You may have heard about it. It is circulating on the Internet. It’s all over Twitter. Katie Price, the British celebrity who makes a living out of being a celebrity has just lost a cute French Bulldog puppy of tender years whose name is Rolo. The puppy was crushed to death in a reclining armchair or some sort . The puppy found his way underneath the chair into the mechanism which makes it recline and became trapped and crushed. We don’t have the precise details.
However, it is reported that she bought the puppy from a breeder and the breeder insisted that she supervise the puppy in her home. They appear to have made it clear that she should not leave the puppy unsupervised. Regrettably, Price ignored the advice because she went into another room and while she was there the puppy was killed inside this chair. All reclining type chairs are dangerous to pets. They should not be in homes with pets. Period. The breeder is devastated.
She had given the puppy as a gift to her daughter Princess. She had not had the puppy for very long. You might think this was just a bit of bad luck. A tragic accident as she describes it. She doesn’t want to be criticised as is happening on Twitter because she regards the death as unfortunate.
However, her history of companion animal ownership tells a different story. Twitter tells me that in recently years she has lost six animals to accidents. In all four dogs have been lost, one horse and a cat. I have not verified this but I know she has lost several companion animals to various kinds of accidents and this, unfortunately, points to irresponsible companion animal caregiving.
It is well known that lives in a “mucky mansion” (i.e. dirty and messy, another sign indicating her carelessness arguably) and I think there is a fairly busy road not too far away. I know one of the dogs was crushed by a pizza van and the horse was killed in an accident on the road as I understand it. They are all accidents but a really good or even adequate companion animal caretaker will take proactive steps to prevent these sorts of accidents occurring.
Certainly the latest death was avoidable. And as mentioned she was advised to supervise Rolo. Also Katie Price should have been aware, as a responsible companion animal owner, that reclining chairs or any form of motorised chair is dangerous to pets. There have been many cases of cats and kittens dying under these chairs and this is regrettably another one, this time concerning a puppy. They go underneath the chairs because there is a gap there and this is where all the machinery is.
It is exasperating to read about this. PETA, the animal advocacy organisation, has recommended that she stops adopting companion animals and buys a cuddly toy instead. The uproar on Twitter has tried to generate the involvement of the RSPCA in order to prosecute her. I don’t think that will happen. In fact I am sure that it won’t but I agree with PETA. She appears to be unsuited to the task. It is terribly bad publicity for her and she regrettably sets a bad example. She does have a following. Some young girls look up to her. If you carelessly adopt animals without the means to provide adequate care and your celebrity, you encourage poor companion animal caretaking.
This is the exact opposite direction to which we should be travelling. The standards of care of companion animals is in general too low. A lot of people don’t understand the natural desires of dogs and cats. Dogs need a master and cats need to behave naturally. Cats are wonderful predators. They are essentially solitary but often owners introduce a new cat to the home which can cause friction. This is due to a lack of awareness of the nature of their companion cat.
A British study found that 65% of cats were bonded to their owner. This means that 35% are not. This is due to poor companion animal caregiving. It’s about lack of awareness and understanding of domestic cat behaviour.
It is sad, too, that Katie Price has broken both her feet in another accident in Turkey. We don’t know what happened but it does hint at a woman who has great misfortune or is simply careless. If it is the latter it is also evident in her abilities as a pet owner.
