A Tangential (but no less important!) Rant

i HATE how we as a society have made a commodity of animals.

You could argue that we do the same thing with women, but that's not what this rant is about. This rant is about animals, dogs in specific, who have unfairly been cast as a status symbol, and about the ludicrous and barbaric process of breeding designer puppies. (A note: i don't mean all breeders. While i would never personally buy from a breeder, i know there are some who care for their animals extremely well. This is not about them.)

Any time i open Flickr or Photobucket or what have you, there are all sorts of photos of tiny dogs -- dogs in cages, dogs in piles, dogs in purses, dogs on pillows, etc. While all puppy mill-esque supply and demand dog breeding sickens me, teacup dogs make my blood boil. (Granted i was nauseous before this, thank you POTS, but don't think that explains it.) These dogs are bred so small that any care for their wellbeing goes out the window, since freakishly small dogs =  more money. Nevermind that their diminutive frames become prone to all sorts of problems, eg: joints not developing correctly. These breeders become so ensconced in quantity over quality, again because it equals more money, that the dogs receive little to no care medically or socially. All because society has come to believe that an animal is no more than a trend. Excuse me while i vomit.

Celebrities (again, not all of them) are especially guilty of perpetuating this trend -- how often have you seen Miley with her dog of the week? (She must have like 10 now?) Or Paris with her signature chihuahua? But we as a general public DO have brains. And consciences, supposedly. Owning a dog should be associated with responsibility and a unique bond... not the following of a fad.

This isn't a post to tell you to go vegetarian or learn to talk to apes or join PETA (because in fact, i think PETA is little better than Satan's secretary...) because let's face it: even my own ego is not inflated enough to think that anyone will take my internet advice. It is, however, a blog to say that i find it completely appalling that we let this trend continue when we could choose to reverse it. That's all.