The really sad thing about keeping animals for personal entertainment purposes, is what it says about us humans.

CJ asks:

>>Why is a working dog not a slave when a pampered pooch purportedly is?<<

There seems to me to be a just a little more dignity in the training of guide dogs.

For people, that is.

I agree that for the dog, it is pretty much the same deal.

Leaving aside for a moment the concept of slavery, is there not a fairly major difference between the relationship between a shepherd and his sheepdog, and Paris Hilton and her chihuahua?

>>Are you proposing that every bitch or canine male "plaything" on the planet be sterilised? If not, what do you envisage happening to unwanted pups?<<

That would be a possibility. But if you make the trade in domestic pets illegal, there would be no value in breeding them. Stray animals would necessarily be put down, as often happens today.

In twenty years, we wouldn't give it another thought. Keeping animals for personal amusement would become just one of those weird passing fads that our ancestors used to indulge in. Like mullet haircuts.

Did you have a mullet when you went fishing, Protagoras?