Whatever happened to Man's best friend?

Regular readers of the "SoapBox" will know that it doesn't take a heck of a lot for me to get on one and rant and rave about things...
Sometimes this is just over exuberance on my part and sometimes it is justified, and I get comments in agreement back.

I am sure though that you will agree with me on this one...

I heard about this on the radio while driving home today...
"Flexpetz" is a San Diego based company who specialise in dog rentals.
Yes, DOG RENTALS...!

According to one news story:

[Flexpetz] contracts out dogs by the day to urbanites without the time or space to care for a pet full-time

This is not an April Fool joke - the company has been going for 5 months, and already has plans for global domination, with the intention of expanding from it's current Los Angeles and San Diego bases, into San Francisco, New York and London.

I don't know...
When I was growing up, a pet was so many things. A pet was part of the family, an object of love and affection for both parents and children, something that needed care and nurturing - that taught us youngsters about responsibility and taking care of another creature (How many times have you told a little one, "Don't pull the cat's tail!")
So have we descended into such a disposable society now that we can simply take a pet out in the same way as we do a library book? What does that teach anyone about responsibility? That when you can't be arsed to care any more you take the pet back? That life is so worthless that you can hire it on a whim? What next - "Hire-a-family" for those parents who can't afford the time off their busy jobs and just need a kid as a fashion accessory at the weekend????

I would say - "let's get real!" - but what use would is be - clearly the fact that this business is established AND has intentions to open new sites in the USA and UK means that business is booming - that society accepts that rental pets are a way of the future...

I just dread what kind of future that might be!!!

For more on this bizarre story, look up the following stories:

Daily Mail (UK)
WTOPNews.com
NJ.com - Everything Jersey