How to Be a Responsible Pet Parent

You can receive much unconditional love and affection from a pet. However, pets have physical, environmental and emotional needs, which must be met to have a healthy and happy pet. You must pay close attention to those needs in order to be a responsible pet parent.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Make sure that you're in a position to care for your pet's needs physically and emotionally. Do research if you have to. If you find that a particular pet needs more time than you can dedicate, reconsider adopting her.

2. Consider the space factor because even the smallest pets need space. Determine whether he will have enough space to get his daily exercise and keep him from feeling neglected and lonely.

3. Create a budget to cover ongoing needs, emergencies and routine checkups, which is an important part of being a responsible pet parent. It's not fair for the pet to have to suffer when she's sick or needs veterinarian attention.

4. Teach any children in the household to respect the pet's needs. Humans need to respect the pet's psychology, environmental needs and social behaviors.

5. Keep in mind that pets can feel pain, hunger and thirst. They also get depressed. Many pets end up abused, abandoned and emotionally disturbed because the owners didn't take their needs into consideration.

6. Pet proof your home. Make sure that there are no chemicals, foods that will harm your pet or areas where he can be stuck and hurt himself. Remove any electrical wires that the pet can chew on.

7. Remember that a responsible pet parent never leaves a pet in a parked vehicle in warm weather. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes for the inside of a car to reach deadly temperatures on a warm day. Extreme heat can lead to brain damage, heatstroke and even death.