“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.” –James Harriot
No quote has ever spoken truer words to me. For as long as I can remember I have always loved animals- any animal. I find beauty in any creature I look at. Each one so unique; even of the same species or even breed. I recently decided to follow my passion and go back to school to have a career working with animals. To me, animals are happiness. They are life-long learning. I’ve grown up with various animals and currently have a few but besides my own pets I recently started working with animals at a Dog daycare and an emergency animal hospital. I feel that many people don’t understand animals. But then again, some people don’t get other people. You see, animals are a lot like you and me. They have feelings and personalities. They can have good days and bad days. They can even experience times in their lives that an effect them. They require patience and they require time.
When I first started at the day care, I was very overwhelmed. I’d watch as many as 20 dogs or more some days. That’s 20 personalities I had to understand. 20 animals that if they wanted to, could hurt me. I had to learn to trust them. But more importantly, they had to learn to trust me. This is where that quote above comes in. It didn’t take long for them to get used to me. All it took was for me to pet them a little bit, talk to them, and throw some toys, and they trusted me. When you first get to know another person, it takes some time to learn to trust that person. You don’t go out to dinner one night and then 4 hours later feel secure with that person. If you have any pet at home, think about how loyal they are to you. Think about how they greet you at the door after a stressful day. Think about how they make you feel. If you really take time to think about it, animals are amazing creatures. I believe the most important thing people can learn from animals is love. I can’t even count how many times I’ve read some article on an animal and thought to myself “wow if only people were like that”.
My favorite articles are the ones about an abandoned animal being mothered by another animal of a whole different species, like a cat nursing a baby squirrel without even second guessing. An animal can do that, but people have a hard time accepting another person because of things such as their race or sexuality. The clothes they wear or music they listen to. In the animal world, love knows no boundaries. They don’t exist. It really makes you wonder.
For me, my experience with animals has helped me grow as a person. I deal with anxiety and depression and spending time with my animals always makes me feel better. They are therapeutic and there is nothing I enjoy more than caring for them. Animals are my passion. Working with them feels like my calling and made me realize it is never too late to go after what truly makes you happy.
I know everyone has different interests and passions, but I urge you, the next time you are around animals, your pets, someone else’s or even the zoo (really good place to observe animals) just watch them for a few minutes. See if they can teach you anything like they have taught me. See if you can notice their personalities, see if you can tell what type of mood they are in. I can only hope you find it as fascinating as I do.
About the Author
Cassie
Cassie was born and raised in Syracuse. She has always had a strong love for all animals. She currently is in school for veterinary technology with the hopes and goal of working in a zoo one day with all the fun exotics. While pursuing this goal, she currently works at an emergency animal hospital, an ice cream shop and a dog daycare/boarding facility from time to time. Whenever she isn’t taking care of other people’s animals, she loves spending time with her own furry companions: 3 guinea pigs (Oscar, Wicket & Chucky), a Cat (bella) a shih-tzu mix (Oscar) and a little hamster (Pepé).
If you want to chat about animals you can email Cassie; cassandra.carabello
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