ShareThisBy DAVID YOUNT
Scripps Howard News Service
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
When our three grown daughters left the nest, my wife and I replaced them with a younger trio -- two cats and a Scottish terrier. The pets that share our lives at the moment are actually a third generation, preceded by felines Brutus, Sheba, Oreo, and Fred, and by Scotties Bess and Fiona.
Living as we do in the woods, it's understandable that we mere humans are vastly outnumbered by wildlife -- most of them compact creatures, but also the occasional deer, crane, and bear. But in our suburban Washington, D.C. county as a whole there are now more pets than people.
On weekends our streets and sidewalks are filled with dog walkers, and all through the week the neighborhood's cats are seldom confined indoors but prowl uninhibited. Call me sentimental, but I am tempted to think it resembles Paradise before the fall of man.
Even in big cities pets now predominate. In San Francisco, for example, they outnumber children two-to-one. Which prompts former presidential candidate Gary Bauer to worry that Americans are choosing pets over children. Already, close to two-thirds of U.S. households include at least one pet. Americans now spend $38.5 billion a year on their four-legged and winged live-ins, and several billion more on pet food than on baby food. Despite the fact that few pets have health insurance, our local veterinary clinic is busier than any doctor's office.
Demographics now favor pets over children. The Census Bureau reveals that close to half of American women 15 to 44 are childless. The percentage of women who choose to be child-free has soared 160 percent in just a generation.
Why am I not surprised at the relative popularity of pets over babies? For one thing, after saving mightily to finance three children to college degrees, my wife and I are delighted to have their places taken by creatures that are content to operate by instinct alone. On the whole, our pets' gratitude far exceeds their demands. Moreover, their inability to speak English sharply reduces their complaints.
Americans still may not match the fondness for animals demonstrated by the British. More than one-third of Britons agree that "the English love their dogs more than their children."
People of faith hold that every human being is made in God's likeness. They do not extend that claim to God's other creatures. To be a creature of instinct is to pursue a life free of morality. Our cat Rufus hunts moles, frogs, and baby birds, and presents us proudly with his carnage. He is an affectionate pet, but he is no Christian.
That is to say, Rufus never has second thoughts. He may be sensitive to our displeasure but lacks an ethical sense. It is only men, women, and children who agonize over whether they are doing the right thing. Choosing to have children requires parents to teach them to consult their better angels, not just to open a can of pet food for them. No wonder it's more popular to have pets than kids.
(David Yount's latest book is "Celebrating the Rest of Your Life: A Baby Boomer's Guide to Spirituality" (Augsburg). He answers readers at P.O. Box 2758, Woodbridge, VA 22195 and dyount(at)erols.com.)
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