dogs (and cats) are a luxury item that have no purpose in our society beyond human beings simple whim:
To be honest I am very surprised. That is obviously a very limited view and not true. It makes me wonder what caused this remarkably negative opinion.
Dogs for example fulfill many important roles in our society, guarding, hunting, helping traumatized patients, guiding the blind, being the ears for the deaf, rescuing, detecting drugs, bombs etc., detecting cancer, assisting in combat, and also 'just' being companions (which is not to be underestimated). And there is much more.
Cats are more limited in their 'use', because they have stayed much more true to their wild origins (for now, as they were domesticated much later than dogs), but they too have roles in our society that are at a minimum important to the humans who have them. For example I suffer from depression. Having a cat (or dog) can help tremendously with that affliction. Every time I encounter a cat that is just acting friendly or playful and funny, I feel a little bit better, for a little while at least. To me that means a lot.
Of course there are disadvantages to having them, but the root of the problem is not the existence of these animals, but mankind itself.
We are a plague upon the earth and we behave like a plague... a murderous deadly, destructive plague.
without our insatiable desire to have pets, we would not need a multi billion dollar industry that provides food and toys for them,
Why end there at that random point?
If we all walked around naked we wouldn't need to manufacture all that clothing, without our desire to have computers..., without our desire to play games..., without our desire for fast transportation, without our desire to procreate..., more toys are made for children than for pets... and the food all these kids eat... where will it end...
Without humans the planet would definitely be better off.
Of course there are deplorable and even disgusting excesses concerning pet ownership, but my point is that it is pointless to criticize people for their desire to have pets in such a way.
Everything humans do has a cost. You might not like pets, another might not like cars, another might not like cities, another might not like to eat meat (or cookies), and another might not like kids...
and further leaves many of them homeless and un-cared for which results in massive expenditures. I could go on, but the point should be pretty obvious and unassailable.
This point is unassailable. I agree completely. This however does not reflect on those who do take good and appropriate care of their pets.
There are a lot of homeless and un-cared for children too....