Reigning cats and dogs…and fish
I’ll never forget the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine a few years ago that had a picture of a goldfish in an operating room. “How unsanitary!” you say. Ah, no, let me clarify. The goldfish was the patient. Seriously.
Since then there have been more and more stories about the things people do for their pets today that would have been unthinkable not long ago. Terry Gross has recently done two “Fresh Air” shows on NPR on the topic. She interviewed a veterinarian who talked about chemotherapy and surgery for dogs and cats. She also interviewed Michael Schaffer, the author of “One Nation Under Dog”, a book that talks about such things as Ritz Carlton-esque doggy hotels.
These days dogs and cats are on anti-depressants. If they get cancer many of them get chemotherapy, or their owners spend thousands of dollars on MRIs to plan an even more expensive surgery to try to remove a tumor. They sleep with their owners and eat food that is often more expensive than the food their owner eats.
In his book, Schaffer talks about how people used to name their pets things like Fido or Spot, but now many dogs have human names like Max or Chloe. Pet cemeteries used to have gravestones that said “Here lies Fido, a faithful servant”, and now they say “Here lies Chloe Smith, our beloved baby”.
He also talks about dog hotels where people take their pets in lieu of a kennel. They can cost $100/night and have rooms with full size beds, televisions, and more. Staff members are assigned to bring in treats on a regular basis and owners can watch their dog on webcams and call to request additional treats if they think the dog looks hungry.
The New York Times article from years ago talked about the then new industry of fish surgery. Veterinary anesthesiologists trained to use water ventilators to keep the fish alive during the surgery. And we’re not talking about thousand dollar fancy fish here. These were 25 cent goldfish.
What does it say about our culture that we do all of this for our pets? Maybe it means we have come to realize that animals deserve better treatment than they often receive at the hands of humans.
But much of this goes beyond humane treatment and suggests a pathology in our relationships with each other. Humans have a visceral need to love and to be loved. If we cannot fulfill that desire with other humans, we look for it elsewhere.
To spend ten thousand dollars on imaging and surgery to give a dog another couple years of life while human beings all over the world are suffering and dying for want of a $5 medication or mosquito net is almost heartbreaking in its injustice. And it is suggestive of a pattern of isolation within our culture that has allowed us to stop feeling any ties or obligation whatsoever to other people.
Perhaps it is a yearning for simpler days that leads people to want the easy, uncomplicated, and always mutual love that dogs, cats, and maybe even fish have to offer. We are willing to spend huge sums of money and go to lengths formerly reserved only for a biological child to have a friendly face waiting for us when we get home, demanding nothing more than our affection.
Which leaves us pondering the question, what has happened to us that we are so starved for that affection?
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