As I scrolled through the Op-ed section on the New York Times website something caught my eye. In "Animals Legal Rights Come from An Evolving Relationship With Our Pets" by David Grimm, He discusses today's status of common household pets, particularly focused on cats and dogs. Humans have developed very close relationships with their pets. People all over the world have excepted animals into their families and treat them as such. I had a conversation last week with a friend who brought up a dog hotel in New York were people spend hundreds of dollars fro their dogs to stay in rooms with flat screen TVs and queen sized beds. That concept seems ridiculous to me but really helps put into perspective the amount of luxury we give our pets.
Recently a man named Andre Rodinson from Brooklyn was arrested for killing a cat. Grimm discusses the matter briefly but mentions that "Dogs have even been assigned lawyers in a few recent court cases." We managed to work in more and more laws and rights against the abuse of pets and animals in general.
I am a dog owner myself and I am all for stricter laws on animal abuse. I think its a great thing that people create such string bonds with their pets, and its nice to see people caring so deeply for them. That said I would never spend 300 dollars so my dog could spend the night in a ridiculous hotel with a flat screen TV.
I agree that animal rights are important, but instead of putting hundreds of dollars into luxury dog items, I think Americans need to give more attention to real animal rights issues like animal testing and factory farming.
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