Young Children and Pets

EDIT: This topic will also discuss the thoughts of ignorant pet owners


Please keep this clean and keep rudeness out of this.

Okay, so I don't know if this is just because of my experiences or if anyone else is seeing this as well, but I'm questioning whether the idea of giving a child a pet (and by child, I mean those ranging from around 5 to 10).

Don't get me wrong, the idea of teaching a child responsibility is great. My parents bought a family dog for us when we were young. But, at that age, I wasn't able to take care of the dog on my own. The most I did was brush and feed her. My parents did the brunt of the work. Was it fair that my parents did most of the work? It depends. Because now if I were to move out at this very moment, said dog would be coming with me.

I've witnessed a few comments/threads on another website about users who are about 8 who have their own dogs, pigs, fish ,birds, etc.

The main question is: Is it fair to the animal?

I can tell you that my 11 year old sister wouldn't know what to do with a fish if it happened to get sick. And she won't even go near dog poop. And as for the hamsters? She won't do anything more but give them food and water, but won't scrub out their containers.

So who has to do it? My other sis and I, or our parents.
My fish, birds, and dogs get 24/7 attention from me when I'm home. i know what to look for when they get sick/injured/etc. And that's only after either extensive research or from others on the internet. How would a 5 year old know when a dog is sick? And what if the parents really could care less about the health of a pet?
My mom and dad don't care about our birds, and they were the ones who claimed they were theirs. So it's pluasible that could happen in another scenario.

It serves responsibility, but only if the parents are putting their work into it as well. I feel like this doesn't necessarily have to happen, seeing as how I know some younger people who are extremely mature and are more educated than I am.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm the greatest at pet care. So please don't accuse me of something when I'm already admitting it. But I'm hoping that when I'm able to control my own finances, I'll be able to give my pets 100% of the care I need.

But these are my opinions and thoughts.

Anyone elses?