Independent Weekly reviews Loving Animals
There's a festering contradiction at the heart of Americans' treatment of animals. On the one hand, we spend $50 billion a year on our pets, shelling out for a veterinary industry that ever more closely resembles the human medical system of expensive technology and overtreatment, and for such frills as $1,200 testicular implants that help neutered dogs "retain their self-esteem" (I'm not making this up). On the other hand, little has been done to limit the extreme cruelty suffered by most of the animals we raise for food.