I was reminded of that when I thought about my buddy Reggie. There's something about the sight of a 30-pound beagle rifling through a refrigerator that stays imprinted in my mind. I only left the room for a few minutes, but that was plenty of time for Reggie to inhale a two-pound beer sausage, a loaf of bread and a brick of cheese. I wanted to scream, kick, swear or at least threaten him with a rolled-up newspaper, but those big, brown eyes and that bloated stomach told me the spoils of his crime were punishment enough. Pets, especially dogs and cats, can be very expensive for the responsible owner.
Most pets also require a great deal of care.
Sadly, this is a responsibility many individuals underestimate and the results are unhappy people and abandoned or destroyed animals. Pets are welcomed into a family for many reasons. Dogs, for instance, have a multitude of talents. When I purchased Reggie, I was told he would be an excellent hunting dog, and at six months of age, he could already retrieve on land and water. It didn't take long for me to realize that this was simply a marketing ploy.