Frankly I had the sarcasm switch on. I know people who treat their dogs better than kids.....
But you would be shocked at the number of people who felt free to come up and berate me because I had a harness on my youngest niece.
At two she had what you might call "poor impulse control" and I lived in fear that she would dart into traffic or run up to a strange dog or some other danger. She was quick and once she decided to run she could be half way down the block before you could move. I decided I would have rather been berated by morons then risk something happening to her.