My own significant other of the Canis lupus familiaris
variety is here for her cameo appearance;
This is sausage face. Her face is not the sausage feature
after which she is named but is merely the face of the attached body which is
distinctly sausage like. Her official title is Belle-Feline but has other aliases such as sneaky, sausage face,
sausage roll, belle the smell, creepy sneak and weasel features.
Generally everything she does is sneaky due to her weasel
like nature. She enjoys scrounging for the tiniest of scraps with all of her
efforts. And absolutely loves whatever it is you have.
Miniature Daschunds
have been bred to have these distinctive features as it better enables them to
hunt badgers down badger holes. Belle has recently developed a newer adaptation
into converting these inbred skills into ‘bin hunting’. Distinctly more
rewarding and less dangerous for ones sneaky face;
I am sure many people have come home to such things if not
worse. So why do we even keep pets?
“Dogs have important
jobs, like barking when the doorbell rings, but cats have no function in a
house whatsoever.”
~ W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog's Purpose
There must be advantageous reasons why humans keep members
of another species for an extended period of time purely for entertainment.
Apart from a few inter-species friendships developed by animals in zoos, there
is no conclusive evidence of this happening among any other animals in nature.
Here are a few contenders in the debate;
Religious – Keeping
pets isn’t a modern phenomenon, as
early as 3500BC animals were kept domestically by the ancient Egyptians. Dogs
were revered as a symbol of the Jackal god Anubis. Cats were also worshipped
religiously; they were esteemed as demi-gods and were property of the divine
pharaoh.
Practicality – Moving
through the ages it can be considered almost instinct to use animals for doing
things we cannot do ourselves. For example, horses have a use in work for being
used to pull carts for transportation of people and goods. Cats are also useful
for controlling rodent populations.
There is also the obvious need of keeping animals like
cattle, sheep, chickens and pigs for foodstuffs such as meat, eggs and milk.
Even in modern times animals have a practical arm in the
everyday lives of many people like sheep dogs, guide dogs and sniffer dogs.
Status Symbol – Pets
can be considered almost as a supreme ornament. Not very long ago only the
wealthy could afford to have an extra mouth to feed. In developing countries
now this is still obvious, people who can’t afford it do not introduce a furry
member of the family for fun.
Exotic pets are also a status symbol of the good condition
of your bank balance. Queen Elizabeth I had a Guinea pig, you didn’t just go
and buy one in Pet World then, she was probably the owner of the only guinea
pig in Britain at the time.
Although it isn’t entirely common now, in history, hunting
for sport was a favourite past time of the upper classes. For this purpose they
kept dogs, horses and of course game specifically for their entertainment.
Birds also have the X Factor for entertainment, having a delightful
rowdy canary would be enjoyable before the invention of the radio!
Of course none of this really answers why 48% of homes in
Britain, 20% of Japanese and 63% of American and Australian homes have at least
one pet. People aren’t picking up all that poop for nothing!
“Dogs are the leaders
of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the
other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge.”
~ Jerry Seinfeld
Psychological – Although
anyone who has ever even seen one knows animals have feelings, humans are the
only animals to have such a massive range of emotions linked to our
consciousness.
Our desire to own and care for these creatures must be
rooted in our emotions. It’s an absolutely simplistic answer but is just a
simple fact, we have a pet because we love them and they love us back. Animals
have shifted from food to friend.
No human on this earth is as unfailingly excited to see me
when I come home as my Belly Belle.
Interestingly, animals respond better to sounds ending in ‘eeee’,
probably explains why when I shout “BELLE-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” down the hall she
comes bounding down like a prize horse in the Grand National.
Finally,
Having a pet around gives us a living presence that makes us
feel comforted and wanted, they give all their time and affection without any ulterior
motive, all for only the very basics of life in return. Also, dogs like to wag
their tails and not their mouths which is an advantage over many human
companions.
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's
soul remains unawakened.”
~ Anatole France
I will try to remind myself of this as I clear up the remainder of
the bin contents from the floor...
You are nobody until somebody a sausage dog loves you.
