[Nepeta]

For everyone waxing nostalgic about the good old days when people didn't concern themselves over the fate of their animals, you're welcome to return to such an age...

An age when pets without pedigrees had less value in a court of law than a cinder block, and one spouse could terrorize the other by killing or threatening to kill a pet. Now, such behavior is recognized for what it is.

An age when animal abuse was seen as unpleasant, but perhaps amusing to certain people. Now we know that creeps who torment and kill small animals sometimes graduate to killing people, and doing horrible things to the neighbor's animals is now a crime in many places.

A slightly earlier age, perhaps, when it was claimed that animals did not feel pain as humans did. Black Beauty was originally written to protest this belief.

People reveal their character in the way they treat others under their control, or dependent on them. The celebrity who is needlessly rude to service people is rightly considered churlish. The child abuser--and I mean real child abuse--is not tolerated anymore. Beating your wife or ignoring your ailing grandfather is not tolerated. And the people who abuse their pets, the ones who leave their dogs out in subzero weather, the ones who leave their horses only green water to drink should not be tolerated, either.

Making provisions for your animals is just an extension of the care you gave them in life, not an indicator of cultural doom.

[TexasRepublic]

+1

[Innovative]

“Making provisions for your animals is just an extension of the care you gave them in life, not an indicator of cultural doom.”

Excellent post!