Negative Effects Of Being A Pet Peeve

“Our love affair with our pets has gotten out of control” (Bilger 10). Burkhard Bilger is the author of the literary non-fiction piece, “The Last Meow”, that was published in The New Yorker September 8, 2003. He explains the extent people are willing to go for their animals and pay any amount of money no matter how much it may cost. According to Bilger, pet owners spend about forty seven billion dollars a year on their pets, that ranges from food all the way to surgeries.

Like hotels instead of kennels, braces to fix crooked teeth and other necessities that pet owners believe that they should have for their pet. For example in article “The Last Mewo” the Levering's paid fifteen thousands dollars even if they are in debt, low income, and going through health problem itself. This show us how they use money to save their pets just for few weeks instead of using the money for their own family issues. The money should go to those animals with actual necessities not the ones who are on the verge of death. Animal medicine and veterinary care is becoming pricier; also because our economy is going drastically down, prices of food, clothes, and medication is going up.

Countless lives locked away in cages and forgotten about have overwhelmed our society, it has left blood stains on our history as a species and if history has taught us anything, it’s that we have a choice to change our ways of adjusting to situations. A war which was fought in means of ending such criminal acts, yet we as human beings do little to nothing to end the terrible crimes of animal deaths in shelters. Between these problems lies a terrible truth, nearly every year, almost eight million cats and dogs have been placed in shelters around the world. Out of these very large numbers, half will be euthanized. That equals to one animal being put down every 8 seconds.

Animals have always been a huge part of my life as long as i can remember. I have had animals since i was a baby and still do. I care about my animals and do not mind spending money on them when absolutely needed. I feel as if they depend on us as their owners to help them and that is exactly what i do. In Burkhard Bilger’s article, “The Last Meow”, he expresses his opinion about how people spend too much money on their pets.

The Last Meow Persuasive Essay Americans now are spending way too much money on their pets. In our society, people nowadays are going overboard on what they consider necessary for their animals. People are spending money in the thousands just for their pets to have a few more months of agony and pain. Some people even care more about their animals over their own family.

As I drive around Phoenix with my puppy best friends, Sophie and Paco, there is not a single worry in the world for us. Sophie, with her long, brown, sun kissed fur, bobs her head out the car window as she enjoys the fresh breeze flowing through her fur. Paco rests his little head on the window that is halfway rolled down, as his wet tongue absorbs the wind. On our weekly car rides, my best friends and I pass by a building that has signs with dogs and cats all over. This building is a shelter for animals that are not so fortunate like my two furry friends.

In the first place, most people are uneducated. Being inadequate to care for a pet is considered neglect, which is a form of animal abuse. Caring for an animal not only means nourishing the pet, it also means providing it with a bed, shelter, proper grooming, and cleaning

Mistreating animals as if one does not care for them is the same as mistreating humans. By mistreating poor doubtless animals it affects them and can sometimes lead into suffering stress. If humans are able to protect each other from harm, then why cannot animals do the same thing by having rights? This question is usefully asked for those who try to protect the rights of animals. In the article Of Primates and Personhood the author Ed Yong, a science journalist, contends, “I feel we should extend rights to a wide range of nonhuman animals… ‘all creatures that can feel pain should have a basic moral status’”

But on the other hand, most people do it because they accept their pets as another member of their family. For example the story about the Levering’s and their pet represents the problem of people spending large amounts of money for medical care for their pets when kids may go without even basic care. In “The Last Meow” they talk about Lady the cat and her owners, Karen and Shawn Levering. Bilger states that the couple is pretty much in debt, and they are still thinking about their cat before themselves. Despite of making only around $27,000 per year, they are still willing to spend over $15,000 to perform Lady’s surgery (Bilger 2).

People need to start spaying and neutering their pets pets. They need to stop because it is an overpopulation of domestic pets, and if they spay and neuter them, that would help a lot. Cats and dogs produce a good number of puppies and kittens. All of those is not going to get a home. This is why we need to spay and neuter our pets.

People will go and pay top dollar for very expensive medical procedures. If you go down to Hollywood or Beverly Hills you’ll see pets in expensive sweaters and carriages being paraded around town. Pet owners are asked to pay half their yearly income to save their pets, and they’ll go through with it. Pets have been thrown into the world of fashion and materialistic things becoming necessities. Pet owners go out and buy cashmere sweaters modified purses to carry their little poodles or chiuauas.

Every year, approximately three million pets in the United States are euthanized because no one wants to give them a home, or because they are homeless and shelters have run out of space for them (Weisbaum par. 3). Spaying and neutering is the simple solution to all of this. If all pet owners spayed and neutered their animals, there would be a very significant decrease in the population of stray animals running around and therefore fewer animals in shelters. In addition, the number of animals being euthanized each year would also decrease in numbers. Spaying and neutering is recommended by many surgical center owners such as Dr. Cathrine Darr, because it is much more humane than seeing unwanted dogs and cats die of starvation, get euthanized

In Jeremy Rifkin’s article, “A Change of Heart about Animals”, proves his statement that many of our fellow creatures also “feel pain, suffer and experience stress, affection, excitement and even love..”. I agree that animals share similar feelings as us, and I believe that they should be treated in a way that they can feel comfortable and care in their surroundings. Just because animals may not be completely the same as us, that should not give the right to a human to mistreat and abuse of an animal’s life. Animals can be well treated and cared for without giving them the right to be treated as a human.

Animals are being abused everyday and they are not taken into consideration when you see them being abused. They are suffering and they are being abused everyday and you all need to stop it. Animal cruelty is not something that just goes away the person doing it will keep doing it until someone stops them. Everyone needs to stop animal abuse and if everyone starts to make a difference others will to. Animals need help with this and everyone needs to help them.

Imagine coming home after a tough day and being greeted at the door by your furry four-legged friend wrapping itself around your legs with a smile from ear to ear. There is no doubt that pets bring about bundles of joy, but dogs also provide stress relief, motivation to get active, lessons on responsibility, as well as another reason to smile on a daily basis. We all want the best for our kids; it is obvious that owning a dog has never-ending positive impacts on a child’s life. Owning a dog reduces stress, teaches responsibility, encourages exercise, and provides unconditional love to our beloved children.