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Show SILLY WOMEN AND THEIR H PETS. H H Tlic following from the pen of Ella H Wheeler Wilcox is commended to the H attention of some Salt Lake Indies. H Young Indies have attracted consid- M emhle notice in the streets and in H stores, not particularly favorable do- H tiec cither, by their silly actions to- B wards little' white dogs and other H living things they carry around with H them A little common sense, which H unfortunately is not a very common H .ittributc, is a very valuable posscs- M sinn. Mrs. Wilcox says: However tenderly you may love fl your pet animal doggie, pussic or M marmoset try to use good taste and M common sense in the expression of M that sentiment. fl "Love and sympathy for animals is M a beautiful trait. H "Christ spoke of the Great Father M as ' "noting the sparrow's fall.' " "It is told of Huddha that he found H a bruised and bleeding young lamb H being taken to the King's palace for H sacrifice. M "lie carried the poor creature tcn- M (U rly in his arms and pleaded with B the King to stop the sacrifice. And M he won the King to pass an edict for- H bidding further sacrifices. H "We cannot be too considerate, too H! kind, too loving toward our dumb L kin; but we can be ridiculous, prb- H fane, disgusting and absurd in our way of showing how we love animals. H ' "It is disgusting to hear a woman H si cak of herself as the "mother" of H a cat or dog. No animal appreciates H tins word or is made more comfort- H able or happier by hearing it. H " four-footed pet is just as well H pleased to be told' that his mistress H loves him as to be told "mother loves H her itty, pitty, doggie woggy!" H "There are names registered among fanciers for the mothers of animals. No woman would be pleased to hear herself spoken of by one of these names. Why, then, should she place herself in a position by calling the pet animal "mother's precious baby," to suggest a class of female animal to the listener? "Ne(t to a human baby there is no small creature so lovable to me as a baby kitten. 1 have lovcty 'hundreds of then up to cathood. But I would not enjoy thinking of myself as a mother cat, nor do I believe the kittens kit-tens have missed any care or affection affec-tion on my part because I made this reservation. "It would seem that a woman who had ever been the mother of a baby could not call herself mother to an animal; yet 1 hear them doing it daily. "A beautiful girl caused two young men to legard her with an expression of disgust when she called her ugly-faced ugly-faced dog her "precious sweetheart." "Sweetheart is a pretty word, and it seemed dragged down and cheap encd by its application to a homely dog. . "Besides the tasteless and extravagant extrava-gant language which women use about animals, they frequently cross over the line of decency in showing their grief for a dead pet. "Showy and expensive funerals for human beings arc relics of barbarism Hut when they are bestowed upon animals they indicate arrested development devel-opment or early stages of paresis in the 'mourner.' " "Bury your pet animal tenderly and shed tears upon his grave, dear madam, ma-dam, and plant a rosebush over him if you wish. But do not send out engraved en-graved cards of invitation to his funeral, fun-eral, nor waste precious dollars on an elaborate casket or wear crepe to show how you mourn him. "You. only make yourself ridiculous and travesty sacred things. "Life is too great and beautiful to regard it as ruined by the loss of a pet animal. "That these pets get a wonderful hold upon our affections I know from personal experinccc, and that the death of a loving animal makes a lonesome spot in a heart and a household house-hold I fully understand. "But in life and death animals should not be made to usurp the places of human beings. No four-footed four-footed creature is made happier by having its owner forget the proprieties proprie-ties or the decencies of life in its treatment, and many sensible people are annoyed and p-iincd by such exhibitions ex-hibitions of lack of taste. "Cultivate sense and reason in your love of pets." |