A BETTER FUTURE
Will you take pets/animals? If so, which ones?
On our mission to Mars we will need animals in order to survive in out new civilization. During our trip to Mars pets will be needed in order to calm people and lower stress levels. It has been proven that pets lower stress levels which helps people live a longer and happier lifestyle. Special breeds such as the hairless xoloitzcuintli have been used for centuries to calm people and in the xoloitzcuintli was even used to comfort people with arthritis.
For that Mars mission animals will be required for the survival of our colony. One would say that animals will take up too much oxygen and space, but we have solved this problem. By keeping the unborn embryo froze in containers we can effectively keep animals in an embryo state until we decide that we need them. Then we unfreeze the embryo and the animals will develop and we can raise them to serve their purposes.
The animals that we will bring must have more than one purpose. Goats can produce dairy products, wool, meat, and they will eat almost anything. Almost every part of the pig is edible and they will also eat anything making it yet another great candidate. Chickens provide eggs, meat, feathers, and much like goats and pigs will eat almost anything. Rabbits do not have such a ranged diet and provide very little meat, but they reproduce rapidly and eat very little which makes up for the size.
Fish such as salmon can be useful since they provide meat and can fertilize the plants that use hydroponics. To fit the the pet role small cats and dogs will entertain people and lower stress. Most cats fit the size requirements, but small to medium sized dogs will need to be selected such as the xoloitzcuintli.
The only other possible downside of bringing animals is diseases, but our crew has been tested and vaccinated for harmful diseases such as those that animals may spread. On our Mars mission we will bring animals for the good of our survival.