Country’s obsession with pets going to the dogs
Very nice editorial by Rebecca Christian in the Dubuque, Iowa Telegraph Herald yesterday. She opines that we’ve gone a little nutty about dogs lately, to the point where we may be treating them better than some people. In fact, we may be putting them on a pedestal and adoring them a little too much. True? What do you think?
Country’s obsession with pets going to the dogs
To love a pet is a wonderful thing, but it can get a little weird
By Rebecca Christian
Let me say first that I love dogs. I’m still not over Old Yeller. As I write, I can see my well-worn stuffed Lassie, the first treasure I ever bought with my own money, on a place of honor on my living room bookshelves. I’ve owned several dogs in my lifetime and cried like a baby when each died. No other creature asks so little and gives so much. In fact, dogs give most of us the only unconditional love we’ve ever had, even from our own mothers.
That being said, I find our country’s growing obsession with pets weird and a little sad. Recently it’s been played out in a three-ring circus in the cases of Leona Helmsley, Michael Vick and Ellen Degeneres. In the first ring is the late, unmourned “Queen of Mean,” hotelier Leona Helmsley, who died recently leaving $12 million to her Maltese, the aptly named ankle-biting, diamond-collar wearing Trouble — and not a penny to two of her own grandchildren.
Ironically, Helmsley, who treated her dog like a human, died about the same time as the late philanthropist Brooke Astor, who in her last feeble years was allegedly treated like a dog.
In the second ring is Michael Vick, whose dog fighting scandal brought together the issues of race, celebrity, sports, money and emotion into a perfect storm. What he did was loathsome; I couldn’t bring myself to view the videos. Yet a good point was made by King Kaufman, who writes a column about sports so thoughtful that even non-sports fans like me read it. He commented that in this case “”|an athlete’s violence against dogs garners a sharper public rebuke than athletes’ far more common violence against women.”
In the third ring is Ellen DeGeneres, who melted down in front of millions over Iggy, a Brussels Griffon terrier that the talk-show host adopted for her own household and then gave to a friend because Iggy didn’t get along with her cats. The adoption agency, with which DeGeneres had contracted to notify if the adoption didn’t work out, took umbrage — and Iggy. Yes, the agency overreacted but it was grotesque when Degeneres cast herself in the melodramatic role of the always camera-ready Mary Beth Whitehead, the 1980s surrogate mother who changed her mind. DeGeneres’ blubbering plea to give Iggy back to the family “Please, please, please!” resulted in death threats to the owners of the agency.
This trio of follies was enacted against the backdrop of pet adulation that’s sweeping the country to the tune of an estimated $40.8 billion this year, nearly double what was dished into jewel-studded dog dishes in 1996. In addition to spoiled celebrities who use their ill-trained beasts as fashion accessories, normal people are splurging on in-home doggy grooming and day care, pet trust funds, doggy spas, and poop-scooping services like “Doody Calls” and “Pet Butler.” For the ultimate in pet personification, turn your Peke into Paris Hilton with a collar that says, “Talk to the tail.” And if you’re considering taking your pet to a psychologist to find out what he’s thinking about, let me save you some money: Food.
I was startled recently to hear a man say that he considers his dog his mentor. Loyalty is great, but what about that licking thing? (I admit that sometimes my dog looks lost in canine contemplation, but when she licks her butt, the spell is broken.)
In Buddhist thought, as I understand it, many positive traits and emotions have a “near companion” that they can turn into, rendering them less useful. Childlikeness becoming childishness, for example, or active compassion transforming into immobilizing sorrow.
So it is with us and pets. To love a pet is a wonderful thing, but when that love causes us to blur the boundaries between human and canine out of our own loneliness and isolation, we do a disservice to both.
Christian, a former Dubuque resident, is a writer and editor based in Des Moines. She may be reached at rebecca.christian@mchsi.com.
