Die Like a Dog
There’s an expression in Japanese “to die like a dog” which means to die a miserable, insignificant death. What annoys me about the chicken story below is that some of these students will own dogs who are kept all day in spaces no larger than, say, a kitchen table and tied up with less than a body length of rope.
The chickens get spared because they’re kawaii (cute), and kawaii absolutely rules in Japan.
Of course, some of the students will own dogs that live like the Sultan of Brunei (when he still had money). There’s a TV show about pets my daughter likes to watch called “PotchiTama” (Potchi is the ‘standard’ name for a dog, like Fido or Spot, and Tama is the feline equivalent). Dog owners on this show fall into two general categories: those who treat their dogs in ways that would literally get you arrested in Australia, and those who treat their dogs like the ancient Egyptians honoured their cats (bows in the hair, plush cushions to sit on, filet-mignon, classic child-substitute behaviour).
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Posted to Oh, the Humanity • 2001.11.16 (Fri) • 10:41
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