Pet-Peeves Over Dog Mansions

The New York Times has been taking a lot of heat for a "Home" section feature on high end pet-houses. The withering comments range from "Dogs don't give an arf about any of that" to "...we are, perhaps in North America, beyond repair."Photo: Drew Kelly for The New York Times

But Jane Mager, of Concord, California, opened a whole new realm of righteous indignation when she referenced her nonprofit miniature-pig rescue and sanctuary, Lil' Orphan Hammies. Mager is upset at the diminutive size of two pigs, Cherry and Abby, depicted in the article as having their own Victorian dollhouse inside their owners' Austin home. "If Cherry and Abby weigh just seven pounds, there is no way that they are already 6-month-old miniature pigs, unless they have been starved," Mager wrote in her letter to the Times' editors. She suggests the hapless owner may have been hoodwinked by an unscrupulous breeder.

Protecting tiny pigs from exploitation versus buying a $294 doghouse for a beloved pug...the mind-boggling myriad uses of freedom.