Ronnie on Politics

Every year thousands more are born. We bring them home and smother them with love and attention. We buy them their favorite foods and little toys to play with.

When they grow up, many of them will take on important jobs at institutions such as hospitals, and nursing homes, while others will take on more dangerous jobs with police departments and the military. Some will even find themselves in prison.

While many will stay at home, and live pampered lives, even more will find themselves homeless, roaming the streets in search of food and shelter.

No, I’m not talking about our children; I’m talking about our pets.

Today I am going to write about the many uses we have for pets in our society and the way in which we treat them.

The origin of domesticated cats and dogs, or pets as they are more commonly called today, remains unknown.

One theory of how cats were domesticated is that cats may have started the process of domestication without the help of people. Cats might have acted as four legged mousetraps around farms and in the storage grain bins around settlements. If the cats only killed the pests and did not try to attack people then the people might have decided to let the cats hunt in their storage areas.

We do know that cats were kept as pets in Ancient Egypt around 2,00 BC. So they have been around for a long time.

The dog was the first animal to be domesticated, about 10,000 years ago. It is widely believed that dogs are descendants of either a wild dog, or a smaller wolf species, which are now extinct.

Regardless of how or when dogs and cats were domesticated, one fact we do know is that, pet ownership plays a very important part in our daily lives.

According to a survey conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturing Association in 1999:

• There are approximately 62,400,000 owned dogs in the United States.


• There are approximately 64,250,000 owned cats in the United States.

There are many ways that our society benefits from pet ownership.

They fulfill a basic human desire by offering unconditional love and affection. Who among us has not heard the phrase, puppy love?

They make us feel needed and important by their dependence on us. They provide friendship and companionship when we are lonely.

Best of all, our little animal friends can help us stay healthy and happy.

Petting an animal is a rhythmic, repetitive activity that has a meditative effect on us.

When I was a Drill Sergeant in the Military, I keep a fish tank behind my desk. When I felt myself getting stressed out I would turn around in my chair and watch the little fish swim around. It had a very calming effect on me.

Pets provide many other useful purposes in our society.

Seeing Eye Dogs are used to lead the blind.

Canine Search and Rescue teams use dogs during times of disaster to search for survivors.

Police K9 units use dogs to search for explosives, control crowds, and to track, and subdue criminals.

However, all is not well in the world of pet ownership.

As a nation, we claim to love cats and dogs. Millions of households have pets and spend billions of dollars a year on pet supplies and food. But as a nation, we should also be ashamed that another statistic runs into the millions each year.

According to the Humane Society of the United States:

• There are over 8 million cats and dogs entering shelters each year.


• Over 4 million of them are euthanized by the shelters.

The problem is simple: we have too many dogs and cats. We throw away pets as if they were just garbage. The most common solution to this problem is to kill the extras or the unwanted. This solution has been considered acceptable, as though there were no other way to control the crisis. And we spend over $1 billion dollars every year destroying “mans best friend.” To many this is known as the “Hidden holocaust”.

For many of the animals the nightmare doesn’t end at the local animal shelter. Many city’s and counties have pound seizure ordinances. If an animal is not claimed by its owner or adopted within five days, the shelter is required by law to turn the animals over to laboratories for experimentation.

And where do you think that little doggie in the pet store window comes from?

The vast majority of dogs sold in pet shops, up to half a million a year, are raised in “puppy mills,” which are breeding kennels located mostly in the Midwest. They are notorious for their cramped, crude, and filthy conditions and their continuous breeding of unhealthy and hard-to socialize animals.

Between unsanitary conditions at puppy mills and poor treatment in transport, only half of the dogs bred at mills survive to make it to market.

By not spending money for proper food, housing, or veterinary care, the breeders, brokers, and pet shops ensure maximum profits.

Cat breeding occurs on a smaller scale, but under similar conditions.

Many cat owners allow their cats to roam free. Cats allowed to roam as well as strays are often hit by cars or die from disease, starvation, poisons, attacks by other animals, or mistreatment by humans. Free-roaming and stray cats also prey on small mammals, songbirds, and other wildlife.

There is one other very serious problem concerning pet ownership. And that’s dog attacks.

According to a report issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention: From 1979 through 1994, attacks by dogs resulted in 279 deaths of humans in the United States.

As you can see we have many uses for pets. However people need to understand that these animals are not just possessions or products to be bought, sold, or tossed out when you get tired of them.

These animals have emotions, feelings, and can feel pain in much the same way as you and I.

We do not really own these animals. They are our companions.