An excellent
article by Jon Bastian, published just a few days ago on
Cesar Millan's web site, caught our attention for its thoughtful and well-reasoned statement about the trend of small dogs treated by some celebrities as "accessories", and the ramifications of that trend. According to this piece, it was nearly eight years ago that Paris Hilton was first spotted in her television show with her Chihuahua Tinkerbell, tucked under her arm or peeking from her designer handbag. Other celebrities followed suit, and soon toy breeds were in demand by everyone who wanted to look and act like a celebrity.
Many toy breeds were then over bred to meet that excessive demand, and soon there was an over abundance of ill-behaved and un-socialized tiny dogs, many of whom ended up in shelters. According to this article, a study conducted recently in the United Kingdom found that "the number of toy dogs abandoned by their owners has increased by forty-four percent." Cesar's solution is to let these tiny breeds be dogs just like any other size canine: "Do you think a dog is happy being carried around like a purse all day? The answer is 'No'. Dogs need to get around on their own four legs. They need to walk-it's in their genes..."
Hang with us, we're not done yet! I've bet most of you have heard by now of the outlandish events that happened here in Ohio just two days ago regarding the keeping of, and then the freeing of, and then the killing of over 50 "exotic" (we prefer to call them "wild") animals. Here's the short version of this story: a convicted felon and animal abuser is legally keeping approximately 56 wild animals-like lions and tigers and bears and such-on his property in cages for years. On Tuesday evening, he decided to open all of the cages so the animals could run free and went inside his home and killed himself. Subsequently, 49 of those animals were killed by the local sheriff's department to prevent, well, panic, and possibly human and domestic animal deaths. Read one of the many articles on this horrific event in the
Columbus Dispatch here:
www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/20/tragedy-waiting-to-happen.html.
Now what do these seemingly unrelated topics have in common? We think it's this: Many humans insist on treating all other animals, whether long domesticated or wild, as accessories or babies or anything but the species that they are-they simply don't respect the animal as a separate species with its own needs. Apparently 21 states (but not Ohio) ban the importation and ownership of wild animals like this guy in Ohio had, and for good reason: unless you're a legitimate breeder working with zoos to preserve a particular species, wild animals should not be kept as pets-that's contrary to their nature, dangerous to everyone involved and disrespectful to the animal and his needs. As Bastion said in his article about "Hollywood Handbag Hounds", "...remember to let a dog be a dog and to protect by respect."
We'd love to hear what you think!
