The Way Animals Are: The Petshop Experience by Alex P.

I have had exposure to animals numerous times, but the most gratifying and horrifying encounters I have had with animals occurred during my employment at a “mom and pop” pet shop in La Crescenta. This pet shop housed a menagerie of various lesser life forms from rodents to felines, the rodents of which were my most enjoyable animal at this pet shop. Rats and Guinea Pigs strike some sort of special cord with me, their peculiar little behaviors and actions have always intrigued me more so than other Animals. They have always made the best beginning pets for children I have noticed over the years, as they are usually quite friendly and are reasonably easy to take care of and provide great entertainment possibilities with their specially made elevated cages that can be purchased. Birds, on the other hand, have always irritated me, and to my misfortune we housed many at this establishment. Whether it be cockatiels, parakeets, or parrots I simply will never understand exactly what people find so enjoyable about these little multicolored, feather covered nuisances. One type of bird, a Red Bellied Parrot to be specific, drew my ire as he bit me on my hands and fingers multiple times as I was trying to feed, clean, and other wise nourish him. Seeing this through the bird’s eyes may lead me to another conclusion that he wasn’t just doing this to make me mad, but I must say that if our positions were reversed I would not hesitate to bite anything that came close to me that was bigger than my entire body; just as I would not do something inhumane to another human for mistreating me, I would not harm this bird for merely defending itself and following its instincts, but I as I would do with another human, I still quite hate the little red hell razor. However, with these pesky annoyances aside, I must say that my greatest exposure came not from the contact with the animals, but with contact with the Glendale Humane Society that was operated by the store owner’s wife. This specific Humane Society is responsible for hundreds of animal adoptions every year, specializing in but not limited to the adoption of Cats and Dogs. More often than naught, the Glendale Humane Society would host its own animal adoptions at this pet shop, and would as well sponsor various other low key adoption organizations such as the Paw’d Squad. This organization with its unification of others that share its cause demonstrates its devotion to animals, which alone has inspired me to treat animals with the same respect I would another Man or Woman. If this can happen to me, it can easily happen to you as well, so please for the sake of all animals read into the Glendale Humane Society for further details of its exploits for the betterment of animal kind.