Is the Church Going to the Dogs?

In reading the news tonight when I came across an article that talks about a ritual in Nicaragua where the people take their dogs and dress them up so that they can parade them in front of a statue of a saint. They do this so that the dogs....well...I let this quote from one of the people who brought her dog to this parade let you know why,"We brought him so he does not get sick," said local resident Nora Espinosa, talking about her six-month-old Basset Hound, dressed in a soccer outfit." Really? Do they have a statue of a saint that they parade in front of so that they don't get sick? or is it just the dogs that are so fortunate? If so what do they dress like?......well let's not go there.


Is this what we've resorted to? Parading dogs in front of a statue, expecting the saint that this statue represents to grant good health? to dogs? What about cats? The part that killed me is the fact that these people dress their dogs up to go before this statue and they really think that this statue will grant their dogs good health. What if you didn't dress the dog up? does the saint not look favorably on your dog? If a family goes all out with the dress up portion does the dog get extraordinary health?



I just can't believe what people will resort to. Some of you people reading this may think that this is crazy, well....Here just remember here in the United States we get our dogs medical insurance. In a country where not every human being has medical insurance you can get medical insurance for your mutt.

I can remember when we had just picked up our dog the vet told us that if we got medical insurance for our dog the shots and any medical attention he needed would be so much cheaper. I remember thinking "gee doc does it come in an HMO or is just a PPO plan?" What if not all vets took my insurance? What a dilemma!

In the United States dogs are treated like human beings so why should things like this ritual in Nicaragua shock us? In this article it states that we, as Americans, spend around $36 billion on dog stuff. So whether you ascribe to taking your dog before a statue of a saint or just getting dog medical insurance just remember that your dog isn't like mine.......

......an Ewok. Boy insurance for Ewok's is hard to find. I think I'll make a trip to Nicaragua.