My next pet...

I want a fox as a pet. And a crow. Maybe even a ferret. These are just some of the creatures that often roam the streets of London looking for their next meal. The foxes come out at sunset to scavenge amongst the rubbish; while thousands upon thousands of crows always litter the parks, nibbling on tasty morsels left behind by picnickers. I have always thought that crows are magnificent birds and, after only seeing one or two in South Africa, I find it such a treat to see hundreds of them gathered together in one place.

We went to a pet store the other day. Forget puppies and kittens; here one can get more unusual pets, like ferrets, chinchillas and giant house bunnies. They're massive! You can put their front paws over your shoulder and cradle their bums in your arms - they're the size of a small child! Driving down the street, we saw a girl walking her ferret - too cute but also very funny because the ferret walked sideways in a sort of crab-like fashion.

I kind of feel sorry for the pets here because the gardens are so tiny so there's not much room for them to move around. Some places don't even have gardens. We drive past a block of flats to work and every day we see a husky on the first floor. Although it's terribly adorable, it breaks my heart to see him propped up against the porch wall, with his front paws sticking through the bars, watching the cars go by. I can only hope that he gets taken for a walk every now and then.

It's amazing how many Boxers, Staffies and Pit Bulls there are in London. I have seen some of the most magnificent dogs here and it tugs on the heart strings and makes me realise just how much I miss my animals back home and my boxer, Bean. Apparently it's quite expensive to buy an animal here and one can usually only get them through registered breeders. This is because the government has put restrictions in place in an attempt to minimise animal abuse and over-breeding. I wish SA would implement something along those lines. To the left is a picture of one of the Boxers we saw - so beautiful and so well looked after.

Other dog breeds I didn't even know existed are miniature Border Collies and Huskies. There are a couple of the Collies in our area and they are just too adorable! They have the shortest legs and are about the size of Staffies - maybe a bit bigger. We've never been able to stop and take pictures but I sure as hell am going to try - I can't even find pictures of them on the internet so I'm imagining there are a few people that don't believe me!

For now though, the only pets I want are my own. Apparently ferrets smell funny.