ClayPaws® Connection

Pets in your wedding?

OK... so, I'm getting married this fall, and so I have weddings on the brain! I came across this photo of   Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz's recent wedding and it got me to thinking!

I love their dog - I think he's totally adorable. However, I don't love their dog all dressed up and part of their wedding party.

I am an animal lover - I think that much is obvious. However, there is something about involving pets in weddings that just bugs me! Maybe it's because I have only cats. I just can't see my grumpy gray letting me put a collar on him and asking him to walk down the aisle with us!

When I worked at the Argus Institute at Colorado State University, one of the photos we used often in Human-Animal Bond presentations was a couple with their dogs at their wedding. The dogs had these huge peach colored bows on and just looked silly! I'm not sure why I think that, but it just rubs me the wrong way for some reason! It's good that you love your pets, but to quote from a fun movie... "We can love our pets, we just can't LOVE our pets!" (from The Truth About Cats and Dogs)  

What do you think? Is involving your pet in your wedding ceremony something you have done, or would do? Do you have an opinion about this trend of having pets in your ceremonies? I love my kitties so much, but I draw the line at having them in our wedding! (Our wedding will be far from our home, so we couldn't do it that way even if I wanted to - or even if our cats would cooperate!)

(photo from People.com)

My Reaction to Oprah's Puppy Mill Show

So, I'm a little late in writing about Oprah's puppy mill show from last week. I just had the chance to watch it on tape yesterday.

As I expected, it was difficult to watch. I'm a softy. I don't like seeing anyone (animals or humans!) suffering, and it was painfully obvious that so many of these poor animals were suffering. Many of them had never experienced a life other than that in a cage. Several of the dogs that Main Line Animal Rescue actually rescued during the taping of the show were scared to walk on solid ground because they were so used to their cage bottoms.

As I watched this show, I realized something that had not occurred to me before. When I was a teenager (maybe 13 or so) my dad brought home a little standard chihuahua named Little One. He was visiting family in California and found her there. He brought her home to Colorado with him. I wasn't thrilled with his choice in dogs at the time because she was so scared that she wouldn't even pay attention to me. She wouldn't play with me... She loved my dad, however. I think I knew this, but seeing Oprah's show drove it home. Our Little One had been a breed dog. She had spent her entire life in a cage having puppies. She wouldn't play with me because she didn't know how. No one had ever given her any attention!

She was about 7 when my dad rescued her. She lived with us for about 7 years and in that time showed herself to be a very smart and loving dog. She learned how to play with me, and even initiated it sometimes. She was still very scared of many things, but she learned to trust us. She was undoubtedly my dad's dog! When she was about 14, she contracted cancer in her mammary glands. It was pretty far advanced when we learned of it, and we chose not to do aggressive treatment. She was euthanized soon after the cancer was found.

I remembered Little One fondly while watching this show, and was so glad to know that we had a part in making one little dog's life better! I don't have dogs now, but if I ever do again, I know they will be rescue dogs. I appreciated that Oprah said the same thing for herself! Knowing that so many lovely animals live in such deplorable conditions makes me immensely sad! I will do, in my own small way, what I can to help. (We have 5 kitties - 4 of the 5 were rescued in some way! My grumpy Oscar wasn't a rescued kitten - only a "free to good home" baby.)

Did you watch the show? What did you learn? Did seeing it change your thinking in any way? What will you do to help? I'd love to hear!