Giving Money to Dogs

Much has already been written about Leona Helmsley's decision to leave $12 million to her dog, and I didn't see much need to jump into the fray. But I was on a business trip this week which gave me a chance to catch up on some out of date New Yorker magazines, and I had to quote this passage from an article ("Rich Bitch", by Jeffrey Toobin) about the legal issues surrounding bequests to animals:

One philosopher [Jeff McMahan, who teaches philosophy at Rutgers] draws a distinction between the needs of [Helmsley's dog] Trouble and those of dogs as a whole.... "To give even two million dollars to a single little dog is like setting the money on fire in front of a group of poor people. To bestow that amount of money is contemptuous of the poor, and that may be one reason [Helmsley] did it.

"But to give such a large sum of money to dogs generally is not frivolous," McMahan went on. "I think it shows some misplaced priorities, but many bequests do. In a world where there is starvation and poverty, you can say that it's wrong to give money to universities, or musuems, or, worst of all, to divide it up for your children and heirs who are already rich. Welfare for dogs is better than more pampering of the rich. It may indicate misplaced moral priorites, but it 's not frivolous or silly...."

Do you agree?

Rent vs. Buy: Not a Home, A Dog!

I found this at ProductDose: FlexPetz Dog Rentals!
Other bloggers have documented the costs of owning a pet. Free Money Finance puts it at $400 a month! For someone like me, it could be even higher: like many New Yorkers, I live in a small apartment-- what little outdoor space I have isn't very dog-friendly. I also live alone and am often away from home for over 12 hours a day, so I'd probably have to hire a dog walker. To make it even worse, I travel a lot, so I'd be spending a lot to board the dog in a kennel, as I would have trouble finding anyone who would take care of it for me. (For some New Yorkers, all this is moot, because they live in buildings that don't allow dogs.)
For these reasons and many others, I've just never thought about having a pet. But sometimes I find myself kind of wanting one anyway. Animals are fun, and walking a dog is a one of the main sources of social interaction in this city! If I was trying to get dates, I would totally want a cute dog as a prop. But the rest of the time, I just don't want to deal with all the hassles of pet ownership!
So would FlexPetz Dog Rentals be the answer? Basically, it's like a doggie version of ZipCar: you pay a membership fee, and then a fee for the time you actually spend "using" a dog. There is an annual "maintenance fee" of $99.95, plus a membership fee of $39.95 a month. Then when you borrow a dog, it's $29.95 for a weekend day and $19.95 for a weekday. If you keep the dog for multiple days, additional weekdays are $12.95.
If I borrowed a dog for the entire month of May, it would cost me $697.83 including the full annual maintenance fee. So if you really want to spend a lot of time with a dog, this is not the way to go. But if you just wanted to spend every weekend for a year with a dog, by my calculations, your cost would be about $3,700-- quite a bit less than the $4,800 it would cost you to own a dog.

Right now, dogs are only available in Los Angeles and San Diego. (Why does it not surprise me that such a thing would be born in LA?) But they're planning to open in Manhattan in June, and other locations in the future-- and if you're a member, you can borrow a dog in any location while travelling.

In any case, though I am tempted by Pirate the Boston Terrier, I will not be joining FlexPetz. But I can certainly see its attractions, and the concept could be extended to other pets such as cats, ferrets, and snakes. For that matter, I'd be interested in a service that would let me borrow a cute baby now and then, as I don't get to spend enough time with my niece and nephew and they're growing up too fast anyway. Other people might like to borrow a husband or wife rather than having one full time... oh wait, that already kind of exists...

[UPDATED: oops, I just noticed there is also a one-time intro fee of $150 to cover having a session with a trainer. Also, they donate 5% of the daily "doggy time" charges to animal rescue organizations.]