Pampered pets point to skewed priorities

Recently, I was struck by the disparity between two articles in the Daily Herald. The first one was Dave Heun's column on the Salvation Army and their social services program. It reports the fact that the Salvation Army has given out more than 300 grocery bags of food this last month, a higher number than ever before. It also describes how difficult it is for those in need to reach out for help, noting that grown men have cried when approaching the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is gearing up for what they foresee as one of the most difficult and most needy holiday giving times.

In the Neighbor section, we learn about "Flying the furry skies," and how you can charter a small jet to fly your pets to your vacation destination. This saves the animals from being in the baggage section of a commercial airplane, or boarded with a service or friends. One family chartered the jet to take their dog and cat round-trip from the DuPage County Airport to Vail, Colo., for the family vacation. The article did not note how much this cost, but it did go on to say that a round-trip flight from DuPage County Airport to Florida would cost about $19,000. By the way, the animals can also get treats and a massage while on board.

I know that people are fond of their pets and think of them as family members. However, it seems that our society has gone even more askew, when we can lose sleep over the fact that our pets might have a few hours of minimum discomfort in the baggage compartment but not worry that men, women and children are going to bed hungry in record numbers.

I wonder how many families the Salvation Army could help and how many lives could be changed for $19,000?

Leann Enneking

Geneva