I’ve lived with cats and dogs my whole life. Having an animal in my home has always been something I’ve truly treasured. No matter how terrible of a day I had, I was always greeted warmly by my pets. They were thrilled and excited to see me walk through the door everyday and it was very therapeutic for me.
In America today, people are taking the welfare of their pets into consideration more than ever before. The culture of how we treat and care for our pets has drastically changed over the last few decades.
We originally domesticated animals to serve a certain function. Pets were traditionally used for things such as herding sheep, pulling sleds, hunting, helping the blind and killing rodents. Nowadays, we have strayed from this idea and objectify animals for our own pleasure. Now, they are used as commodities or personified to the point of humanity.
The infatuation with anthropomorphizing our pets needs to stop.
Walk around the city and you’re bound to understand what I mean. You’ll find pets in some of the most ridiculous articles of clothing and accessories that only benefit the owner’s personal gratification.
Throwing a jacket on a greyhound when it gets cold outside might be reasonable, but it’s absurd to be dressing your pet as if it’s a Barbie doll. Putting novelty or fancy clothing on pets can restrict their ability to behave normally.
If a dog saw another dog wearing the newest designer “dog sweater,” that wouldn’t make it more “attractive” to the other dog, but rather more isolated from interacting with it. It’s important to ask if you’re really helping your pets. It’s all about wants and needs, and your pets certainly don’t need half of the products being sold on the market.
Pet owners are willing to spend big bucks on pet pampering. The American Pet Products Association’s annual report on pet industry spending says Americans spent $58 billion in 2014 on their 397 million pets, which range from freshwater fish and reptiles to cats and dogs.
Last year, people spent $22 billion on food; $15 billion on veterinary care; $14 billion on supplies such as beds, bowls and collars and over-the-counter medicine to fight ailments such as fleas, ticks and colds; $4.8 billion on other services; and $2 billion on the animals themselves.
Those other services? The $4.8 billion was spent on things such as day care, grooming, boarding, and even trips to the spa. That’s $4.8 billion dollars that could be spent on other things more beneficial to your animal’s health, such as a routine trip to the vet or higher quality pet food.
I understand how this whole article might sound a bit crazy, but pets get nothing out of expensive jewelry, nor do we get anything in return besides another outlet for expressing our own social aspirations and tastes.
We live in a world today where homelessness still exists, where millions are stricken by poverty on a daily basis and where many social programs still lack efficiency and funding. Pet pampering needs to be set aside because there are simply more important crises that need to be addressed.
Perhaps you should spend more time fixing the homeless problem through action instead of picking on people who dress their pets up. LOL, what a waste of good space! How about you ask the population to give up their fancy cars and eating out and boozing….more money for the homeless. Your dogs really were probably tied out back and forgotten. I am an expert on dogs, dress her up and help the homeless…imagine that! I ran a grooming salon, dog daycare and cageless overnights for 30 years. Counseled people and rescued. Your article is nothing short of ridiculous and laughable. You really could not come up with a better argument for the homeless than that! My dog from the Oregon Humane Society has her own closet and every morning she gets to pick out her favorite outfit for the day. Please do not ever own an animal again and as far as that goes do not have children either. Please look at the rigid behavior in your life,(might require therapy) Address the real issues around the homeless, put your computer away and walk out your front door and do something for the homeless instead of bitching about the care we give our pets. Let me give you a little advice again….do not use the homeless to further your agenda which is, you do not like dressed up doggies, dog daycares, God forbid, grooming salons. Oh My, such a waste of money!!! Using the homeless in this way is abit of a disgrace on your part isn’t it? Be a part of the solution not the problem! You make yourself look very naive in this article. That is usually what happens to people who try to talk about things they know nothing about.
Debra, get a life. I think the kid has a point. Dressing up your pet is ridiculous! I also think trying to insult and demean a college student over an opinion piece is immature. Please go back to your animals as you are obviously able to interact with them at a much higher level.
Dear Debra Dickins,
Could you please leave a nice comment on this article. This person obliviously spent a lot of time writing this. Look at your pet for instance, she/he probably has more common sense and maturity than you ever will. For God sake, it can pick its own outfit, and you can’t even say something nice on a kid’s article.