Have you ever formed a bond with an animal that wasn't yours or you couldn't have?
Maybe your neighbor all but neglected their dog and you fed it or provided companionship while you worked in the yard. The dog just didn’t understand why he/she couldn’t be your dog, and tried coming over/under the fence several times.
Or someone close to you had a cat that cried and waited for your return at their door when you left, or a former roommate’s pet was very close to you and you had to part ways when the living situation changed.
Or, perhaps, if you do a lot of walking in the neighborhood or walked to school when you were younger, befriended or at least grew familiar with a dog in someone’s yard along the route, which it grew hard to part with as you went on your way on a frequent basis.
Companion animals understand companionship, bonding, and belonging—but don’t seem to understand that they are owned by someone else and cannot come with you. Nor does the law regard their feelings or rights.
Related ways of answering this topic may be if you had to give up an animal when YOUR living situation changed or a family situation didn’t permit your keeping the pet. Severing bonds with companion animals is even more bittersweet.
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