Getting a pet is something you should think about carefully beforehand. If you take on a pet, you are making a lifetime commitment to your pet, even when your life changes. Having a pet is a lot of fun, but it also carries many responsibilities. That is why people should buy pets for themselves, not give them as presents.

A dog or a cat may live for 10 to 15 years, so you have to think whether you will be able to look after it that long. What will happen when you go on holidays? These beautiful cats were just dumped at an animal shelter because their owner didn't want to pay for them to stay in a cattery.

Every year, cowardly people dump their pets to fend for themselves, or abandon them to die. Sometimes they take them to the SPCA because they are a nuisance when they want to go away on holiday. Hundreds of animals are killed every Christmas because noone wants them any more.

A pet needs feeding, and looking after, every day. Small children are not old enough to take on this responsibility - you have to be old enough to be reliable.