We visited a local pet shelter last weekend and the language used by the employees and volunteers shocked me. No, their language was not foul. Yes, they had personified the animals. They told us to look around and see if there was “somebody we liked.” We were offended by this language at two different shelters.
At the second of these shelters, they gave us a video to view before we should be allowed to adopt. In this video, new pet owners were called pet parents. Well, I have taken note in the last couple of years that folks don’t use the pet/master language as much anymore (if you know me at all, you will know that this only makes me use that language more), but calling pet owners parents is just going too far.
In case anybody (and I mean any person, not any animal) has not gotten the point yet, I shall make it explicit. Mankind was created in the image of God, the balance of the creatures were not, and the distinction is important to how we (mankind) view the world and care for it and its inhabitants. ‘Nuff said.