A group of leading veterinarians has issued a stark warning about what the rise of “fur baby culture,” arguing that treating pets like human children can actually put their welfare at risk.
The experts—the authors of the new book Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas— say that the increasingly human-like treatment of animals has created a “profitable ‘fur baby’ phenomenon” that is leading to serious problems in the way pets are cared for.
The book, written by veterinary practitioners and academics Tanya Stephens, professor Eddie Clutton, Polly Taylor and Kathy Murphy, explores the ethical grey areas facing the veterinary profession today.
Topics range from corporate profit-chasing to overdiagnosis and overtreatment—all trends they say have been amplified by the growing tendency to see pets as family members rather than animals.
“A few vets, us included, see the rise of the ‘fur baby’ as a huge problem for animals and their welfare,
