Taking This "I Love My Pet" Thing Too Far

Welcome to Chateau le Bark. Two stories and A/C.

Let me start this post by saying, "I love animals." As long as they're not trying to eat me, I'm cool with them. I don't go where they are and I don't want them up in my area. I especially love domesticated animals. I'm not a huge fan of cats, but I like dogs. Having said that, some people just take their love of animals way too far...

Some ladies an acquaintance knows showed their love of animals recently, but at the expense of a co-worker. One of the ladies (we'll call her "Jane") of the group lost a child via miscarriage. Of course any time someone experiences that, it can be very devastating, especially to the mother. Well, of course the other ladies in the group offered Jane verbal sympathies to help her overcome her loss.

Weeks later, another one of the ladies in the group (we'll call her "Jill") experienced a loss. Her dog, of almost 17 years, had died. Not only did Jill receive the sympathy of her co-workers, they also chipped in to take her out to lunch and bought her a sympathy card.

A great gesture, but what about Jane? Why did she only get a pat on the back for the loss of her child yet Jill got lunch and a card? How do you think Jane felt knowing that all she got was essentially a hug, now these heifers are showing up at her desk asking her to chip in on someone's lunch over Fifi?

Dogs don't even have to walk any more.

Another example: there is a charity located in Jackson that has a bin for clothing that can be donated to an abused women's shelter. The bin normally contains used clothing for women and children who may live in the shelter while they try to restart their lives abuse-free. Directly next to this bin, is another bin owned by the Animal Rescue League. This bin accepts donations to animal shelters to provide the animals with blankets, toys, food, etc.

A friend of my uncle's works for the women's shelter. He says that whenever he goes down to collect the items from the women's bin, he notices how much fewer the items are in comparison to the animals' bin. He says the animals' bin is always full and even has items stacked around the bin because they couldn't fit inside. Most of the items still have price tags on them because they're brand new.

Bottom line is: it bothers me a bit to know that there are some people in the world who care about animals more than humans. I asked a Facebook question once about "if you were trapped on an island with a stranger and your dog and you could only save one, which would it be?"

I was astounded by the number of people who said they would save their dog over the stranger. Despite the fact that it's a human life, it carried no value to them. The excuses were, "well, dogs are like family members" or "dogs are so loyal."

Look, I understand the importance of a pet. I had a dog for 12 years that died when I was 15 and it really weighed heavily on me. I'm not numb to the fact that pets are a significant part of our lives. But, I think that if a person is willing to put a pet's well-being over a human's (excluding abusers of children who have no value to society in my opinion), then I can't bring myself to understand that line of thinking.

What's your take on this? If you're an animal lover and you think I'm off base, then I would welcome your argument to convince me to think otherwise.