Model - Controller (pets)

Controller
public function index(){

    $query = $this->db->get('pets');
    $pet_num = $query->num_rows();

    $config = array();

    $config["base_url"] = base_url() . "pets/index/";
    $config["total_rows"] = $pet_num;
    $config["per_page"] = 12;
    $config['use_page_numbers'] = TRUE;
    $config['reuse_query_string'] = TRUE;

    $config['attributes'] = array('class' => 'page-link');
    $config["full_tag_open"] = '<ul class="pagination">';
    $config["full_tag_close"] = '</ul>';
    $config["first_link"] = "&laquo;";
    $config["first_tag_open"] = "<li>";
    $config["first_tag_close"] = "</li>";
    $config["last_link"] = "&raquo;";
    $config["last_tag_open"] = "<li>";
    $config["last_tag_close"] = "</li>";
    $config['next_link'] = '&gt;';
    $config['next_tag_open'] = '<li>';
    $config['next_tag_close'] = '<li>';
    $config['prev_link'] = '&lt;';
    $config['prev_tag_open'] = '<li class="page-item">';
    $config['prev_tag_close'] = '<li>';
    $config['cur_tag_open'] = '<li class="page-item active"><a class="page-link" href="#">';
    $config['cur_tag_close'] = '</a></li>';
    $config['num_tag_open'] = '<li>';
    $config['num_tag_close'] = '</li>';

    $this->pagination->initialize($config);

    $page = ($this->uri->segment(3)) ? $this->uri->segment(3) : 1;

    $limit = $config['per_page'];
    $start = ( $page - 1 ) * $config['per_page'];

    $data['pets'] = $this->pet_model->get_filtered_pets($limit, $start);

    $data["links"] = $this->pagination->create_links();

    //View files
    $this->load->view('templates/header', $data);
    $this->load->view('pets/index', $data);
    $this->load->view('templates/footer', $data);
  }

//-----------------------------------------------------

Model
public function get_filtered_pets($limit, $start){
    $this->db->order_by('pet_id', 'DESC');
    $this->db->join('users', 'users.user_id = pets.pet_user_id');
    $this->db->join('pet_categories', 'pet_categories.pet_category_id = pets.category_id');

    $pet_data = array();
    if ( $this->input->get('petStatus') ) {
      $pet_data['pet_status'] = $this->input->get('petStatus');
    }
    if ( $this->input->get('petCategory') ) {
      $pet_data['category_id'] = $this->input->get('petCategory');
    }
    if ( $this->input->get('petGender') ) {
      $pet_data['pet_gender'] = $this->input->get('petGender');
    }
    if ( !empty($pet_data) ) {
      $this->db->where($pet_data);
    }

    $this->db->limit($limit, $start);
    $query = $this->db->get('pets');

    return $query->result_array();

  }