1 / 9

Why you shouldn’t dress up your pet.

Why you shouldn’t dress up your pet. By Christina Ball. Traditionally, we have had specific functional clothing for animals. Ancient Greek armies put leather boots on their horses to protect their hooves. Police and rescue animals are dressed in fluorescent colors.

zoe
Download Presentation

Why you shouldn’t dress up your pet.

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Why you shouldn’t dress up your pet. By Christina Ball

  2. Traditionally, we have had specific functional clothing for animals. Ancient Greek armies put leather boots on their horses to protect their hooves. Police and rescue animals are dressed in fluorescent colors. Clothing is appropriate in circumstances where they serve a functionalpurpose(RSPCA). Weatherproofing and protection: booties, coats, sun visors Aging pets: therapy jackets (joint protection)

  3. RSPCA: Animals aren’t accessories. Pet clothing market has two aspects: practical and indulgent. • “There can be clear benefits from animals wearing some forms of clothing such as for warmth or waterproofing…However, functionality must come before fashion…” • Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

  4. Costumes are uncomfortable Costume fabric can cause a pet to overheat. Fabric can irritate the skin Limits field of vision. Can cause the animal stress. Increase agitation, defensiveness. Limits mobility. Change gait, hurt the animal’s limbs. Elastic bands may be too tight, interfering with a pet’s mobility and circulation. Small pieces can be a choking hazard. • “A pet can tolerate a lot, but some animals don’t like the tightness, weight or texture of material.” • -Patrice Ryan, animal behaviorist

  5. Pets have feelings, too Previously thought: Instant-reaction emotions. Fear, sadness, joy, anger Dr. Bekoff’s research on canine behavior Studied coyotes, wolves and dogs. Research has shown that dogs have feelings of embarrassment, shyness, and humiliation. (Draper, 2009). Dr. Range’s studies have demonstrated that dogs can have secondary emotions. Jealousy: Dogs will stop performing a task (such as a handshake) when not rewarded if another dog is present and is rewarded when performing the task. (BBC, 2008). Dr. Silva’s research on empathy in dogs. Previous studies: Stress hormones rise and fall in direct relation to their owner’s, contagious yawning. Dogs are social animals, they express sympatheticconcern for humans as well as other animals. (Silva & de Sousa, 2011). “They feel everything. And they know when people laugh at them.”-Sonya Fitzpatrick, animal communicator

  6. Animals don’t like to stand out Wild heritage: Feeling of exposure Wolves that are singled out from the pack more likely to be attacked. - Tamar Geller, animal behaviorist(Berkowitz, 2010). Insecurity “…when it comes to communicating with other dogs – it is hard enough for dogs to ‘read’ the body language between different breed types. Therefore, potentially there is a problem here. A ‘dressed up’ dog may not be understood and another dog may be aggressive towards it…” -Pippa Hutchison, clinical animal behaviorist “These are pets I’ve seen since baby teeth days that suddenly act very strangely when a pair of faux antlers is perched atop their heads. They dive for cover, bolt out of the room or cover their face. Some even turn nasty.” -Dr. Ernie Ward, veterinarian

  7. In conclusion… • Pet costumes can endanger the health and well-being of animals. • Animals have emotions that need to be taken into consideration. • Animals need to be able to communicate with one another. • Money can be better spent.

  8. References BBC. December 8, 2008. Test reveals dogs’ jealous side. BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7771259.stm Berkowitz, L. October 20, 2010. Experts differ on whether Halloween costumes embarrass dogs. Chron.com. Retrieved from http://www.chron.com/life/article/Experts-differ-on-whether-Halloween-costumes-1609239.php Cute Overload. Retrieved from http://cuteoverload.com/ Draper, E. May 16, 2009. Dogs have souls, but you already knew that. The Seattle Times. Retrieved from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009226383_dogs16.html OneKind. 2010. Empathy in dogs. OneKind.org. Retrieved from http://www.onekind.org/be_inspired/animal_sentience/empathy/empathy_in_dogs/ Silva, K & de Sousa, L. February 2, 2011. ‘Canis empathicus’? A proposal on dogs’ capacity to empathize with humans. Biology Letters. Retrieved from http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2011/02/15/rsbl.2011.0083 Uptown Dog Club. 2005. Dog halloween costume checklist. Dog Birthdays & Parties. Retrieved from http://www.dogbirthdaysandparties.com/doghalloweencostumes.htm Ward, E. Do dogs get embarrassed? Dr. Ernie Ward.Retrieved from http://www.drernieward.com/do-dogs-get-embarrassed/ Why do people dress up their pets? BBC News Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16943314

More Related