Gone To The Dogs
Sky News has a report on some rather odd spending habits that Americans have developed in recent years. It is spending increasing amounts of money on their pets - and on some things that just make me shake my head. Take plastic surgery for a certain "condition" that owners cause in the first place. That would be replacing the dog's missing testicles with artificial implants. No, really, I wish I was making this up.
Not many dogs would pester their owners for a pair of Neuticles.
These are prosthetic testicles which owners can have implanted in their pets' scrotum after they've been castrated so as to appear "anatomically intact".
Louis Schwartz is chief of staff at the Overland Veterinary Clinic in Los Angeles which performs the procedure. He says it's particularly popular with pet owners of a certain gender.
"What I find is the vast majority are men. I can only think of one woman who has come to me to have the procedure on her pet. She was an animal control officer whose husband, because of his religious beliefs, did not want the dog to be neutered," he said.
"One weekend while he was away she came to me with the dog and years later, this man has no idea."
Having the Neuticles "placed" costs $400 and is an extreme example of the wide range of medical and cosmetic procedures now available at vet clinics which now account for $20bn of consumer spending.
Maybe this is a silly question, but why not a vasectomy for dogs if appearance is that important? There are car-shaped dog beds, acupuncture for dogs and a host of other things people are spending money on. To the tune of $41 billion a year.
Good lord. We make sure the new puppy is fed properly and is loved. Well, except by the old cat. She'll come around and tolerate the puppy eventually. But for now, she's still miffed.
By NortonPete, Thursday, 27 December , 2007 @ 8:25 pm
I have 3 old adopted dogs , 13+ years old. After years of running to the Vet over just about anything, we are caring for them by learning about old age problems through the internet, and just simple animal husbandry.
I’m not spending the thousands I spent in the past. Nature takes its course, it is neither good nor bad.
By feeblemind, Thursday, 27 December , 2007 @ 10:40 pm
Heh heh. Yes I have read about the neuticles before. I don’t know who thought them up, but they sure grasped the “sucker born every minute” concept. Vasectomy does not strike me as a good idea. The hormones are still flowing even if the sperm is not. Male dogs stay home better if they are castrated.