Catholic Ragemonkey

How much is that doggy in the window?
Well, not quite the doggy in the window, but the doggy's ashes on the mantle. Folks, I just have to share this with you. I had the occasion to visit the studio/warehouse of a local sculptor who also does all sorts of ceramics work to make the ends meet. As we spoke and I asked about what he does, I noticed his studio covered in ceramic dogs of different breeds in various stages of completion. Some were still in their molds, some were out of the mold but unpainted, some were painted, etc. I motioned to one particular table of these items and the sculptor told me they are for a California company which has just started marketing these items in the last few weeks. Guess what these items are? They are urns shaped like your dog's breed into which you can actually place your pet's ashes!!! I am not kidding. The sculptor lifted one up and showed me it is hollow inside for the ashes and then the bottom can be sealed to the rest of the statue. Now, I don't fault the sculptor. He needs to make ends meet too and I would bet that sculpting jobs don't exactly come knocking down the studio door. However, that such things are actually being marketed I find to be totally ridiculous. When I told Fr. Tharp of this he stated that he was disturbed by the notion, until he heard that the company was from California. With that bit of knowledge, he said, it doesn't surprise him. I suppose it is something in my framework that just can't understand why a person would want to keep his pet's ashes in some crazed ceramic version of Fido. Aaaaaggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!