Too much money leads to total insanity

Although it is our first week back to school and everyone is buzzing about winter break, the awesome presents that were gifted and the exciting things to look forward to in 2012, I am not.

During my not-even-almost-long-enough winter break, I decided to treat myself to a manicure. Yes, I was at the nail salon again.  During my attempt at relaxation I was interrupted by the television mounted on the wall in front of me (I swear it is absolutely impossible to go somewhere without watching TV these days).  However, it wasn't the impossibility of escaping media that astounded me; rather, it was what I saw on the screen: Danielle Tarantola, who had been laid off from her job on Wall Street three years before, was on some totally pointless talk show discussing the $50,000 she invested in her beloved dog, Trouble, so that he could be cloned and essentially live forever.

Tarantola had a frilly little dog that she loved so dearly, much like most dog owners adore their pets.  I too have an animal companion that I really love, but her love was on another level.  The show first introduced Tarantola with pictures of her and Trouble, as well as pictures of the insane amount of Trouble "memorabilia" that adorned her home.  Her bedspread was even a blanket with a screen print of her dog covering the span of it.  In all honesty, it was terrifying.

I recently had an awesome painting done of my dog that hangs on the wall in the bedroom, but that is about the extent of it.  There is nothing wrong with showing off your dog or capturing memories through pictures; however, there is a point when you cross the line from proud, loving parent to totally infatuated freak.  My sister, for example, loves her two dogs more than anything or anyone in this world – literally.  BUT, she is not so obsessed with them that I am concerned for her well-being, nor is she so obsessed with them that she would spend $50,000 to send their DNA to Asia to have them cloned so that when they die she can have some more shipped in and start the experience all over again.

I mean, I know you had your dog for eighteen years and loved him like a child, but come on!  What about the other dogs in this world that need somewhere to go?  What about the dogs that are starving or being beaten or sitting in a shelter awaiting their death because no one wants to adopt them because people are too busy spending $50,000 to clone what they already have?  I can't imagine losing my dog, Keg, who is the most beautiful, adorable dog I have ever seen and quite possible the only dog I even like, but I know he isn't going to last forever.  It is a sad fact, but a fact nonetheless.  And, if you clone your dog or any other pet, where do you draw the line?  I cannot fathom losing my mom who has been the only consistent part of my life, but am I going to clone her? NO!

I fully understand loving your dog or cat or iguana so much that you never want to be without it, but in my mind that does not constitute investing a small fortune in the extenuation of its life, or any life for that matter.  We – humans and creatures alike – are on Earth for the time allotted to us, and when the clock runs out, it's over.  That is the bottom line.  There is no second chance or alter ego second life.  Get a dog and love the life out of it, but when the life is gone, mourn your loss and either learn to live without it or learn to love another.  Don't spend a sum of money that most people will never even see just to fabricate a life when there are living animals, living people literally dying to be loved.