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Article about cats & dogs in the US
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... I saw a short article in a local paper today about American attitudes about cats. (I think it was limited to the US just because that's where the writer is from. I would not assume that his conclusions can be applied directly to other countries.) The idea was the cats are America's second-class pets, according to mainstream social attitudes in this country. Although cats are the #1 pet in terms of numbers, that doesn't mean they're the most highly respected pet. I've long suspected this myself. I think a lot of people get cats because either they live in a situation where they can't have a dog, or, even more likely, they're too busy. And they figure that a cat doesn't need much attention. You know, dogs are a lot of work, but cats are "easy". (Anyone who says this has never tried to groom or give medication to a cat!) The information was sad - apparently dogs get vet care in far higher percentages than cats do. Cats are surrendered to shelters more often than dogs, and for much more "stupid" reasons (according to the writer - but I agree). Cats who end up in shelters, who have obviously been someone's pet, are far less likely to be reunited with their humans than dogs who are in shelters under the same circumstances. Other bits of evidence of this differential were things like popular images of cats vs dogs - cats are portrayed as sneaky or lazy, dogs as loyal and heroic. It's much more common to see harm coming to a cat in fiction than to a dog, as though they're more dispensable. Also, there's a whole lot more veterinary research done on canine health than feline - this has been true historically and is still true now. The article didn't deny that millions of people adore cats. But in spite of that, the average person on the street thinks more highly of dogs than cats. I myself have always noticed something on Animal Planet. When watching either one of the animal cop shows, or veterinary ER, I've noticed that the tone of the narration, the discussions among the people involved (animal officers or vets and techs), and even the background music all have a different quality and convey a different attitude, depending on whether the animal is a dog or cat. For example, the crimes against dogs are almost always portrayed as terrible and serious (which they are), but that isn't always the case with cats. In situations where no crime has been committed, such as a dog stuck in deep ditch or a cat stuck in the tree, the former is usually shown with the seriousness of rescuing a human. But the latter - cat in a tree - is often shown as almost humorous. This is just my own impression, but I've formed this opinion over several years of watching these shows. Oh, a word of warning for anyone who likes horror/suspense/thriller type movies: DO NOT see a movie called "Untraceable". It's about a sadist who tortures someone in front of a camera hooked up to a website. Every time someone clicks on the link to the site, the person's pain increases and they come closer to dying. To introduce us to this character, they show him trying out his technique on - you guessed it - a kitten. I didn't read the details about that - I saw something about "kitten torture" and sailed right on by that paragraph. Just thought I'd spread the word, in case this type of movie appeals to anyone. (I'm glad it didn't appeal to me - I do like scary movies, but that one sounded too gruesome.) Ben and I started watching that DVD. As soon as the scene came on I knew what was going to happen so I screamed at Ben to turn it off. However, he's one of those people who can rationalize that it's not really happening and it doesn't disturb him. Before he could get the words, "It's just a movie" out of his mouth, I ran out of the room. However, even in another room I could hear that awful screaming and my guts were twisting and I was hyperventilating and becoming hysterical. I put my hands over my ears and started screaming as loud as I could until her turned off the DVD player. I was still sick at my stomach for the rest of the day and I can still, weeks later, hear those horrible screams in my head. Whatever you do, *DON'T* put yourself through that experience with this piece-of-crap movie! Hugs, CatNipped -- Joyce ^..^ (To email me, remove the X's from my user name.) |
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