Where Pets Belong

I'm not going to talk about Petco, or Petsmart or any other pet store that welcomes pets. What I'm going to talk about is where pets, and animals in general, belong and where they do not.

I feel I should preface this with a statement regarding helper animals. I understand and appreciate the training that is involved with helper animals, and they belong with their humans in any environment. What I'm wanting to talk about it is the large population of people out there that think their animals should be with them all the time, dogs especially, but there's plenty of others.

Consider this a rant.

There is a small list of places where it is acceptable to bring your pet. The vet, the groomers, the kennel, and any recreation that specifically involves the animal (including dog parks and the homes of friends that accept your animal). You'll notice that I don't mention pet stores, and the reason behind this is simple: animals do not belong in retail space.

This is a simple statement, but one that rings true time and time again. First of all, there's no reason to bring your pet to the store unless you're passing through it to get to the vet, the groomer, the kennel, or one of those recreations I mentioned (in this case, obedience training). Your animal should never, I repeat never go shopping with you. I do not care how well behaved your dog is, I don't care how lonely your critter gets when you leave it alone, you should never bring your pet into a retail space.

This extends obviously beyond pet stores. To date, I have seen animals in Wal-Mart, Target, various department stores, Schmidt Music (yes, a small music store), office supply stores and yes, even grocery stores. Whenever I see this I find myself both saddened by the pathetic nature of the people carrying out this idiotic display, but I also find myself appalled at the fact that no one is ever willing to do anything about this.

Recently I was at a store where a woman had brought her little toy poodle, which she carried around in her little purse thing. Apparently she decided that she needed to use the rest room (the owner, that is), and for whatever she felt that it would be best to leave the dog outside of the rest room unsupervised while she went into the bathroom to do her thing. The animal then proceeded to wander around, marking its territory, and generally being a dog.

I saw another woman who brought a ferret with her into stores only to just let it run around in it's leash, leaving behind it a train of feces and urine that was left for others to clean up as the owner wouldn't dream of taking responsibility for the animal. What's worse is that after being confronted, this woman actually promised to take her business elsewhere.

Good. Take it far away from me.

Now, I don't want people to think that I'm some kind of animal hater. I have a lovely little dog, two guinea pigs, two hamsters and quite a few fish in my home. I've owned, in the past, an iguana, many more guinea pigs, a few cockatiels, and many other creatures. I love animals.

But you'll never see me bring an animal to a store. You'll also never see me bring my animals to restaurants.

I've seen animals in McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Perkins, Denny's, and others. Why this happens makes even less sense to me. Does it not occur to people that we're talking about establishments that make food, that have to be clean, and yet no one considers the implications of bring their animals into these places.

And there are plenty of people that will try to play the 'hot car' card. Oh, it's just that it's so hot out, I don't want my dog getting sick, or dying.

Guess what, if you hadn't brought the dog in the first place, you wouldn't have such a crisis. If you went somewhere that was valid for the dog to tag along, and you need to make another stop, then either leave poochy in the car, or bring them home first and go back out later.

I just don't understand the mentality of people that insist on this practice of bringing their animals with them everywhere. Often times they treat the animals like kids, as though they are trying to map their emotional want for children onto a dog.

It's strange, though, how you can mention to people that you think it's crazy to bring any animal into a retail location, and you'll get some of the longest, blankest stares. You can say that it's crazy to walk into a department store and drop trow and defaecate on the floor of mens wear, but yet bringing a living, breathing, and most importantly, pooping animal in with you while you shop for swim suits seems perfectly logical.

I just don't understand, and maybe I never will.