Pets are wonderful! They teach us so much and make our lives more enjoyable. Pets teach us that we all need someone to look after us from time to time ... that we all need attention and affection on a regular basis ... that for those special creatures in our life (human, canine, or otherwise), love is unconditional and never taken for granted ... that good food is one of life's true joys ... and that taking naps is most civilized and, indeed, essential for respectable living.
The best thing about pets, though - and here I am thinking about dogs in particular - is that they help you understand that there are many different ways to experience our world. Dogs are sentient creatures. They perceive the world in much the same way that we do - they see, hear, feel, and smell (particularly smell!) their environment. And in observing dogs perceiving and reacting to the world - be it the bustling around of the neighborhood, or the sights, sounds, and smells of the woods, or a strange and irresistible sound from outside - you begin to empathize with them - you begin to understand that our way of knowing the world is not the only way - that other, perhaps many others exist. Like many simple and obvious things about life, this realization has profound spiritual implications. Like pets, many wild animals are sentient beings, some of them possessing cognitive abilities similar to our own! I believe that this realization reveals quite a lot about our human nature and implies much about being good stewards of these other species and their unique way of perceiving our shared world.
What it reveals about our nature is that we are indeed animals - creatures of this Earth. We all share a common ancestor deep in the history of Earth and over time we've each evolved to perceive the world in a way that defines what we are and what we're capable of. And here is where human exceptionalism - and by extension our solemn responsibility - becomes clear .... every other species, sentient or not, lives within the bounds of nature. Their populations are limited to the available resources of their immediate ecosystems. Humans alone have transcended this ecological constraint. This truth is obvious but it implies that we have a very important responsibility to be good stewards of those wild species with which humans now compete for resources like land and water. Not doing so with enough resolve - as continues to happen every day - predictably leads to tragedy: wanton destruction of life, some of which perceives our world in a unique way!
Extinction is forever. Human-induced extinction means that either we couldn't or wouldn't make room and accommodate other forms of life with which we share this Earth ... or that we were not even aware that our actions were snuffing out unique forms of life. Pod, you will live in a world where meeting basic human needs - particularly those of the very poor - and leaving enough resources for wildlife to sustain itself will intensify. Wildlife doesn't vote and generally the "constituency" for wildlife conservation is dwarfed by the constituency that stands to benefit in the short-run from a few more widgets or another gallon to guzzle.
So pets can be a bridge to the larger world of wildlife. Throughout your life - wherever you are, whatever your circumstances - try to keep a pet with you. It will help you make connections with other life on Earth that so many of us silly humans never seem to achieve - or if we do, manage to somehow let slip for something more immediate, more gratifying, and ultimately less meaningful. By making such connections, you might just be inspired to defend a wild creature that really does need your protection and advocacy. And this is to say nothing of the unbridled exuberance for life that pets can inspire in you - and often do!
