For me, it was passed down from my grandmother and my mom. My grandma kept all kinds of pets - even a pet racoon
This was when my mother was a child - my mom has told me all kinds of stories about growing up with a menagerie. I honestly don't know much about my great-grandmother :/ She passed before I was born.. but my mom obviously got her love of animals from my grandma. When I was a kid we had, at one time or another, cats, dogs, fish, gerbils, mice, hamsters, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, and lovebirds. My stepfather drew the line when my mom said she wanted a goat
One of my earliest memories to do with animals is being on a long drive with my mother and my stepfather, when we drove past a house where a man was beating his dog. My mom insisted we stop, and she got out, with my stepfather behind her, and yelled "what the *bleep* are you doing to that dog?" The man said "lady if you want that dog, you can have that dog". So... she took him
And persuaded my stepfather not to hit the man and get the police called on us, lol. I remember how scared the dog was at first..and how he responded to our love, opened and became more confident..stopped shying away if you put your hand in front of his face... His name was Swoop, and he was my doggie from when i was really young until I moved away from home in my teens. It was a graphic thing that no kid should have to see, obviously - an animal being beaten - but I think that's why I feel so strongly about protecting animals, and I get SO angry and upset when I see/hear of them being abused.
I'm curious tho - did anyone here grow up in a household with no animals - if so how did you come by your love for them?
One of my earliest memories to do with animals is being on a long drive with my mother and my stepfather, when we drove past a house where a man was beating his dog. My mom insisted we stop, and she got out, with my stepfather behind her, and yelled "what the *bleep* are you doing to that dog?" The man said "lady if you want that dog, you can have that dog". So... she took him
I'm curious tho - did anyone here grow up in a household with no animals - if so how did you come by your love for them?