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British animal welfare groups warned that canine spectacles could be as much of a hindrance as a help to short-sighted mutts
By Guardian Newspapers
Nov 7, 2004, 08:32
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New Trick to Keep Old Dogs Looking Good
To American pet-owners they are a dog's best friend. But yesterday British animal welfare groups warned that canine spectacles could be as much of a hindrance as a help to short-sighted mutts.
The prescription eyeglasses, which cost £40 a pair, are intended to improve the quality of life for old dogs who need new tricks to chase the neighbourhood cats.
Bizarre as they might sound, they are set to become bestsellers: Midknight Creation, the California-based company which invented them, is already selling canine sunglasses via 4,500 shops.
Other manufacturers have experimented with contact lenses for pets, but found they did not stay in place. Doggles are kept on with straps. Since dogs can hardly use eye charts, prescription requires specially trained vets who can use sophisticated equipment to test their sight, just as they would for young children.
But Simon Pope, a spokesman for the Blue Cross, said: "There's a tendency in America for pets to be treated as lifestyle accessories.
"This sounds more like a fashion accessory than something based on proper advice.
"A lot of people find it quite hard to cope with the fact that animals get older and that with that comes a whole range of consequences - not just poor sight but poor hearing, arthritis and bladder problems.
"It's almost about commodifying animals and thinking 'this one is broken'.
"Most people deal with that without resorting to something as ridiculous-sounding as spectacles. We manage to rehome animals which are deaf, and similarly animals can still have a rewarding life if blind."
Unlike owners in the US, he said, those in Britain were reluctant to put their pets through expensive and often painful surgery, such as kidney transplants and lens implants.
An RSPCA spokeswoman said it was hard to imagine that dogs would be able to keep the glasses on for long periods, and they might well find the straps constricting.
"We are a little bit sceptical about their benefits," she added.
Midknight Creation also sells black Doggles lens inserts for blind dogs - perhaps to save their owners embarrassment when more glamorous, bespectacled pets pass by.
© Guardian Newspapers Limited
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