When Puppies Replace People

The Maltese breed was actually developed to reside mostly in women's sleeves to keep them warm, and I've read 19th century Russian works--I forget which author or work--which note the owners' tendency to value the dogs over the people around them. No doubt that one can over-value an animal, or put resources into animals that really ought to go to people, but it's really an age-old problem.

We might even argue that it's more of a symptom of the problem than the problem itself. A dog is, in comparison to a child, relatively affordable, and can be well cared for by a single person, whereas children do far better in the homes of married parents. So we might argue that the real issue is the various social realities--high college debt, poor job opportunities for many, sexual revolution, consequences of parents' divorces, etc..--that make it difficult for young people to marry and then get the financial stability they need to consider having children.