Be kind to your fine feathered (and designer-clad) friends

Daphne Merkin thinks we (and this is the NYT "we," meaning "we super-rich, super-educated, and super-trendy people from Manhattan") spoil our dogs. To Merkin, it's terrible that dogs continued to be pampered while society's needy remain impoverished. I've heard (and responded to) this argument before, when it last appeared in the Times, and so will not rehash all the obvious arguments now. Read my earlier post if you're curious.

While putting your dog in Prada may be unneccesary from a dog's point of view, it makes the owner happy, and, unlike putting your child in Prada, your dog will not grow up into an Upper East Side beeatch, but will simply remain the charming bitch she always was.