Woman's
best friends are well pampered
Megan Kawa
Whether it's Paris Hilton
carrying around her petite Chihuahua in her oversized purse or students calling
to talk to their dogs while on vacation, it's an undeniable fact that Americans
love their pets. Maybe a little too
much.
Going to Australia and New
Zealand for two weeks on June 2001, put senior Katrina Smart slightly on
edge. "I was really afraid my dogs
would miss me after two weeks, so I would call [home] everyday to make sure my
dogs were okay. I would call, not to
talk to my parents, but to my dogs," she said.
However, pet obsession
doesn't seem to enter Smart's mind, "I wouldn't consider myself pet
obsessed...we're a pretty dog obsessed family.
He [her dog] always sleeps with someone. If my dog were sick or something, we wouldn't go on vacation, we
would stay home to take care of my dog," she said and then reconsiders the
label. "I want to be a
veterinarian, so maybe I am a little bit pet obsessed."
On the other hand, sophomore Stephanie Jackson
considers herself plain out cat crazy.
When mentioning her pet cat, she said, "I think of her as a
friend. I have more pictures of her
than anyone."
Jackson recalls the fear she
felt after her cat, Baby, was spayed.
"It was really scary because we didn't know what was wrong with
her," she said. As it turned out,
Baby had developed internal bleeding when the incision was made, but was soon
in recovery.
Not only is Baby considered
Jackson's friend, but also a form of entertainment. Jackson said, "One of my friends was over, and we were
taking pictures of everything we were doing," and adding Baby to every
picture.
Jackson laughs as she
recalls her feline's energetic tendencies. "She has random hyper sprees
and runs into doors," she said.
Now don't go and sell any of
the teachers short when it comes to pet obsession. "We're an animal world here," said choir director, Miss
Cathy Pruitte, referring to the amount the pet love within the Marian faculty
and staff. They have plenty of their
own pet-loving stories and some even have pictures of their pets on their
desks.
Religion teacher, Miss Pat Travis'
dog, Jesse, attends doggie day care two days a week. He is usually quiet but once he enters the day care, he acts all
proud and barks loudly at the other dogs.
"He even walks different," said Travis.
Travis doesn't have a
problem with taking Jesse to the vet.
"I know it's for his own good," she said. "He just thinks the world is there to
love him" and the veterinarian is "just one more person to love
him," Travis said.
Travis tends to bring her
dog into conversations with students, however, she doesn't talk about Jesse
during class, "unless there is some connection with what is going on in
class," said Travis.
Pruitte said her dog, Madlyn
Marie, is "like attached to me...she just kinda goes with me." About once a month, she brings Madlyn Marie
to school with her to either go running around on the school land or to grab
something she needs from school.
However, Pruitte doesn't bring her dog to school when she needs to work
or study. "She's a mover...she'd
be too busy," she said.
Pruitte said that Head of
School, Miss Elizabeth Kish, doesn't mind it when she brings Madlyn Marie into
school because, "Miss Kish is a dog and cat person," said
Pruitte. "She sometimes brings her
dog to school on the weekends," Pruitte said, "so her dog doesn't have
to be alone all day." She also
allows the staff to bring their dogs to Walk-a-thon and Field Day.