Sunday, February 14, 2010

PET INSURANCE

First let me say that I think dogs are wonderful. Cats too. Birds, rabbits, hamsters and lizards, all have been pets over the years. Once long ago EO shed tears watching "My Dog Skip" with his middle daughter (MD). MD did much better, happily munching on her popcorn while EO leaked and got snotty watching Skip die.

I will blubber buckets when Cookie's gone.

Now to the subject at hand. This weekend I read that pet insurance has become quite the vogue here in Hotville. A quote from an article caught EO's eye:

"No one would want to be in the horrible position
of not having the money to save their beloved animal."

Au contraire, EO is deliberately positioning himself to be in that position. So the quote is palpably false, since it says "no one."

Here's another quote from the article:

"I love my dogs" she said. "They are my family,
and I want to know they will be taken care of."

Help me, please, I think I am going to puke.


They're like my babies.
Photo credit.

Sorry, but my family consists of human beings. Dogs are genetically excluded. Wasn't my call.

EO tries hard not to be cranky, but merciful heavens, what is wrong with this country?


EO being cranky.
photo credit

As you may be aware by now, EO is not a fan of mandatory health insurance for America. Read about his cranky views here. Having worked closely with the federal government for 20 years, he is nervous about the government's unbridled growth and inefficiency, and our concomitant loss of freedom.

But PEOPLE. Get real. We have tens of millions of human beings that don't have health insurance. People eating cat food and taking pet antibiotics. Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare are going broke.

Could we maybe use the bucks we are paying for Tricky Woo's oral surgery to pay for people insurance?


Tricky Woo, classic symbol of pet pampering from
"All Creatures Great And Small."

While we are on the subject, we kill off 1 million American humans each year through abortion. But we are buying pet insurance so we can pay for surgery for our "beloved animal[s]" when they run in front of a car?


"It's just a dog" says Cesar Milan.

There is something bad sick about a society that pushes pet health insurance, yet has 40 million uninsured human beings and 1 million abortions a year.

Look, it's not my money. People want to buy health insurance for their dogs, that is their business.

But for the love of God please don't write happy-slappy articles gushing about how we treat our dogs better than our poor people and our babies.


5 comments:

  1. Two thumbs up. The Cesar quote was a nice touch.

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  2. "My dogs are my family"...
    Sure they are,and why not? You don't have to wait 9 months with huge hospital bills to get one, you can leave them home alone all day, train them to go to the bathroom just 2x a day,they don't sass,they don't grow up to be teenagers and they'll never be able to ask you for the keys to the car! lol

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  3. EO sees the point. There is a great deal to think about here.

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  4. I am a complete dog nut when it comes to my Seamus. I was a complete cat nut when it came to my Omar and Bailey. BUT, we ALL die. It's part of the deal. I couldn't agree with you more about any of your views above. In one, maybe two generations, we've lost our common sense completely! TIme was when people buried their children just down the street from where I live because so many didn't make it to adulthood. Apparently, there are a lot of us who don't understand what true hardship is anymore, or how to deal with loss (REAL loss).

    It is out of our abundance we have time to consider, let alone purchase, health insurance for our pets. Why not treat 'em well while they are alive, and let 'em die when their time comes with as little suffering as possible. Just my two cents.

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  5. I'm with Marylea, people are more important than animals or things. I am grateful for all of the lovely animals I have shared my life with, but I love humans and the One that loves us all. And dying is a gift I look forward to experiencing one day - I call it "the finish line!"

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