Sunday, April 16, 2006

The perils and pitfalls of pet ownership



(photo credit: Sarah Taggart)

4/29/04

While this is the definition of a fluff piece, the story behind this story is actually much better than the finished product. I was among many students who were experiencing dog deprivation in the spring of my freshman year, and I constantly talked about this with Roger, a person I was trying to date at the time. He used this to invite me into going with him to pick out a dog at the nearby animal shelter. The cool eighteen-year-old I thought I was, however, had to find a pretense for going that was not so blatantly obvious, and when Roger suggested that I could write an article about it, I immediately dashed off a letter to my editor begging to write the assignment. When I had her approval, Roger had his, and we went together to the Animal Rescue League of Boston. The man there, instead of giving us tips on kitty litter and leash laws like I had expected, made such a thorough case for why college students were the worst pet owners imaginable (weekends in New York; loud, smoky parties; minimal funds to adequately feed the pet) that we left without one. Seeking to extend the quirky date, we still went over to visit a dog bakery in the South End despite our lack of a dog, and made some awkward advances to one another in the basement of this bizarre bourgeoisie business. I was able to weave the events of this day into a decent service piece (the point of which was to talk the reader out of the very thing they were reading the article for). More importantly, Roger and I were able to recover from the strangest date in the world, and have been happily taking care of each other instead for 2 years.

So without further ado, the lead paragraph:

Many students will be getting their first apartments this summer or next fall. As they settle in, they will enjoy a newfound freedom to party, decorate and connect with the community. With an apartment, Boston seems to feel a little more like home. One piece of home that is missing for many students, however, is a pet.

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