When Good Pet Ideas Go Bad...

Ok, I am sure this Kitty Walk Outdoor Pet Enclosure was well intentioned. I can just hear some sweet cat lover musing about how nice it would be if little Boo-Boo could go outside and breathe the crisp, clean air.

Unfortunately, this particular item looks a little too much like some sort of open-pit barbecue attachment for my liking. Not to mention something light enough that a larger animal could bat it around the yard like a giant hamster ball. Not that I ever bat around hamster balls - I have nothing but the utmost respect for hamster balls and the brave hamsters that chose to explore in them. Actually, to a hamster, it must be a bit like space travel - climbing into a tiny pod, pushing the edges of their known world....

Anyway, the Kitty Walk Outdoor Pet Enclosure brings me back to a painful episode from my youth. My neighbors decided one day to take their pet rabbit from the safety of his shaded bunny hutch and place him in a large glass fish tank topped by a screen held down by a rock. They positioned the tank out in the middle of the yard so that Fluffy could get some sun.

Lovely gesture, right?

Unfortunately for Fluffy, my neighbors, and me, my 90+ pound lab happened by shortly after. Instead of seeing a beloved family pet, my dog saw a boxed lunch. She snatched the rabbit from the tank and tore down the street (with my neighbors in hot pursuit) and presented me with the dead rabbit as if it was the coolest thing ever. My neighbors naturally didn't see it quite the same, and my dog was branded a bunny killer for the rest of the summer.

So, to sum up, if you love your pets; don't leave them defenseless in glass tanks or barbecue pit attachments in the middle of the yard. Even if it is a nice, sunny day. It will not end well. Trust me.