Pets

Almost everybody has a favorite type of pet for whatever reason.  Some favor fish, others dogs, others cats, and some, like Edward Hoagland, favor turtles.  For each pet that people may have, there is different reasons why they may favor that type of animal.  One person may favor dogs for the protection that they may give.  Another may favor cats for their ability to catch little rodents.  One may favor fish because it it the only pet that they are allowed in their apartments or because of their simple beauty.  Every animal may become someone's favorite animal and sometimes pet  for any reason.

Hoagland favors turtles to the point of knowing various kinds of turtles and having a favorite kind.  He gives the reasons of being allergic to fur and how they are low maintenance animals.  He also explains how they are very smart animals as well.  At one point, he described some of the cruelty that is done to turtles in the name of selling them for profit and how it is hard for them to survive once one habitat is destroyed.  When he got a turtle that he did not know how to take care of, he tried to release it in a place where he would be able to survive.  Once Hoagland realized that the turtle could not survive there either.  He left it.  Though for many people, this may seem unimaginably cruel, it was almost more of a kindness.  Rather than lingering on for a while longer while trying and failing to take care of it, the turtle would have a quicker death in the wild.