Dog lovers bite back at op-ed calling dogs ‘parasites’

An op-ed published by the San Diego Union-Tribune calling dogs “parasites” is getting a pretty bad reaction online. That’s probably because it’s a terrible take.

The first half of Chris Reed’s editorial — titled “Let’s be honest America: Dogs are parasites, not man’s best friend” — suggests that humans have doted on their dogs a little too aggressively. A fair point. The doggy spa services he references in the piece are probably wasted on our canine companions. 

But then the piece takes a dark turn. Dogs, Reed argues, are “parasites” conning humans into feeding and caring for them with their adorable antics. To make this incorrect point, Reed references Stephen Budiansky’s 1999 Atlantic article “The Truth About Dogs,” which argues that various canine manipulation tactics are to blame for our love of these furry deadbeats.  Read more…

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