In an effort to fully enjoy the spooks and creeps of Halloween, what are people left to do? Many dress up and attend Halloween parties (some scheduled a few weeks before the actual day). Others put up and leave up halloween decorations for at least a week about the festivities have come to end. But there’s a new tradition that I can’t seem to wrap my head around. People are extending their own celebratory practices. . . to their unwilling pets! I’m talking pet costumes.
I think I saw more poodles dressed as princesses and bull-dogs dressed as cowboys than I did actual children this week. St. Bernards, labs, golden retrievers, chihuahuas, and terriers were all paraded by their owners at a local Harvest Festival. Despite the array of bright, sparkly, and elaborate costumes, there seemed to be one thing in common- these animals looked unsurprisingly distraught.
It’s bad enough we put our pets in dog purses and pouches, parade them around like children in strollers, and swaddle them in chest slings. But how have things gotten so wrong that we feel compelled to dress up our pets like disgruntled children, or in the vestiges of our long-lost childhoods? On some level, isn’t this abuse? Shouldn’t owners be hauled off to jail?
I want to yell, “Let my pups go! Stop marching them down the street in tutus and crowns, witches’ hats and broom sticks. Stop turning them into pumpkins, clowns, ballerinas, and dare I say, other animals.” I saw one bulldog trudging along dressed as a panda! Are we inadvertently giving our pets an identity complex? Are we projecting our own insecurities about looks and appearances onto our pets? I saw two schnauzers decked out as witches barking wildly at a chihuahua impersonating a fairy. I couldn’t help but wonder, Was it a possible showdown between the good witch and bad witches of Oz, or was this a veritable gripe between animals about the inane behaviors of humans? (I’d like to say a little bit of both.)
Overall, it boils down to one message: Live and let live. Let them be dogs. Let them wear only their most natural costumes! Stop treating them like dolls! Let them get dirty, sniff other dogs’ butts. I mean, we’re denying them their DNA, right? And we wonder what dogs would say if they could talk. Why are we giving them more ammunition against us? Don’t we give them enough to complain about already? Our insane pet-transporting habits, or the fact that we fret over having a sweater or rain coat that fits our pets snuggly are completely adequate material.
I love dogs. I really do. That’s why I think we need to give them as much respect as they give us. They love us. They’re loyal. They’re honest. Cuddly, cheerful and kind, most of the time. But it’s situations like this one-- when I see people abusing their pets with tight waist bands holding yards of taffeta-- that I start to understand how Planet of the Apes could happen. Dogs, apes, cats, could all take over the world, and they would have good reason to do so. When will we learn? And if we ever do, will it be too late?
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