Pets bring enjoyment, challenges to owners
On warm, sunny days, Front Campus is often full of life – animal life, that is. People can usually spot pets playing, dogs fetching sticks and even a goat on a leash.
Junior marketing and management major Jimmy Hollowed and junior athletic training major Blake Burrell have perhaps one of the most unique pets at GCSU.
“It started out as a joke in our fraternity (Delta Sigma Phi) that we needed a mascot … and we decided that a goat would be the best pet,” Hollowed said. He and Burrell bought their goat, Pabst, from a farm in Pike County for $60. Pabst was two months old at the time, and has since “hit puberty,” joked Burrell.
“He’s like ‘Me, Myself & Irene,’ the goat version,” said Hollowed about Pabst’s moodiness.
The two said they would certainly not label Pabst as “man’s best friend,” but they do have fun bringing him to Front Campus and playing with him.
“We play with him by fighting him, head-butt style,” Burrell said.
Most pets provide amusement, but Pabst’s diet brings in extra perks for these pet owners.
“I would say he’s the lawn man,” Burrell joked. “He trims the bushes. He fertilizes the lawn.”
Despite Pabst’s simple diet, a fair amount of maintenance is still necessary.
“We give him corn and fresh water, … but there’s a lot more cleaning up after him than I expected,” said senior marketing major Kevin Parks, who takes care of Pabst in his fenced-in backyard.
For those students who are considering buying a unique pet, Parks advises them to “do their research. It’s not an impulse buy.”
Other difficulties for Hollowed, Burrell and Parks include not being able to take Pabst home on the weekends, and – for Parks – sometimes being awoken at dawn to loud “baas” coming from his backyard.
Some people love animals, others find them irritating, but by learning the stories behind pet ownership from fellow students, some can have a better understanding of the adventures (and misadventures) of having a pet while in college.
Before entering college, senior mass communication major Lauren Chandley received her toy poodle, Lola, as an 18th birthday present.
“It was so hard leaving her at home my freshman year of college while I lived in the dorms, but my sophomore year I moved into an apartment (at The Grove) and she was able to live with me,” Chandley said.
Chandley recently got Lola involved with the community by getting her certified as a pet therapy dog through the GIVE Center. Now she and Chandley can visit people in nursing homes and hospitals.
“It has been such a blessing and neat way for Lola and me to serve the community,” Chandley said.
Other students enjoy pet ownership, but do not have the time to care for a pet. Senior rhetoric major Stacy Trick gave away her pet beagle of almost a year, Bronco, this past Thanksgiving because between school and work, she could not give him enough attention.
“I’d come home for five minutes and then I’d have to leave again, . and he deserved a lot better than that,” Trick said.
Trick said she enjoyed her time with Bronco, but the maintenance and expense of keeping him was more than she expected.
“The first week it was great, and then I realized how much work (I had to) put into it. You know, the food, the bathing, the letting out and all that kind of stuff,” she said. “Shots were $50, then his first bag of food was like, $20, and then all of his toys. The cost was tough to handle because I had to feed myself too.”
According to the Animal Rescue Foundation, located at 711 S. Wilkinson St., caring for a healthy pet costs between $300 and $500 annually. The cats and dogs at ARF cost between $50 and $100 to adopt, but simply being able to pay for an animal will not guarantee the acceptance of an application. Applicants must prove they have the time and financial resources to care for a pet, and if the applicant is under 21, they also need parental permission.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Jan 29 2010. Filed under Features.
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