Animal Survey (Blog 5)

My survey was about animals and the relationships that people have with them. Because of the fact that students may live in a dorm, I asked everyone to answer the questions as if they lived at home. Out of the 400 people that I sent the survey to, only 43 took the survey. Here are my results:

1) What is your gender?

     a) Male (23.3%)

     b) Female (76.6%)

2) Are you a student or a faculty member?

     a) Student (95.3%)

     b) Faculty member (4.7%)

3) Do you have a pet?

     a) Yes (90.7%)

     b) No (9.3%)

4) If you have a pet, how many do you have?

     a) 0-1 (23.3%)

     b) 2-3 (41.9%)

     c) 4+ (27.9%)

     d) I do not own a pet. (7 %)

5) If you have a pet, how often do you spend time with it?

     a) Never/Seldom (2.3%)

     b) Sometimes (16.3%)

     c) Frequently (74.4%)

     d) I do not own a pet. (7%)

6) If you do not have a pet, would you consider adopting one?

     a) Yes (20.9%)

     b) No (7%)

     c) I have a pet. (69.8%)

7) I like animals.

     a) Strongly disagree (16.3%)

     b) Disagree (2%)

     c) Agree (14%)

     d) Strongly agree (65.1%)

8) What is your favorite animal?

     This question was a short answer response. I received answers ranging from the "normal" house pets of cats, dogs, snakes, turtles and rabbits to animals such as a Siberian tiger, moose, squirrel monkey, crocodile, sloth, red panda, woodchuck, prairie dog, penguin, horse, lion, koala, platypus, and even a "dog-shark-octopus hybrid (I am curious to see what this would look like...)." One person even said that they love them all, something that I would definitely say!

Overall this survey has left me a little confused because while multiple questions had some sort of "I do not own a pet" option, the answers varied. I cannot say for sure whether men would be more likely to own more pets than women because there were far less men who took the survey. Although, I can say that the majority of the survey takers had at least one pet.

I could not find a "dog-shark-octopus hybrid," but I did find a "sharktopus!" 

 

Brainshark (Blog 4)

Puppy Mills (Blog 3)

 Puppy Mill Article

Puppy mills keep puppies confined in small cages with poor sanitation, nutrition, and very little interaction with people. They are an unfortunate part of the animal cruelty problem in our nation.

Missouri is the nation's largest puppy mill state. Fortunately, voters approved of Prop B to establish a basic care for dogs in large commercial breeding facilities. This will require that each animal receives "adequate food, clean water, regular exercise, necessary veterinary care, and rest between breeding cycles." The people of Missouri have set a precedent for reform and hopefully the passing of Prop B will begin a ripple effect throughout the nation (Ed Sayers).

Sometimes I like to go into pet stores just to look at and play with the animals. I wish I did not know of the cruelties that happened inside these puppy mills, maybe then I would not feel so bad whenever I went into a pet store. So with this article I am very happy to hear that one state has, hopefully, began a ripple effect to stop cruelty to animals. Even if it is only for dog breeding facilities, it is still a victory because it is a start.

Hopefully Missouri is the start of all animals being treated humanely throughout the nation, and even the world. Maybe someday there will be no more dog fighting, puppy mills, kitten mills, and even the humane treatment of the animals that we eat. Yes we eat these animals, but that doesn't meant that they have to be treated inhumanely! I do not understand the minds of the people that are cruel to animals, and I don't think I ever will. 

Puppy Mill Insider Speaks Out

Kitten mills, good or bad? DEFINETLY BAD 

Coco (Blog 2)

Coco was a white cat with many areas that were in between the colors of brown, black, and gray, including all of her head from the nose and up. She was with my family when when I was born, and when we moved to the WaterWays community in Florida, up until the summer before seventh grade when she passed away. Sometimes Coco would enjoy going outside. One day my mom let her outside and in the morning she had not come home, which was unusual. 

Devastated and worried by the news my mom and I went out to search for her. We drove around the community roads shaking treats and calling out her name. We stopped at the club house to look for her, and we would stop on each road to check closer to houses, under bushes, and in trees.  

After a number of hours we gave up. As my mom was telling me to get in the car I took one last look behind some bushes at a yellow house. "Coco! Coco!" I shrieked. "Don't yell Kara, you might scare her!" my mom called out to me. I didn't pay any attention to my mom though as I yelled out Coco's name and went toward her as fast as I could to grab her. As I went toward her she looked up at me, still half asleep and exhausted with her eyes half open as if to say "What's going on?" I scooped her up and ran to the car, crying from how happy and relieved I was to find her. We then got in the car and went home. She probably got lost while on her walk because she was old, however she never got lost again after that incident. 

Animals Animals Animals! (Blog 1)

     So far in my life I have only had two cats, two birds, and fish as pets. I was born into having a cat as a pet, and therefore grew up having pets my entire life. I believe that I first realized my love of animals when I was about five years old, proclaiming that I wanted to be an "animal doctor." As I grew up though I changed what I wanted to be a few times, but ultimately I came right back to wanting to be a veterinarian. Now that I am older I realize why I have such a love for animals.

     Animals have unconditional love, so no matter what happens to you in life they will be there for you. They're a companion that will never judge you or leave your side. If you're having a bad day you can come home and hug your pet and you will most likely feel a lot better. There is something about their soft fur, the pur of a cat or a pant of a dog, how relaxed or happy they look, and that warm, friendly pet smell that they have that can put you at ease no matter what situation you are in. Even if you are in a happy mood, a pet will be there to cuddle or play with you. Pets are like mind readers, they always seem to know what mood you are in!

     Even animals in general -zoo animals, wild animals, pictures of animals- can be stimulating and comforting. Animals can make you feel as if they weight of the world has been taken off of your chest. Or, in the case a pet gets hurt, or worse, they can make you feel as if there has been a weight put on your chest. Animals can make us feel all sorts of emotions and they are there for us no matter what. That is why I love them so much!