Pets Are Not People

I was sad after reading this article in a local pet blog Dogs Are the New Kids

The other day I had a discussion with one of my brothers about exactly this topic...how people treat their pets as if they were their children. My brother, owner of a chinchilla, cat and turtle, ended up telling me I could not tell people how to feel about their pets...except on my blog. Well, I was going to ditch the idea and had it not been for the above article, I would not have given it another thought. But I feel I must address the pet-child mindset.

It appears that more and more people are losing the distinction between a pet and a child.

- People are no longer referred to as a pet's owner. No, they are now "Mommy" or "Daddy"...pet parents. The name they choose for their precious pets are no long "Fluffy" "Lucky" "Snowball" or "Coco" Emily, Betsey, Rooney, Gracie, etc. have replaced the traditional pet name. These are human names! On the other hand babies are given what appear to be pet names e.g. Gwynth Paltrow's daughter Apple, Courtney Cox's daughter Coco... It doesn't seem that long ago that dogs were named "Fido" a name that really captured the dog's spirit...that of fidelity to its owner.

- It is not an unusual sight in my neighborhood to see an owner pushing the precious pooch in a baby stroller.

- One no longer boards a pet in a kennel. Now you have doggy daycare for the pup.

Those of you who are regular readers of this blog or who know me personally know I love animals. I have loved animals, had many pets and have rescued many animals ever since I was a little girl. I even have a pet prayer blog to pray for God's creatures, the beloved pet. I am sharing these observations with you from an animal lover's point of view.

The danger of humanizing a pet's relationship in the family is that it diminishes the value of the human person. Isn't that what the pro-life movement is fighting for...value for human life?

It is a very sad thing when all efforts are made to rescue a baby bird that has fallen out of its nest. We lose sight that sometimes a mother bird will push the sickly baby out of a nest because it will die anyway. God has a way of keeping nature in balance if we stop interfering. Yet when a defenseless human baby is in danger of being killed at the hands of an abortionist, only a few try to save the baby. Aren't these human babies even more precious, lots more cuter and loving than a baby animal?

I cringe and will continue to cringe every time a well-meaning person, usually a friend, refers to me as my dog's "Mommy". I am "Mommy" to one child and his name is not "Coco".