All Dogs Are Not Born Equal

Just found out that there is a new cable TV station that caters to dogs, called DogTV in San Diego. It’s mainly for the canines that are left at home while their owners are at work.
The programs are to soothe the dogs that may suffer from separation anxiety and to keep them relaxed and entertained. Researchers have discovered that dogs like shows with other dogs in them, shots of dogs playing and chasing balls.

Poor Asian dogs! They don’t have a cable network devoted exclusively for their entertainment. The western dogs really have it good, with a country club that provides day care while their owners are at work. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, Americans spent more than $45 billion on their pets in 2009 and a growing number of American households with pets are spending more than $4 billion annually on grooming, boarding and doggie day care.

Most Asian dogs are kept to do guard duty. By day they are caged and by night let loose to roam the house compound to guard the premises against intruders. The luckier ones especially the smaller ones may be let into the house, there again to do guard duty. Their teenage owners may play with them in their spare time, otherwise they are left pretty much alone, usually asleep or looking bored.

Worse are the non-pedigree canines that were bought because they looked cute when they were puppies but lost their looks as they grew older. When their owners get fed up with them, they are simply abandoned and left to fend for themselves.

Those who do not want their pedigree pets anymore will leave them at pet shelters. Often the numbers are too many to handle and they have to be put down.

Of late there have been campaigns to educate the public about pet keeping and pleas to adopt these abandoned pets instead of purchasing from pet shops.

Pets are not fads but meant to be life-long companions, to be cherished and not ill-treated or treated with indifference.

However, there appears to be a growing trend for the affluent young in the cities to pamper their pets to the extent of not only sending them for grooming but also dressing them up, just as one would dress a child, complete with accessories. Truly, not all dogs are born equal.

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