Andrew Yang has pissed off Dog Twitter
Yes, it is possible to have pet allergies and a dog simultaneously
Dog Twitter is an easy group to befriend. Post the dog you own. Post the dog(s) you walk. Post the dog(s) who made you laugh at a dog park. Post the dog who passed away and you miss every single day. We’re just looking for cute and funny pics of pets, especially on National Pet Day. Your dog could be doing something as simple as sleeping or eating a bone, and our hearts are melting into puddles on the floor. And somehow Andrew Yang, the same guy who came up with the idea to insist Americans getting $1,000 per month to live stable lives, managed to ruin National Pet Day.
If you haven’t seen the tweet by now, he posted a gloriously adorable dog with the caption, “On #NationalPetsDay celebrating our dog Grizzly who we raised as a puppy but had to give away because one of our boys became allergic to him. Miss you Grizz! #dogsforyang.” And I’m scratching my head wondering why he bothered to both create a hashtag after giving away his own dog and posted a photo to prove it. To put it simply, just because you see the hashtag does not mean you have to participate in it.
Parenthood Twitter (or Anti-Pet Twitter) won’t understand why this rubs Dog Twitter wrong, and I semi-understand why. This is a group who may not know that there are approximately 1.5 million shelter animals euthanized (670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats) each year, per ASPCA results. Then there are the 6.5 million companion animals who enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year.
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We’re really not interested in hearing about pet owners who gave away their pets. We’re trying to celebrate those with pets right now. Imagine a (wo)man posting a photograph of a child who she gave away to someone else (or foster care) on National Parent Day (July 25). Would you not cringe a little at the idea, specifically for a parent who is no longer in this kid’s life? Would it not make more sense for the current owner to post a photo with the child (or in this case, pet)? Or, at least a group pic of the current and past pet owners to bring awareness to the responsibility of responsibly giving away a pet?
About those pet allergies
I was completely confused when my older brother told me he was allergic to dogs. This is the same guy who also grew up with the same Labrador Retriever and German Shepherd dogs that I did. I never saw him pause to pet them or feed them or play with them. As a matter of fact, he continuously got more dogs with his wife once he moved out. (He oddly became a cat person by the time I went to college, which is still strange to me.)
Recommended Read: “When a dog lover understands cat lovers ~ Cat ladies aren’t crazy, according to UCLA study”
I pondered on why he didn’t speak up years before when we had dogs in my childhood home, but he really enjoyed them both. He just popped in allergy medicine or sneezed it out. In all fairness, everyone can’t just gulp down a Benadryl and keep it moving. It is one of many reasons why pet owners do the research ahead of time to find a specific kind of dog.
One obvious example is Bo and Sunny Obama, the two hypoallergenic dogs belonging to the 44th president after learning of Malia Obama’s allergies. She and Sasha Obama clearly had been requesting a dog, judging from former President Barack H. Obama’s 2007 speech in Chicago’s Grant Park. While it wasn’t the Goldendoodle his daughter asked for initially, the Portuguese Water Dogs were just as adorable and checked off the pet allergy dog box.