Coming in at an average weight of just one ounce and the hefty price tag of fifteen dollars, not many people pay too much attention to hamsters, especially at their “one and a half  to two year lifespan”. However, for someone like myself and other students at San Luis Obispo High School, the idea of them and their existence weighs quite heavy in my head. 

  A classic first pet that shouldn’t be a hamster, why would any parents give a child a wiggly, easily hidden and easily damaged pet that tends to bite and stink up a room? Is it because they are overwhelmingly loving? Awake during the day? Because they talk? The answer to all three of those is ‘no’, and they actually are known to spend around ninety percent of their time underground. 

So here’s a question: why do they even exist?

  “They’re cute, they’re just like a couple of cotton balls stuck together,” said senior Erica Lopemen. 

  Lopemen clearly has never looked into the extensive amount of research and knowledge it takes to have one. No smaller than a 24 by 12 inch cage, at least six inches of bedding and multiple hideouts for the animal are required.  Not to mention a wheel or saucer that is constantly being spun between the hours of  two and five AM. 

  Though they are cute they ultimately are not worth the suffering. 

  Hamsters are defined as living in the wild, but not the ones like the great frontier. 

  “Although they make their homes in pockets of land that are ungrazed or untilled. The land is sparsely populated, so both species are unafraid of humans,” said British Hamster Association. This proves that if they were really thrown to harsh conditions the chance of survival would be small most likely getting eaten by a snake or prey bird. 

Hamsters seem like a minuscule problem for most, but for me I stand by the extinction of hamsters for their lack of beneficial help in the ecosystem and as a loving pet. To end, I leave you with this quote that sums up my opinion;  “I hate hamsters because they’re too small and their feet just so creepy,” said senior Paolo Piurque. 

*https://www.caringpets.org/how-to-take-care-of-a-hamster/facts/