Children's express reporters ask are pets for life or just for Christmas?
| Animals are for looking after and loving and not to be chucked out on the street. |
Phillip Clarke, 15, Whitley Bay
I always wanted a pet to keep me company but I don't think it's a good idea to have one for Christmas because if you get bored it might be abandoned. People may have suffered in some way and then they take it out on the pet. Adverts of pets being hurt are a good idea because they get you to realise what's happening, although I don't think it's just Christmas that animals are abandoned: it's all year round.
I would probably say that it would be a younger person that harms animals, like a teenager, because they can be quite violent although I have never seen anyone hurting an animal. If I saw someone being cruel I would tell them to stop and if they didn't I would phone a help line to get the animal taken away.
Katie Davison, 12, Kenton
I have a kitten called Robbie Williams and a hamster called Hammy. It's ok to have a pet for Christmas because it can be a surprise. It's stressed people who are cruel to their pets because they have loads of things on their mind and they get angry with them.
I think the adverts shown at Christmas about pet cruelty are good because they encourage people to support their pets and help them to look after them. I have never seen anyone being cruel to an animal but if I did I would ask why they did it.
Hollie Conway, 11, Kenton
It's not very nice to have a pet for Christmas because a kid might not really want it and then it will be rejected. Lots of different types of people are cruel to their pets like alcoholics and drug abusers. Animal cruelty happens everyday because people can't look after them so they get chucked away. It happens mostly to animals like cats and dogs.
I remember a long time ago seeing two teenage boys, one with a really small dog and the other with an alsation, trying to make the dogs fight and kill each other. If someone was cruel to an animal I would get my mam or I would ring the police because people like that should be arrested.
Lee Roberts, 9, Newbiggin Hall
I had a pet because when my brother was out I would have someone to play with. It's a good idea to have a pet for Christmas because it can surprise you. Sometimes people are cruel to their animals because they may wee in the kitchen so they get chucked out of the house.
I think it's dogs that have more cruelty done to them because they might drop hair all over a house after people have cleaned so they might get kicked. If I saw someone being cruel to an animal I would feel angry. I would never want a pet to be hurt.
Laura Brogan, 11, Blakelaw
Having a pet for Christmas is a good idea because it makes children or adults really happy. A pet is for life. People are cruel because sometimes the animal gets under their feet. The type of person who is cruel to a pet is someone who is short of money and can't think of anything better to do than hurt them.
Animals are for looking after and loving and not to be chucked out on the street. If I saw someone hurting an animal I would go up to them and ask them to stop right away.
Leoni Gill, 10, Newbiggin Hall
You should keep a pet for as long as it lives, otherwise it's not fair on the animal. It could get left to your parents to look after and if they don't it might die. Young people are cruel because they think they want one and their parents end up looking after them.
People that hurt animals are those that don't look after their child properly and if they cannot do that they wont look after a pet. Some people think that animals don't have feelings but they do. More children are having pets every year and not looking after them properly. Cats and dogs have the most cruelty done because they cost a lot to look after and some people don't realise until they get them.
About the team
Interviews by Sonia McAthey, 14 and Melissa Skinner, 12. Junior Jury is a weekly column published in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
