Consider me the low-maintenance type, easy to please, with little concern about the thread count in my hotel sheets let alone my traveling four-legged companion’s sheets. And while I’m not a current proud puppy owner, I do love animals. Yet articles like the one found in yesterday’s NY Times make me question how much or whether love has anything to do with it at all? Apparently some folks who feel their pooch deserves the finest in hotel hospitality seek out places that will provide their precious canine with services like doggie massages, fine linens and dog biscuits baked by a pastry chef. Really – I mean, isn’t this a bit much? Heck, in my eyes pets are lucky if they can get a cozy corner somewhere in the hotel room, a bowl of water and a serving of IAMS. Other traveling pet owners wouldn’t hear of such nonsense. (See DogFriendly.com to book low-end or very high-end accommodations for you and your pets.)
What’s more interesting about the story is how it points to upscale pet needs simply being a means to display status. If a dog, cat or otter (yes, otter) walks through the lobby of the Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado sporting a diamond necklace that tells me only one thing about the owner – they’ve got entirely too much money with no better way to spend it. If you love animals all that much I say throw out the money to some charity. Personally using your furry animal friends to display status is pretty sad. Sorry.