People and Thier Pets

Pets: Cats, dogs, snakes, lizards, birds and even rats. If it is remotely possible to make a pet out of some critter people seem more than willing to do so. And doesn't it seem that we Americans are even more willing to have and keep pets and to try our darnedest to turn them into humans. But even more so, doesn't it seem that we Americans, especially, tend to humanize our pets to the point of harming them even?

Think about it. Why are there dog psychiatrists? Personally, to me, the thought of such a thing is ridiculous but why would there even be a need for such a thing except for the fact that we have humanized our pets to the point of actually believing that they suffer from emotional distress in the same way as humans do. Do dogs have emotional scars? Perhaps, but I believe that if they do it is more from a conditioned response to fear than anything else.

We feed our pets way too much also. Just as we, as a nation, eat way too much. I know a man who stuffs so much food down his dog's throat that the poor creature can hardly move. The poor dog looks like a blimp with legs. The man's excuse? He just can't stand not to give his beloved dog anything and everything it wants. As if the man, as a human, could even really know what those things truly are. It appears that just as people engage in unhealthy habits they also project them onto their pets.

A woman I once knew missed a week of work when her pet cat died. I am the first to understand how much it hurts to lose a pet but a week of bereavement is overdoing it just a tad don't you think? Is there something else at work here? Something more serious and emotionally harmful then even the dog shrinks would be willing to admit?

Indeed, a study done by Sealy Mattress Company found that 67 percent of Americans sleep with their pets. Thirty-eight percent of these said their pets woke them up constantly during the night. Even so, 55 percent of the women included in this study said they preferred their pets over their partners. 14 percent of the men said the same thing.

We spend a lot of money on our pets too. In a NBC news article the amount of money Americas were said to spend on their pets was a staggering $36 billion per year. Yes, you read that correctly. Thirty-six billion dollars per year. I don't know about you but my eye balls rattled when I read that.

Maybe we humanize our pets so much because it is easier to lavish love and affection on a pet because you know there is no real possibility of rejection. Wouldn't taking a dog to a psychiatrist be easier to deal with and accept than taking our teenage son or daughter to one? Dogs don't talk back or complain or insult. So, wouldn't it be a whole lot easier to believe we were doing the appropriate thing when there is no one to say otherwise? I think the answers to these questions are undoubtedly...Yes!

Pets are a wonderful privilege and a true gift but let's keep one hand on the reality leash. They aren't humans so lets not burden them with that affliction.