Pets are not children.
Aside from the misanthropic vitriol, I am astounded by the number of commenters who compare their pets to other people's children. Please note that people who actually have children do not seem to use this analogy. (Disclaimer: I couldn't bring myself to read every single comment.)
I don't say this because I dislike animals. I love my dogs. I like cats and rabbits and guinea pigs and I once had a lovely encounter with a ferret. Sam and I had dogs 10 years before we became parents. I have a relationship with my dogs; they are sentient beings with personalities and opinions and emotions and needs. But they are dogs. WackoDog and Growler sleep on the floor (although they'd prefer our bed), eat kibble, not steak, stay in crates when we're out of the house and are packed off to the kennel when we travel, even if they don't really like it (one does, one doesn't). When people who don't like dogs come to visit, we either keep the dogs in their crates for short visits or put them in the kennel for overnight stays.
Eve, on the other hand, sleeps in a bed for which she has chosen the sheets, has a fair amount of say over what she eats, and people who don't like babies just didn't come visit us for a while. When we travel, we usually take her with us; if she stays home, she stays with friends or relatives that she likes and we call her every day. I have never called the kennel to check on the dogs.
I do expect people who come to our home to interact appropriately with my daughter. I don't require them to even meet my dogs. Someday - much too soon - Eve will be an independent person; she needs to be out in the world with us to learn how to be out in the world without us. My dogs will always be what they are, and if they never leave our yard, that's OK.
20 years ago, when we got our first dog and people said "oh, now you're parents!" I thought they were nuts, and I still do. Don't compare my daughter to your Boxer, or Great Dane, or Golden Retriever. ( And don't even start with me about the Pomeranians and the Chihuahuas; if it has to wear a coat, it's not really a dog). My dogs are part of my family, but they are not my daughter's siblings. Children deserve better than to be treated like dogs, even my dogs.
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8 comments:
Does this blog get enough traffic for you to get a few outraged comments from animal lovers who decry your essay?
You'll get no disagreement from me.
Yeah, I wondered about that, Orange, but hey - it's my space, and I don't have to approve their comments, now do I?
I love the delete button.
This is one of my pet peeves too! (haha, I'm so punny :P)
It used to drive me NUTS that my in-laws would refuse to put their dog in a kennel, because the dog would be unhappy, when they went on holidays. Instead they expected Adam or his bother to drive 20 minutes to their place each day to feed it. I've no idea how they even knew the dog would be unhappy given that he was never left at a kennel to find out.
We're a 2 cat, 1 dog family and they are NOT my furry kids.
Amen.
As an asthmatic with dog allergies I say "hear hear!" Pets are not people and bringing them to: the meditation class, the restaurant where I work, and many other non-pet friendly places is not okay. I also had my aunt (who treats her dog as a second child) get in a fight with my mother because she wanted to have her dog sleep inside at the cottage. Since I got to sleep inside, her dog should be allowed to as well. Never mind that this sort of thinking has landed my brother in the hospital before...
Anyway, hear hear!
Fair enough..... And as a singleton, me getting a pet (when it happens) is because I like animals and furry companionship, not because my biological clock is ticking...
I also find it bizarre when people use their pets as a reason to not have kids. "I have my cats/dogs/zebras, I don't need children." Huh? I'm not saying they need children, but that's like saying "I don't need a car, I have a this beautiful water feature."
Surreal.
Amen.
What gets me is they say that the dogs are like their children; but as soon as their dogs get sick and (pooping and vomiting) they put them to sleep.
They don't get health insurance (which does exist); and they say they are putting the dog out of his misery..
Would they do that to a child.. ??
I have a rabbit; 2 rats; and 2 gerbils.. since my soon to be 13 year old loves pets.. and these are adorable and low maintain too.
The rabbit is affectionate and sweet.. climbing on your feet and licking your face..a bunny still.....sweet. I do like animals...but PEOPLE first and when I did have a dog for 3 years it was put into it crate when people came over that did not want there black pants covered with hair..etc.
Be kind to animals; but I wish more people reached out for others than to animals first......
I have some stories about that......but I think you heard similar ones in the past...
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