My friend and I were discussing dogs and she said in her opinion they are the ultimate bling. For the most part dogs today should not exist as we have bred them to look the way they do and in nature there are only three wild dog types from which we have over-bred so many dogs. On one level I could not argue with her, in that over breeding is the cause of a great many diseases and ailments that no healthy animals should ever suffer.
Equally she is right that the styles and breeds are all our creations and we continue to breed as in America where they are now breeding domestic cats into bigger and bigger animals. This is all to do with fashion and eye candy. Then as she says the cost of producing the food to feed the animals is very high – typically the produce one dog’s food for a year emits more carbon than to run a family car. And I have to say I have always thought zoos, whilst not bling, a sign of the decadent way in which we view the animal kingdom.
This doesn’t detract from the few ways – seeing dogs, working dogs – in which we harness their innate abilities. Nor does it detract from the love and affection companionships create. But it finally explains for me why we are so easily able to kill off healthy dogs that are not being looked after by individuals.
Bling is, after all, something to throw away after a while.