I am of the opinion that having a pet is very in almost any given person’s life. I say this for the following reasons: I believe having a pet leads to a healthier, happier, and more responsible life.

I think having a pet leads to a healthier life because, obviously, there are many species we consider domesticated that need a daily walk. This isn’t just confined to dogs. Even if you have something like a rabbit, that don’t (usually!) get taken on daily walks, it is still necessary to either have its hutch in the back garden or to bring the rabbit out for some exercise in the garden, for example. There are very few exceptions to the rule that all pets need exercise, be it in the garden or on a walk, and even just having to bring a pet outside will at least get you some fresh air, which in turn makes us healthier. Humans were not designed to only see the sky through a window and to only breathe fresh air through a car window, it’s simply not healthy. Even a few minutes of fresh air and exercise per day can help to improve our health in general in the long term and help to eradicate things like headaches in the short term, and having a pet will usually provide those few minutes.

I say that a pet leads to a happier life, but I know that isn’t true in all circumstances. For me, an only child with two working parents, I only know that getting a pet hugely benefitted me in the happiness department. I think it was just the companionship of it: simply having another living creature in the house with me. Obviously not all children have no siblings, but I think pets are beneficial even in large families. Pets provide a common ground for people to bond over, which in its turn helps make friends, having things in common. Also, when a few members of a family are getting the aforementioned few minutes of fresh air everyday, maybe they might forget the small squabbles that come as part and parcel of having siblings, and just be with each other for a few minutes. This is why I say pets bring happiness.

My final point is that pets develop a more responsible owner. I think this for the simple reason that if you are looking after your pet as you should be, you are going to have a great many more responsibilities that you cannot neglect, there is another living, breathing creature that it depending on you to exercise, feed, water, and clean up after it. No one could single handedly juggle all of this on top of the other responsibilities in the other aspects of their life without coming out the other end of it as a more responsible person.

In conclusion, exercise and fresh air benefit both us and our pets, a great deal of happiness is brought about by pets, which also help to shape more responsible individuals, to say nothing of the same benefits to the pets themselves!