We don’t love when a student adopts a puppy or kitten — or any animal for that matter — and doesn’t take proper care of it. It is unfair to the cute, cuddly pile of fur that we all fall in love with on adoption day. 

Too soon after that first encounter, the pressures of school, a social life and the occasional opportunity to snooze take priority over a new, furry friend. 

Animals are a commitment. They live a long time, take money to maintain and take effort to correctly train.

Some people are fully prepared and fully capable of taking care of animals. But for most of us, it has been just a couple years or less since we left our family’s sheltered home. Just because students have finally learned how to take responsibility for their own actions does not mean they are ready to take responsibility for the actions of another living being.

This editorial board is in full support of finding loving and caring homes for animals from a shelter. If we could commit the time, money and effort, we would have our own furry friends to come home to.

But the truth is we can’t devote ourselves to a pet. We encourage Western students to ask themselves whether they can dedicate the time, money and effort necessary for adoption.

This is especially applicable for baby animals. Animals are needy; baby animals are unbelievably so. It takes a lot of time and energy to provide a good home and train them.

That little furry friend you adopted will quickly turn into a larger furry friend until it becomes a very large furry friend with very expensive veterinary bills.

It is unfair to any animal — dog, cat, hamster, snake or tarantula — to be adopted into an unfit household. In such cases, one of two unpleasant events usually happens: the pet is either sent back to the shelter or it spends its whole life suffering.

Neither option leaves much room for a happy ending. The animal deserves better.

If you can’t adopt, but you just can’t get enough of a furry fix, there are other options to consider.

When fostering a pet, a person takes care of an animal in their home until the animal is adopted. It is important to recognize that the time commitment is unknown. The pet could be adopted the day after you take it home, 6 months later or never.

Consider volunteering at a local animal shelter, animal-sitting for friends or family, or adopting an animal you can realistically commit your time and money to, such as a goldfish. 

It doesn’t matter how sweet that little puppy is, with his big, brown eyes looking up at you waiting for you to take him home. And it doesn’t matter how perfectly you can imagine spending the next 10 years of your life hanging out with your new best friend, playing catch, sitting in front of the fire and reading a newspaper covered in slobber. Please refrain from adopting an animal unless you are absolutely sure you can commit to giving it a good home.

The editorial board is comprised of Editor-in-Chief Paige Collins, Managing Editor Marissa Abruzzini and Opinion Editor Sarah Aitchison.

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