[DouglasKC]

They’re pets! When they fall ill with life ending illness’s, put them down. If you noticed they only asked this demographic. ***To explore the idea, her team focused on 238 adult pet owners. Nearly all were white and female, at an average age of 48. *** Wow!

A 100% agree. I'm going to get flamed on this but here's the deal with pets.

There is a tendency for people today to treat their pets like children. Fur babies. I'm my pets dad-mom-grandma-etc. Pets are family members.

At first glance one might say "So what?"

But what this does is cheapen and trivialize REAL family relationships. We've elevated our relationship with pets to the same level as family relationships. That's not how it's supposed to be. Our relationship with family should be a huge magnitude greater than our relationships with animals. If it's not we need to focus on our family and lose less focus on our pets.

But here's why this doesn't happen. It's HARD to have and build relationships with people. It REQUIRES us to change. In human relationship we have to give and take. We have to change obnoxious or wrongful behavior in order not to offend others. We have to alter our thoughts and minds to build solid relationships.

We don't have to do any of that with pets. Pets treat us mostly the same no matter what. Angry at our pet? We can be angry every day and yell at our pet and that pet is going to forget about it the next day....heck even the next hour.

Fart in front of your pet they don't care. Swear in front of your pet they don't give a crap. Pick your nose. Scratch your butt. Yell at your kids. Curse out the mailman. Your pet isn't offended by any of that. There's no need to alter your personality of habits with a pet.

In other words, in a self obsessed hedonistic society lavishing all our love and attention on pets is the PERFECT way to remain selfish and hedonistic.

[Responsibility2nd]

But what this does is cheapen and trivialize REAL family relationships. We've elevated our relationship with pets to the same level as family relationships. That's not how it's supposed to be. Our relationship with family should be a huge magnitude greater than our relationships with animals. If it's not we need to focus on our family and lose less focus on our pets.

 

Amen. When Aunt B claimed that caring for a pet was "MUCH worse" than caring for her own "ailing old parents"; that's when I lost it and called her "nuts".

[Pirate Ragnar]

“In other words, in a self obsessed hedonistic society lavishing all our love and attention on pets is the PERFECT way to remain selfish and hedonistic. “

Balderdash.

[RedStateRocker]

“But what this does is cheapen and trivialize REAL family relationships”

If your family is either dead or distant in both senses of the word your perspective is different.

All my family is my wife and my dog, cat and parrot.