The intimate relationship between people and animals is frequently met. Animals are the not-growing children of people, and people always take up the long lasting care of them. The necessity of the care for animals stimulates the development of the feeling of responsibility and the enhancement of the meaning of the ego of the owner.
Ani received a gift – a parrot – for her 30th anniversary from her colleague. That day the bird passed in a cage with Ani and her friends in a pub, then came to Ani’s apartment. It was named Galustik. It’s already 5 years the bird lives with Ani’s family. Galustik expresses his joy by perching on the heads of the family members.
Kristina Baghdasaryan was going for horse riding from an early age. Seven years ago her father bought her a Turkmen horse – Mira. “When I am not in Armenia, I miss Mira terribly and go directly to the stable right from the airport. One year ago I brought home our dog – Maikh – a Japanese breed named Akita Inu. 4 months later it got lost and I didn’t know what to do. I was very worried for Maikh, I thought where he might be, how he might be treated. I did everything to find him and bring him back home. He was found in the ninth day. It was clear from our meeting that Maikh wanted to be with me, it was choking when pulling the neck chain to run towards me.”
Anania Voskanyan is a student at the College for Fine Arts after Panos Terlemezyan. Anania likes riding a bike. He doesn’t do it professionally, but he participates in amateur competitions. The dog of a Belgian Malinois breed was gifted to him by his friend. “I was indifferent to animals before Jeck and I am indifferent to them now too. ” says Anania, “I love only Jecky and do not imagine if I can keep another pet. Jecky is my one and only.”
Michael and Damian.
Naneh finds a comfortable place on the sofa to sleep.
Kristina, Mira and Maikh walking.
“More often children are the ones who want to get pets, when they are in need of a trustworthy friend. The positive effect of the dog on my children is quite visible”, says Arpi Maghakyan.
“Having a dog was the idea of my son – Mushegh – but I was against it. My 15 year old daughter and my 10 year old son were feeling very responsible and were taking care of the dog in the beginning. Now I myself love our Ampik very much and I appreciate the positive changes on the behaviour of my children, which took place after Ampik joined us.
“Tatik was the kitten of my friend’s cat. I named it Tatik (paw), because its paws were white”, says Sevan, “it’s already two years we live together. When she was two months old, she fell from our balcony in the fourth floor down on the second floor of the neighbor’s balcony, and broke her paw. She needed her paw stabilized at the clinic. She remained there for a week. Tatik is my friend, I talk to her seriously – hello, Tatik, are you ok? What shall we do now? Tatik, if the neighbor’s balcony door is open it doesn’t mean that you can enter the door.” “We play with her hide and seek”, says Sevan and hides behind the door of the living room. Tatik comes from the kitchen and finds her. “People laugh at me. Tatik is very beautiful, she has beautiful features”, says Sevan and turns Tatik’s head to face her.
“About 5 years ago we visited our friend in army in Sisian region. He told us that they had found an owl, had brought it to the base, but they couldn’t take care of it. I took the owl home with me. I named it Damian, because I was inspired by the novel of Herman Hesse. I haven’t tried to tame Damian, because I love his natural behaviour”, says Michael.
“Mushegh was keeping a money box to buy a dog. Jessy cost 65 000 AMD. Several days later Jessy took the name Ampik when moved to us. Ampik came to us, people left”, jokes Arpi. “Now we avoid inviting guests, our days are now fixed to match Ampik.”
Kristina has taken Maikh along when visiting Mira at the stable.
Photojournalist Nelli Shishmanyan had visited the therapy center “Centaur” for taking photos. One of the dogs – Ebby- that was kept in the center became Nelli’s favourite and she thought to adopt him. Months later after the first meeting Ebby was already at Nelli’s place.
“The fish were gifted to my son Davit for his birthday by his grandmother, but he wasn’t much interested in them. I feel responsible and take care for them. It happens that they get some disease and die. On those days I approach the bowl in fear to see if they are alive or not. We buy new species, add on what we have. Karmir (Red) is one of the oldest inhabitants here, one of the first.”
Zhanna Hayrapetyan, 57, lives in her apartment in Abovyan city with the Shar Pei dog named Naneh, that is with the family for 10 years now. Everyday walking and caretaking for Naneh are the part of the woman’s chores. Zhanna’s husband lives and works in Moscow for years now. It has happened so, that her all 4 children live out of Armenia and Zhanna lives, as the family members like to say, with her younger daughter Naneh.
Animals differ from people with their unselfishness, their feelings are always real, they do not fake, and love unconditionally. Animals teach their owners to believe and trust. There is also an opinion that lonely and misunderstood people like to keep animals, since they need a reliable and committed friend to be next to them always. The friend-pet automatically turns into someone to converse with, and people share their problems with them as a friend. An animal does not speak, does not judge, does not criticize, and can really love.