Dear Parents,

Something said tonight by a friend's significant other irked me, but then I remembered how you raised me. I was telling a friend about the new frog, and how I needed to buy him a bigger tank, and things like that. I didn't say anything nastily and I wasn't complaining. In fact, I am excited about the prospect of having a bigger tank and owning a cool beautiful new pet. This person goes "well why don't you just rehome it so you don't need to waste money?". I didn't really reply back, I merely said I wouldn't do that to any of my pets and to me it isn't wasting money. But then I thought back to how my parents raised me. We do not give up on pets, we do not re-home pets as if they're disposable. My parents did that with a dog once and promised themselves they'd never ever do that again. You do not make a commitment to something and break that commitment because it has become "inconvenient" or "annoying" or "too much money". You made a promise when you bought/rescued it to care for it and that's what you will do for the rest of it's life. Of course their are SOME exceptions, they always said, but you don't abandon or give up on animal for no reason. I will not give up my pet simply because it will cost me money. I don't get how something that I enjoy is a "waste" of money. It brings me joy to purchase pets, why should I need to be told how to spend my money if I CAN afford it and it brings me happiness? What business is that of yours anyway? My parents raised me better than to give up an animal that I made a commitment to for absolutely no reason. I will try my hardest never to have a pet, or to give up on any pet that ever comes into my home.

Sincerely,
Alyssa