Sasha really loves cats, but pets are misunderstood (Patreon)

Although she has never owned a pet (other than some hamsters), Sasha is obsessed with dogs and cats and each time we pass a dog on the street she makes an effort to go and talk to it and every time she sees a cat she gets really excited and tries to talk to it too, I think it's really cute and I have wanted to get her a pet for ages but there are a few things that have prevented this from happening:

1) China is harsh on pets!

Living conditions for pets in China's small apartments is brutal, especially for dogs as Chinese people seem to prefer to get dogs with long coats (labs, huskies etc) and especially down south the heat and humidity is killer! Top that off with the fact that Chinese people don't like to use the air conditioning often as they think it's bad for their health and you have a situation where a full grown Husky is stuck in a cramped apartment in 100 degree (F) heat with 98% humidity for the majority of its summer. 

2) Chinese people are afraid of animals!

This may seem a little strange, but take a lap dog (or any dog really) into an elevator with other people here in China and you'll often see someone jump back in fright as if they think the animal is about to attack them, grandparents shield their grandchildren, women cringe and slink back into the furthest corner of the elevator and all because someone has a poodle on a leash... I'm not kidding about this...

3) Superstitions 

The cat cafe in the picture is located in Sasha's hometown of Shaoguan, each time we visit the parents she finds an excuse for me to take her there so she can see how her favourite cats are doing, but each time her mother tries to dissuade her, telling her that the cats will give her a disease and that they are bad for her health, I've had friends that were forced by their parents to get rid of their cats prior to having their first baby as the Chinese grandparents believed that the cats would "steal the life of the newborn"... so yes there's that...

I had a friend who had a German shepherd but was forced to move out of his apartment complex because although the dog was very friendly, its appearance scared some of the older aunties in the building and they forced the building management to take action and get the police involved and he was forced to move or have the dog destroyed.... There are some heartbreaking videos circling online of how the police deal with large dogs that are on the streets, they simply beat them to death, even if they have collars and owners, so you have to ensure that your dog doesn't slip away from you at any point.

The long and the short of it is that China does not have the same social attitude towards pets, it's a new thing and it's getting better but it's also a lot more tricky, make sure your pet gets all the shots, keep it on a leash at all times and never let it out of your sight, especially in winter if it's a dog!

Even with all of the challenges I still keep offering to get Sasha a pet but she's always too concerned that in our current situation it wouldn't work... So I'm working on changing that situation, I do after all value her happiness the most

Thank you all for your incredible support, you're all astoundingly awesome!

- Stay Awesome!

SerpentZA