Peak Fido, indeed!

Last summer, the Animal Uncontrol blog offered a post with this prediction:

"[E]verything I am reading about and experiencing first hand gives me a gut feeling that the 'dog bubble' is deflating, and may be doing so at a rapid pace. I am going 'Bearish' on dog mania!"

That "Peak Fido" post has become one the AU blog's most popular.

And it seems that Peak Fido is spreading beyond the dog-blogosphere. Note this just-published article in the highly influential British newspaper, The Guardian:

Should we stop keeping pets? Why more and more ethicists say yes

The article features the research of Jessica Pierce, author of the book, Run, Spot, Run. It offers a long-overdue critique of our country's obsession with pets.

Quoting from The Guardian, and I'm using boldface to emphasize what I believe is the key point:

"From the animals that become dog and cat food and the puppy farms churning out increasingly unhealthy purebred canines, to the goldfish sold by the bag and the crickets by the box, pet ownership is problematic because it denies animals the right of self-determination. Ultimately, we bring them into our lives because we want them, then we dictate what they eat, where they live, how they behave, how they look, even whether they get to keep their sex organs."

And the hits just keep on coming. Here's another article from the Hollywood Patch:

Fido And Fluffy Are Ruining The Environment, UCLA Study Says

If you love that headline, then you'll adore the subhead: "America's beloved dogs and cats play a significant role in causing global warming, according to a new study by UCLA."

Thank you, UCLA, for pointing out what I've long thought was a blind spot in the environmental movement. I see way too many people who ride bicycles while taking their own bags to the organic foods store, and they own several dogs or cats. In many cases, they love to call attention to themselves by proclaiming that their pets are RESCUES!

I've tangled with more than a few of these people. For some reason, they don't seem to like it when I point out that their precious little fur babies are nonstop barkers that cause noise pollution.

As for these pet-questioning news stories, I hope they continue to increase. Because it's time to face the truth, even if it makes the doggie and kitty worshipers uncomfortable.