Fur Babies

Have you noticed it? The proliferation of pet paraphernalia in the junk mail. Little cute outfits for all occasions - not just for keeping the pet warm. (Isn't that why dogs have fur/ hair or whatever?)
At this point I must declare my complete bias in favour of cats which would never put up with all that nonsense although we had a particularly placid tom cat which let our little daughter dress him up. (Even in writing that sentence and using the pronoun 'which' I am aware that mostly animals are now referred to using the word 'who'.)
You can even get little prams for pets now in case the little darlings can't make it all the way on their walkies. And steps so they can get up onto the bed more easily and...
According to an bit in The Advertiser Australians spend ??? on pets and are now using apps to keep an eye on them while they are not home.
I don't think he or anyone else would deny the value of pets as part of a family or as a companion or in support roles; evidence and anecdotes abound in this area.
But Hugh Mackay in his role as social observer and commentator pointed out that the birth rate has declined in the last 25 years so that it is now less than 1.8 per woman. In the past children have been the social lubricant  through schools and sporting and other activities but now they are in shorter supply and so there is some compensation by way of pet ownership. Fur Babies. And that the dog walking park is now a place for social interaction and meeting people. [Almost as an aside he commented that dogs are no longer called Spot or Fluffy but names like Ian and George. ]

Now folks, before you start throwing rocks,neither Hugh nor I are making judgments about this. Just sayin'....