A Pet Makes a Huge Difference in Our Life

I remember, when I was a kid, my grandfather asked me if I wanted to have fishes in an aquarium. I think I was 10 years old. My grandfather made a small aquarium to me. We went to a pet shop and we bought some plants and 5 fishes. They fishes were Black Molly and I still remember them. I loved those fishes. Every day when I return back to home from school, I sit in front of my aquarium and watch my fishes. At the weekends, I spent most of my time cleaning the aquarium and taking care of my fishes. The fishes grew bigger and they started to have little fries. The number of my fishes increased a lot in next months. I wanted my grandfather to make 2 more aquariums and when those aquariums were completed, I was so happy. In about a year, I had more than 100 fishes.

My family bought a house with garden when I was 14 years old. I carried my aquariums there and also bought a bigger one. I had 4 aquariums and I started to have other kinds of fishes too. One day I went to bazaar with my grandfather and I saw some little chicks. My grandfather bought me 10 of them. We started to construct a hen house. I had new friends besides my fishes. Some chicks died but some became chickens. In a year, I had more than 50 chickens. They were so close to the humans; they would come into the house; eat the food from my hands and sometimes sleep next to me. I remember one day, my grandfather was sleeping on the hammock and one of the chicken jump on him and start sleeping too. A life with chickens and fishes, it was amazing. I could spend most of my free time with them and relax after the boring days in the school.

My mom had a friend. She was from Sivas, where there are a lot of Anatolian Shepherd dogs. One day she came and said to my mom that she will bring a puppy to us. In about 3 weeks, she came with the puppy. It was so fun to play with him, take him to doctor and wash him. He got very big in a year. Usually Anatolian Shepherds are used for guarding the sheep, but my dog was guarding our chickens. Our garden became like a zoo after I got some ducks and two sheep. Most of my friends were coming to my house to see all those animals.

Years passed fast and I was 18 years old. Unfortunately I had to go to the university. My family would not be able to take care of those animals like I do; so we had to give them away. I was so sad when people were coming to our house to take my animal friends. I finished the university and return back to my hometown. The first thing that I do was to get an aquarium and start breeding fishes again. Now I have 4 aquariums, a small bird and I am planning to get a dog. I thank to my grandfather because he introduced me to a life with animals. That made a huge difference in my life and when I have my kids, the first thing that I will do is to buy them an animal, so they can taste this joy too. My animal friends helped me to be a more responsible person. A person, who doesn't like animals, doesn't like people too. Please don't forget that a pet can make a huge difference in your kid's life.