Several people in my family took care of other people’s pets growing up, so it is very familiar to me. What sets me apart? Perhaps, my approach to pets. I approach a pet as I would my own, and that is to approach a pet not as “something” owned but as “someone to know.” To care for an animal is nothing without respect. I treat human-animal relations as serious business. It is increasingly becoming apparent that much of humankind has become estranged from non-humans, and have designed the planet for ourselves in a manner that cannot even accommodate humans, much less the vastness of other life. We shouldn’t treat animals like humans, not like “animals”. They are something we don’t fully understand. They are an invitation into misunderstandings and new understandings.