by Larry Wadsworth

Created on: February 25, 2009   Last Updated: March 04, 2009

There have been a number of programs on television making the effort to educate pet owners about their responsibilities, not only the their pets but to the greater society. It was noted that CNN reported this week that pet food banks had been established to help pet owners in this time of financial difficulties. It would be very unfortunate if a number of animals had to suffer because of the economic hardships being experienced by their owners. It is expected that we will not do without our pets just as most will not do without their beer or cigarettes during these tough times.

Owning a pet is expensive just as having children is expensive. If we accept responsibility for our children then we must accept equal responsibility for our pets. Should we not have tribunals set up to establish who should be held accountable if an unneutured male should come into contact with a non-spayed female in a dog park and little ones are the result? Shouldn't the owner of the male be held as financially accountable as the owner of the female? The owner of both the male and the female should be required to pay for the fixing of all of the puppies before they can be sold. If owners were required to retain pups until they were at least six months old then they would be less inclined to allow their dogs to breed.

In conversation with some owners of usually large dogs owned my males it was noted that many of the male owners refused to have their dogs neutered. The impression was given that by neutering their male dogs then the dog would in some way be less male and would no longer have the same verile image that the owner wanted to project to the rest of civilization. It was as if the dogs testicles were in some way an extention of the testicles of the owner. By having a dog that was less than a male that would reflect on the owner as being less than totally male. It is the same in the world of horses - we admire the rider that can ride and control the high spirits of the stallions but make no note of those that are riding geldings - after all a woman can easily control a gelding.

We have now entered the time of the designer dog. These dogs are cross breeds, supposedly taking on the best qualities of each of the parent breeds. Purchasing these mutts is not cheap. In fact some of the designer dogs cost more than a pure bred dog. At the present time a person can only show pure bred dogs. It is only a matter of time before someone establishes dog shows for the cross bred dog that would show off the desired traits. If the background of each pure bred dog is researched their origins can be traced back to the cross breeding of other dogs that gave us the characteristics that are now considered evidence of their purity. Even the New President of the United States is considering one of these designer dogs for his girls.

After giving this problem considerable thought over the past five minutes, education is a way to solve the problem. We need to educate our taste buds and our sensitivity to the idea of certain foods. While speaking to a person from the Orient it was discovered that White Dogs are considered better eating than Black Dogs. We could start serving dog in our school cafeterias without telling the children. Put dog in stew. We would be increasing the protein intake of our children while eliminating many of the unwanted or neglected dogs of this world. Dog is supposed to be excellent eating. There is no reason why they shouldn't be after all what or who has a better life than a dog. Cats I am not so sure about!

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