It was St. Patrick’s Day. Bright and sunny, 10 a.m. I made my way to the first house on the house crawl, ready to spend the day constant laughing and making memories with some of my best friends.
I hadn’t even made it eight feet into the first house when I saw a dog leash. Confused, I peered around the mob of people and saw a tan Pitbull standing by the front door.
So, if that didn’t set the scene for you: there was a dog, on a leash, in the middle of probably 100 people crammed into a small house on W. College, with people stepping on its paws and surrounded by people drinking and smoking.
As I walked out of the party, I could feel myself getting angrier at the thought of the dog being trampled as its owner walked it through the party. The owner weaved the dog throughout the crowd by its leash, and I could only imagine how many times the poor dog got its paws stepped on, much less whatever the dog ate or licked off of the floor.
Then, I made it to the last house of the crawl and saw yet another dog. Instead of being leashed up and bound to its owner, this dog ran around the house, weaving in and out of the crowd. Mind you, this house was just as packed as the first house, so this little dog was stuck trying not to get its paws stepped on, and it didn’t even look like its owner was watching him to see if he was eating or licking anything he wasn’t supposed to be.
I saw three different dogs running around parties this St. Patty’s Day weekend, all of which looked scared to be in such an environment. These dogs spent their entire weekends potentially scared out of their minds while looking for their owners through a mass of hundreds of people.
I’m not entirely sure how drugs or alcohol affect a dog, but I know that it can’t be good. Any digestion of a substance like alcohol or marijuana could be detrimental for the animal, which is only going to cause its owner additional stress and worry – and that’s not even considering the potential for vet bills following the digestion of the substance. Plus, alcohol gets spilled on the floor all the time at parties and used blunts get thrown on the floor, so these dogs were walking around in the after-party mess, potentially even licking up what was left over.
Last semester, there was someone that brought their support animal to parties. I don’t even know what to think about this, but I am definitely sure that the dog doesn’t need to be accompanying its owner at a party.
I don’t know why we’re bringing dogs to parties, Witt, but we need to make it not a thing. Find another place for your dog to stay if your house is hosting the party. Just don’t bring your dog along with you if the party is at another house. If you really feel like you need to bring your dog with you to a party, bring the dog to a party that’s more of a hangout, where the animal isn’t having its paws stepped on throughout the entire evening.
If you’re getting too messed up to recognize your friends at a party, you shouldn’t be bringing your dog along and putting them in that situation too. I can’t believe I even had to write an opinion piece about it, but it needs to be said and taken care of. Let’s not treat our animals in this way, Witt. Let’s end this issue before it becomes a full-blown problem.
