1. Are Pets Good For You? Every one loves a little puppy. They are so adorable and cute. But six months later they have chewed up every ones shoes, dug up the garden and left their poo everywhere. So, is having pets a good thing or a pain? 2. Pets keep you healthy My Mum goes for walks every day with my Dog Suzie. It keeps her healthy. Sometimes Suzie takes the leash from the shelf and takes it to somebody to encourage us to go for a walk. 3. Medical research studies show that pets are good for your health. For example it makes your blood pressure go down when you pat or talk to animals.

4. Pets make you feel happy when you are sad. When pets do something funny they can make you laugh. Every day when I come home from school my dog Suzie runs around in circles really fast. 5. Pets can be good friends. They can be company to old people living by themselves. Children can spend hours playing or talking to their pets. Pets are always understanding and always say the right thing !

6. Keeping pets makes you learn about how they live and what they eat. My uncle has a snake as a pet. It is not a dangerous snake. It is a Children's Python and no they don't eat children. He feeds it a mouse once a fortnight. 7. A word of advice, You need to have the right environment for your pet . Once we had a Reef fish tank. We had Clown Fish, Anemone, other reef fish and live coral. It was too difficult to maintain the right conditions. This made me realise how many different things make up a reef ecosystem. It is a wonder how the Great Barrier Reef maintains itself.

8. Choose a pet that suits your house and life style Some pets are quiet like fish and cats, some are noisy like birds, dogs are active. You need a licence to keep dangerous animals and native animals like tigers and kangaroos

9. My parents think that having pets teaches us to take responsibility. My brothers and I take turns at the different jobs to look after our pet dog and fish. Jobs like: feeding, poo picking up, bathing, brushing, medicines, walking, tank water top up, cleaning tanks &the dog box.

10. In Conclusion • Pets keep you healthy. • They are good friends. • Pets can teach you about the environment & • how to take care of others. So, having a pet is good for you