Posted on 06/30/2011 3:29:04 PM PDT by NYer
On the flip side of that, dogs back then didn’t normally live as long as they do today. You couldn’t get the kind of vet care then because half of it wasn’t known yet, many drugs they use today weren’t around then, equipment and procedures weren’t available, and people didn’t sue the crap out of doctors when their pet died during atempts to save it.
It’s not so much that our values are inverted as that we are desensitized to human killing because we watch it so regularly. Pet killing is rare enough to trouble people enough that it isn’t often shown—which makes it continue to be rare...
Right now I am in the process of getting another dog, for two reasons: 1) I have had my last dog with me for a year and a half and we've grown to know each other, so there is emotional room for another; and 2) Harvey would like a dog playmate.
And I really don't care what you folks who don't understand the dog-man connection think, dogs constitute my little family. And they're all I need.
“A sizable number of couples state that they are buying a certain house because their dog would like the yard, or the floors would be suitable for their pooch.There are no children.”
Great point; I hope their dog gets used to hearing Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic as a result of their choices.
I understand the logic of it; I’ve dealt with and cared for pets before, but know I’m too lazy to be a good owner. The fact is that the money could be put to better use, and when the extravagant pet bills rear their head go back to the tried & true sack with rocks.
: )
One could say that about anything that someone else chooses to spend money on. Fortunately it’s still a somewhat free country and many Americans choose to spend money caring well for some of God’s creatures. Would you have us all wear gunny sacks in our corrugated aluminum houses while we send our discretionary funds to something you deem a better cause??
You spend your money where you wish; I do (it happens to be on children). The foreigners that are inheriting this country always express amazement about the number of pets people have; I married one of them, and in her native language (Spanish) they don’t have a word for “pet”.
Ha! I think a lot of American children would be better off with less money spent on them. (Of course there are plenty of American children in need, too.)
Perhaps your wife has a limited vocabulary:
“...a pet in Spanish can be referred to as una mascota (the same word is used for a mascot, such as an animal symbolizing a team), un animal doméstico (the adjective doméstico can also be used to mean “pet” as an adjective, as in un perro doméstico, a pet dog) or un animal de compañía (again, the phrase de compañía can be appended to an animal’s name to indicate it is a pet).”
http://spanish.about.com/od/spanishvocabulary/a/pets.htm
There’s a natural instinct to “baby” and nurture. Having children is derided or seems too difficult. Getting an animal that will always remain at the desired level of dependence and totally in the adult’s control can be seen as a suitable substitute. What started as a fill in for never married women and old people lacking company has filtered down to child bearing women who lust for a care-giving role but see it too primitive to find a man and make a baby. So they baby a critter instead.
Until you have to call the vet to have your 13 y/o Sheltie put to sleep. I’m not sure she will cry the much at my funeral. And for the record she has a 34 y/o son.
They are domestic animals, like cows or goats (and don’t live in the house); nowadays, Spain is even weirder than the US, so maybe the language has evolved to reflect that: they probably use a new word for “pet”, and dropped “son” and “daughter” from the dictionary.
I’m not exactly well off, so my children are hardly having too much money spent on them. I’m not questioning your preference; if I did have a dog I just wouldn’t walk him too much (toughens the meat).
I have a friend who is a childless, 40-something woman with 3 dogs that she considers ‘her children’. The only time she really irritated me is when I would mention a mile-stone my youngest reached and she invariably answered that one of her dogs could do the same thing.
It’s a fad,when their friends have children they want children.It’s a social thing.Vet costs have gone up and when you walk in they want a credit card.Gone are the days when the kids would walk in with a sick pet.I know a woman who paid 20,000.00 for a dog that was hit by a car.Not her dog but her granddaughters.A man who spent 15,000.00 on a wolf who was having spasm’s.It was a pet and lived 3 years.He was losing his house.50 years ago my Father said he didn’t have the money to buy me an ice cream cone but bought one for my dog Tippy.A young man said I’ll buy you one.I married him:)
Someone in the background is really hamming it up.
I got my little dude a doggie cone with carob chips a few days after I sprung him from the shelter. He went all googly-eyed with joy.
I love dogs, and they generally love me - I’m one of those people that, if I were to visit your house for the first time, your dog would be in my lap (unless you have a really big dog, of course....). That said, they are not little furry people and we shouldn’t treat them as such.
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