also wrong. They want to protect their little baby, but they only make him afraid of the life. Yes, everything can happen but let an animal a chance! Don't bias your child against it without any serious reason only because something MAY happen. Don't make your child be afraid of everything that might happen.

      As for some financial difficulties in having a domestic animal, one counterargument can be put forward. If you can't afford having a big dog, what about a small rat? Instead of a great aquarium you can have a glass jar with only one fish. Very often it can be enough to make a child happy. The size usually doesn't matter, as it is said. And the last one. Sometimes it can be the most forcible argument against having a pet – how to calm a child when his lovely little friend dies? To tell the truth it is the very reason why I have never had a pet – I was too afraid of its inevitable death. But isn't it the best way for a kid to learn what life is? Of course, its painful, but it can really teach a child how to face real trouble. May be it's a little bit cruel way of comprehending what death is but it's undoubtedly better than having no idea about it. You know we can come across a great number of cases when little babies torture animals and even kill them by suffocation or drowning. It happens because they see no difference between a live creature and a dead one. May be if they had the same animal at their homes regarding it as their best friend and then it died, they wouldn't let themselves kill others remembering how sorrowful it is. By the way, every experience is for good.
      So, let me draw a conclusion – having a pet isn't a burden on a child, it's a great gift their parents can present them with