Pet-keeping has been taken to a whole new level since man first decided to domesticate cats and dogs（把貓狗馴養）. We now have numerous options ranging from turtles to chinchillas（龍貓）, and some people even keep anacondas（大蟒蛇） as pets!!!

On top of this plethora of choices（除了過多的選擇之餘）, pet care is also no longer just about getting your cat or dog bathed and groomed（寵物護理也不僅只是替你的貓狗梳洗而已）. The emergence of “Pet Spas”（寵物spa的出現）has given them the opportunity to be pampered（被嬌養）like never before. With services like aromatherapy（香薰治療）, facials, and fur colouring, even pets can have a taste of the high life（高尚的生活）. There’s even pet-safe nail polish for those who are not satisfied with a simple “pawdicure”!

And what about those outrageous（令人吃驚的）outfits? Dressing your dog up as a reindeer might make a cute Christmas card（in your own opinion）, but I’m not sure if your pooch（狗的暱稱）would feel the same… Then we come to those carts which I thought were a new generation of prams（嬰兒車）, until I discovered that the “baby” inside was a salivating ball of frizzy fur（流口水的毛球）, that is!

In all fairness, these push carts are handy for transporting your pets in the cleanest way possible, but I’ve seen some cases where owners never let their pets touch the ground. This I find a little absurd（這令我有點匪夷所思）.

Animals were born to roam about freely, so I’m somewhat perplexed（困惑的）by the extent that people go to in order to show their affection（愛意）for their pets. Some owners treat their pets even better than real people, and I think that’s going slightly overboard（過份的）.

Crazy antics（鬧劇）aside, I think that having a pet as a companion can bring us a lot of joy（養寵物作伴是很開心的事）. However, we must learn to be responsible（負責任的）owners who make sure our pets stay healthy, clean, and well looked after. Remember to treat them with respect（尊重牠們）as they are living beings too.

The number of abandoned（被遺棄的）and abused（受虐的）animals in Hong Kong is quite alarming, thus I’d urge you to consider adoption（領養）as the first priority when deciding to get yourself a pet as a companion.