Dog ownership is far less a frill than ownership of a personal automobile. Humans and dogs evolved together, Yukon's owner Valerie read somewhere. Before Homo sapiens existed as a species, hominids and canids were hunting, sharing food, and cavorting together. Dog ownership is the modern expression of an innate biologic drive, probably older than marriage as the institutionalization of human sex drives. Doglessness may sometimes be necessary, but if doglessness becomes endemic or the norm that sad condition will further erode our society.
Dogs are one of the few species that adjust like humans to the urban environment.
We keep you natural men and women when you insist on living in an unnatural environment. Remember what dogs need to be happy makes human life happier, too. Open space, safe for recreational activities and social life, clean streets free of chicken bones and broken glass, food to eat, places to live, and social responsibility. The corollary to acknowledging the innate need for dog ownership is to help those who aren't property owners, who might have disabilities, who may not earn a lot of money, have and keep their dogs. After all, I live with Frances, a human who owns no property, has an erratic income, and doesn't supply me or my canine companions with a yard, a pick-up truck, or jaunts to the country.