Poodle Darlings by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 2, 1911

Poodle Darlings

By F. M. W.

THE American home is being undermined by women who leave the care of their children to servants, and bestow their love and affection upon poodle dogs. This, at least, is the idea of Mr. G. W. Norris, representative from Nebraska. Mr. Norris says:—

Poodle dogs are usurpers, and should be returned to their proper place in the home. The kind of dogs seen on Connecticut Avenue in Washington are a disgrace to the nation, occupying the place they do in the lives of supposedly good citizens of the republic. The dogs themselves are to be pitied; but the women who pet them, to the exclusion of their children, are despised.

Mr. Norris describes in the Washington Post an incident which he recently witnessed in the city of Washington:—

While I was passing in front of a residence that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, an elaborately dressed woman came out. She carried in her arms a costly poodle; and as she stepped into her carriage, two of her servants, wearing high silk hats, bowed almost to their knees. One assisted her to enter the carriage, while the other draped her dress about her feet. A moment later a colored servant came out, wheeling a baby-carriage, and I crossed the street, and learned that it held the woman's little son. That the woman held the poodle where her child should have been, while she gave the little one over to the care of a servant, seemed inhuman to me; but finally I decided that the poodle was more to be pitied than the child—it was in worse company. The sad thing about the whole incident was that a mother could go smilingly away from her baby, while she cuddled and patted the insignificant little dog at her side.

Poodles are all right as pets for children, and, incidentally, for older persons. Personally, I love them, as I love all dogs. But before they are allowed to take the place of children in our homes, I would rather see every poodle in the nation killed. The only kind of home which is worth while is the home where the mother gives her first and best thought to her children. Too often in America to-day rich women care nothing for their offspring, but would rather bestow their foolish affection on pets that really amount to nothing. They seldom see their children, and give no time to training them.

No one can deny that the criticisms

of Mr. Norris are just, as applied to this growing, ridiculous evil. These are days when, according to the prophetic Word, many will be without “natural affection.” Pride, selfishness, and personal convenience are the things considered chief and foremost in the minds of those who know not God. With the thousands of homeless and destitute little ones on every side, whose solitary condition should appeal piteously to every generous heart, there is little excuse to permit the brute creation to usurp the place in the affections designed of God for the unfortunate members of the human family. F. M. W.