U.S. pet industry spending for 2009 is estimated at $45.4 Billion. BILLION.
That is higher than the GDP of Panama.. or Lebanon…
I have been stewing on this statistic for weeks, wondering how this could really be possible. Somehow this seems to represent all that is wrong with America—a point further emphasized by the recent invention of the Snuggie for Dogs.
How is it that Americans decided that dogs would be treated like children (designer clothes, elaborate day care centers, and becoming the central focus of the family) and that children would be treated like dogs(don’t tell me that you have never seen a parent in the airport or mall with their kid on a leash)?
I was getting my hair cut this weekend in preparation for a special trip because it looked like a chestnut-colored kitchen mop. Or a poodle with dredlocks.
My mom was with me, sporting her short curly locks, and the stylist mentioned that she could cut my mom’s hair as well.
“Thanks for offering, but she just got done with chemotherapy, and it is finally growing back. I think she wants to keep as much of it as she can.”
“Oh. I am so sorry. That must be so hard. I know how you feel, though. I just lost one of my children.”
“Oh how terrible! I am so sorry, truly.”
“Well, I am healing okay. She was the sweetest little Bishon…”
A bishon…
A BISHON. A DOG….
She compared losing a bishon to me losing my mother. I have never wanted to laugh so hard, but tried to maintain composure and give my condolences…
I wanted to simply say:
“In Vietnam, they EAT bishons.”
While it is generally agreed that pets may help decrease blood pressure, cholesterol levels and feelings of loneliness, perhaps we have gone too far. Dogs can also help us maintain our selfishness, and can isolate us from true community. It is easy to love a cute furry object that doesn’t speak and only needs to be given food from a bag and walked occaisionally, and who loves you no matter what. But we grow in our relationships with people--as difficult as they are-- and by learning to love them regardless of their faults.
