Do not make an animal carry the consequences of a purchase made in excitement.

Excitement lasts a few weeks; the animal lives with the decision for years. The schedule turns out to be wrong, the space is smaller than it looked, and the creature has no way to leave and no say in what happens next. Most of the difficulty is not cruelty; it is a good intention that never got checked against an ordinary Tuesday.

If you are considering one, work out who does the walk on a bad week and what happens in ten years. If you already have one, adjust your life rather than their needs, and get help early rather than late.