Pets Are Family, Too

My husband and I have been married for 18 years. During that time, we have never been without a pet. Never. In fact, we have almost always had a zoo. It is safe to say that we are animal lovers. I worked in pet stores for three years and developed my love for almost all animals during that period in my life. My husband grew up with dogs, cats, birds and guinea pigs, and went on to have farm animals as an adult. From there, it just grew for both of us.
Prior to having human kids, we had many animal children. We've owned dogs, cats, cockatiels, rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks, geese, chickens, pot-bellied pigs, lizards, mice, rats and a snake. All before having kids, so we're looking at an 8-year period of time. When we moved to where we live currently, we couldn't bring what farm animals were still alive. By that time, we were down to just dogs, cats and an iguana. Between the time that we moved here six years ago we have acquired another snake, a bearded dragon, fish, another rabbit, hairless rats, parakeets, an Amazon Parrot and two conures.
Having animals takes on another significance for my family, besides loving their company. With both boys having autism, we use our pets as therapy. Having pets is a great way to teach concepts like unconditional love, affection, empathy and responsibility. Through having pets, they also learn about death, how to grieve and move on. They know more than most kids their ages that animals take a lot of time and money to take care of, but they are worth it.
Tim saved up his allowance for several months, at the age of 7, to buy his own parakeet and cage. He could have used that money to buy toys or spend it on junk food, we let them choose what they spend their money on. He wanted a bird, and wanted one bad enough to sacrifice childhood desires to get it. Sadly, it died a few months later for unknown reasons but not because he wasn't treated like a king. The breeder replaced it for free knowing that something must have been wrong with it. Tim fell more in love with that one than the first, until it somehow got out of the cage and flew off. Heartbroken is an understatement. He was devastated. We replaced that one with a conure, and while he loves that bird, it's just different for him. Through this, he's also learning that loving a pet a little less doesn't remove his responsibility to take care of it. I think he's just trying not to get close again for fear of it leaving.
I'm sure we will have many more pets during our lives. I consider my love for animals a gift from the Lord. It extends beyond pets into just about every kind of animal, with the exception of bugs and spiders. That's where I draw the line!

                                          My Sun Conure, Baby

                                               Tim's Conure, Apple

                                 Tim's Ball Python (nameless)

                                 Josh's rabbit, Long Ears

                    Our inside dogs, Buster and Sparky