Monday, November 24, 2008

Gone to the dogs

We thought about a couple of news stories today, before landing on our winner. We were temporarily swayed by a list of the worst toys (due to potential to cause harm) only because of the inclusion of a set of plastic nunchucks on the list. However, a lot of the other toys made sense, so we backed away. Then we were lured in by the sweet promise of a potential "War on Thanksgiving" article. And yet we just couldn't find the heart to perpetuate another "holiday under attack" premise. But, thankfully, there was a glistening savior. A story that stood out above the rest.

A story of a woman constructing a $2M+ home. To her dogs' specifications.

We do understand, to an extent. After all, people love their pets, and often consider them almost like children. And it's not like the woman doesn't necessarily have the money, given that she's a surgeon (that's no guarantee that she has it, either, but she's got more chance than someone working at WalMart). It's really the fact that the entire home will be set up for the dogs that gets us.

Sure, automatic food and water dishes make great sense. Cameras to watch the pets when they're in another room even seems somewhat logical. But a saline bath specifically for them? Retinal scans to make sure that other dogs aren't sneaking in, through some sort of advanced canine identity theft procedure? That's where it seems excessive.

All we really hope, when all is said and done, is that the dogs are at least given a pet door so that they can come and go as they please. Either that, or train them how to use the toilet.

After all, we can't imagine how many newspapers would be required to cover that large of an estate.

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