Everybody with a soul loves dogs. People without souls generally like pets as well. They are cat people. Just kidding. Sort of. The point is that most people love animals and like the idea of pet ownership. But not everybody who wants a pet should really have a pet.

Remember the little girl in “Finding Nemo?” She really wanted a pet fish. She was so enthusiastic about owning a fish, however, that she shook the bag until all she had was a dead fish. That is a prime example of someone who should not have a pet.

It doesn’t matter how much you love animals if you can’t take care of them. If you can’t handle the responsibility, don’t get a pet. Here’s why:

Pets are not property. Animals are not things. Pets are not a neat toy that can be pulled out for the occasional amusement and then neglected when something else captures your attention.

They are living creatures with their own complex personalities and emotional needs. Pets love you to the point of practically worshipping you. They crave your attention, love and approval.

When their owner ignores them or leaves them isolated the majority of the time, they don’t understand and may even feel like they are being punished. That’s cruel.

Sometimes a pet may begin to act out because that is the only way they get attention. Unfortunately, it is negative attention. Soon, the animal receives no affection; only encountering anger. How can a person claim to love animals and yet subject their pet to that kind of life?

Pets have nutritional needs. Crazy, right? The dang critters need to eat food and drink water. Every day, in fact.

The bigger the animal, the bigger the appetite. Perhaps a person likes big dogs, but can’t afford the amount of food required. It would be irresponsible to own one.

Worse than a person that can’t afford to feed their furry family member is the person that can afford it, but just can’t be bothered to remember to do it with regularity. Only the worst kind of people would own a pet they forget to feed.

Just imagine how you’d feel if you were wholly reliant upon someone else to supply you with food, and yet you never knew if you would eat or not. While most of us could stand to skip the occasional meal, we feel like we are going to faint from malnutrition when we have to go without eating for a few hours.

Pets can get too cold/too hot. In case anybody failed to notice, it’s January. Though it hasn’t been a particularly bad winter, it still gets pretty cold.

Animals have the advantage of wearing fur coats all the time, but that is not the ultimate defense against the cold. They need to be able to come inside and warm up. In fact, they need to be inside more than outside during any time of extreme weather.

If you think pets are perfectly fine in the cold because of their coats, toss on a jacket and see how well you fair sitting outside all night. It won’t work out very well.

It also gets very hot in the summer. If sitting outside in a fur coat isn’t fun in January, try to imagine how it’d feel when the temperature exceeds 100 degrees. Even in the shade that would be a miserable experience.

Winter or summer, the principle remains the same. If you can’t have pets indoors, you shouldn’t have pets. It’s really that simple.

Everybody poops. Animals go to the bathroom. Aside from some remarkable pets that have been taught to use the toilet, they don’t have the ability to dispose of their waste.

Since they can’t remove their poop, it is up to the owners to do so. Making animals live in an environment where their waste never goes away is subjecting them to potential diseases. If you can’t handle cleaning up poop, don’t own a pet.

Exercise is important too. Cats are pretty good and staying as active as they need, but dogs need the opportunities to get out and move their legs. Regular walks are good for their bodies and their minds.

Keeping dogs pent up without the chance to exercise is cruel to their psyche and bad for their health. It may be difficult to set aside time for regular walks. Time is not the easiest thing to come by, after all. If you own a dog, however, you need to figure it out.

And much more. There are a lot of things a responsible and loving “parent” of fur babies needs to do to properly care for them, and this barely scratches the surface.

Loving animals means doing the right thing by them. That means making an honest assessment of your ability to handle all the responsibilities of pet ownership prior to getting one. If it just isn’t possible to handle your classes, workload and a pet at the same time, it is best to wait.

Nobody will judge you for loving animals but knowing you can’t personally own one yet. There is, however, judgment for those who claim to love animals and yet don’t take proper care of their pet. Think about it and then make the right choice.