I love animals. I always have. I had dogs, rabbits, birds, and fish growing up. Never for one moment have I ever thought that animals aren’t ‘alive’. Never for one moment have I thought that they can’t feel. And I still eat meat.

I have absolutely nothing against vegetarians. Many of my friends are vegetarians and, in fact, I was a vegetarian myself for a couple of years in high school. However, I H-A-T-E being talked down to by the occasional vegetarian/vegan who comes my way and feels it’s his or her duty to “inform” me of anything related to the subject matter. I hate it almost as much as I hate religious people who feel the need to damn me to Hell via conversation. I almost hate it as much as the smell of burnt hair. I hate it almost as much as I hate Daisy from Rock of Love 2.

Why all of the hate?

Because it’s not anyone’s place to tell me what to eat. Read More »

There is a new trend-setting pet on the rise, and it isnt a pup for your hobo bag. While it isn’t the coziest little critter, it’s still cute. Allow me to introduce you to the hedgehog. Sure, most people probably conger up some mental image of a cross-breed of Sonic and a porcupine, but hedgies are a growing fad.

Think you might make a good hedge-mama? There are a few things you might want to know before you start picking out tiny little outfits (or leashes, or whatever.)

The basics: Hedgehogs are rumored to be great pets, they require no walks, live happily without a companion, and don’t need constant attention. While their prickly exteriors do not look very cuddly, their spikes feel more like a toothbrush than thousands of needles. Their life expectancy is anywhere from 3 to 8 years. The little critters prefer a warmer climate, that means if your place falls below 75-80 degrees your hedgie will get cold, (easily fixed by puting a heating pad under half the cage.) Read More »

Like most college-aged people, I’m pretty short on cash. I consider it an extravagant treat when I let myself go out for dinner (even if it’s just pizza), and I rarely buy clothes that weren’t bought by somebody else first.

Even though I’m “poor” compared to a lot of Americans, I realize I’m fabulously rich compared to most of the world’s people. So, every once in a while I try to help out others by donating a few dollars to charity.

I don’t donate as much as I should, and I’m working to get better at that. But for those of you who are strapped for cash like I am, two Web sites have made it really easy to donate without reaching for your credit card.

The Hunger Site is part of a group of six Web sites (the Breast Cancer, Child Health, Literacy, Rainforest, and Animal Rescue sites are the others) that rely on sponsor donations to help charities. If you click once daily on the big button on each site, sponsors will donate a small amount for all the causes on your behalf.  Cool, huh? Read More »

While at the airport this week, I observed a woman clutching a scraggly toy-sized dog decked out in a Ralph Lauren polo shirt made for a six-month-old child. Ew. Just because owning an animal is like having a child does not mean that the dog’s fur has stopped acting as its clothing. Now even dogs are subject to the materialism of today’s society.

Maybe it started with Paris Hilton or the talking chihuahua in Taco Bell commercials, but the dog trend never really sunk in on a personal level until I visited my former college roommate…and her new puppy.

It scared the hell out of me. Not the dog himself, he’s a teeny dust-mop-esque guy that legitimately bites your ankles, clothing, and anything else he can get to. What frightened me was the idea of what people are getting themselves into (please see single, childless friends referring to themselves as parents) and the fact that I really am that big a commitment-phobe.

Sure, many of us grew up with pets, but there was no actual “raising” going down on our end. It wasn’t our job to shop for pet carriers or plan out potty schedules, that’s what our parents were for. Now that we’re on our own (ish), so many people who want an animal are just looking to use it as an accessory. Puppies are like a new pair of Chanel shades, right? Only they love you back? Read More »

You don’t have to be a staunch vegan, an animal activist, or even a pet owner to understand that if you don’t feed an animal, it will die.

And nothing about that can be considered anything but killing.

Which is why this disgusting story about an artist from Costa Rica who paid (yes, paid) 2 children to catch a dog so that he coud tie it up in a gallery, deny him food and water, and watch him die is so surreal. Do things like this really happen?

And what could this artist’s justification possibly be? Oh right, he couldn’t possibly have one.

Now listen, I’m no PETA member, and I was a vegetarian until I defaulted to peanut butter sandwiches everyday, became really unhealthy, and decided to go back to eating chicken, but how can a decent human being personally put another living thing through a slow and painful death and feel no remorse?

He’s an “artist” but that is absolutely no excuse. I know plenty of artists and let’s be honest, they’re usually the one’s fighting for animal rights, no?

What’s worse is that Guillermo Habacuc Vargas, the animal abuser in question, has been chosen to represent his country in the “Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008“.

What the f*ck?? Read More »

 This couple puts all those crazy cat lady stories to shame.

Earlier this week, officials invaded the New Jersey mansion of Philip Tamis, 66, and wife Cynthia Stewart, 49, finding over 100 “malnourished and neglected dogs and cats”.

ASPCA workers were horrified to find the old, decrepit mansion full of feces and decaying animals. Many of the dead cats and dogs had been deceased for over a year.

Apparently, Tamis was a Merrill Lynch securities broker, a man who went to work every day and came back every night to a house more disgusting than any one of those Saw movies. His wife…evidently spent all day milling around shit-strewn floors.

As rescuers carried out the animals that were still living on Tuesday, Cynthia Stewart reportedly ran to the door shouting, “they’re my babies!”

After the New York Post ran this story, people everywhere simultaneously decided their neighbors really weren’t so bad after all.

Antidepressants are supposed to make us happier—but are they actually doing the opposite? According to researcher Helen Fisher, Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and other antidepressants may alter brain chemistry in a way that zaps desire to find a mate and dulls the euphoria felt when people fall in love—a process that Fisher calls “temporary insanity.”

I’m sure anyone who’s been in love would not hesitate to agree with that description. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if many people on antidepressants began them after the breakup. I can’t help but wonder…since the prescription of anti-depressants has more than doubled in the past 30 years, perhaps we should be asking what came first—the chicken or the egg? Read More »

I’m a total animal lover. Dogs, cats, monkeys, bunnies — they’re just so damn cute, I could squeeze ‘em.

Anyway, I recently noticed that jewlery designers are really embracing the animale love — seriously, it’s the call of the wild.

Monkeys, horses, birds, snakes, owls and cats are now wraping aroung wrists, hanging from necks and dominating finger-wear. Not gonna lie, I’m a fan and I’ve found some hot (not to mention adorable) pieces at decent prices.

Rachel Leigh Queen Bee Ring, $62; Kenneth Jay Lane vintage monkey necklace, $75.

Read More »