'I don''t agree with the above - many people at sea had pets, there''s proof. Lots and lots of them had monkeys, as they often got aboard ships when they were in port. The sailors (whether they were pirates or not) often kept them, though how well they were cared for is a different matter because they didn''t really know how. They used to give them rum and treat them like another pirate, which is definitely not good for them! I know this because there was someone I knew who had her floor re-done and they found a few monkey skeletons underneath it. On further investigation they discovered a family of seafaring people had lived in the house and these skeletons dated back to the time they were from. These monkeys had come from other places round the world, and when they checked in the books they found that the sailors of that family had sailed to those very places. There are other examples of it elsewhere, too - and as for pet messes, everyone lived in such filthy conditions most of the time anyway, I doubt they