SuttaCentral
Dear oh dear, that’s worse. You mean we’re not discussing a photoshopped phenomenon? … scuttles off to call the RSPCA.
I’m delighting in Ayya’s hound tho. I took a friend with a dog to visit Santi once and she was the only person there who seemed able to cope.
Thank you Bhante for bringing it to our attention.
Oh dear, what global extremes have we come to, and even for Christmas … 
See … !! …
I think that was need to be proportionate about these things. The views attributed to the RSPCA expressed in that article are a bit silly. For example…
But the RSPCA warned that while taking pictures of animals in their natural state is fine, dressing them up and forcing them into unnatural scenarios can be problematic
What is an animal in its natural state? Dog with no lead or collar? What is an unnatural scenario? Guide dogs for the blind? Sheep dogs? Police dogs? A dog in an RSPCA shelter? A human home? On the sofa? On the bed? They are not wolves, they are dogs and have co-evolved with us humans over a very long period of time.
“But it obviously goes completely against the dignity of the animal and their natural needs and instincts.”
Dignity? I’ve had dogs that eat the cats faeces. Don’t get me wrong, some have great dignity, but treating individual dogs as if they were all the same (and immutable) is just wrong headed and prejudice.
Instincts? Pretty much all of the training with the hundreds of dogs I’ve been associated with has gone against the dogs natural instincts. For example a sheep-dogs instincts are telling it that it needs to end the stalking of sheep with a kill. We don’t allow it to do that. Dogs are not immutable.
The RSPCA says people posting, and people following, pets on social media need to be more mindful of what animals want.
I couldn’t agree more. But each dog is an individual and dogs are not immutable. I can’t emphasize this more. Each dog is an individual and dogs are not immutable. Some love getting dressed up and having their photos taken, others hate it. Just like us. There are some things that they all like though. They all like doing stuff with their human friends. Again, just like us. And did I mention that they are not immutable? 
“The reason it’s become so popular is that a lot of people have real difficulty actually reading the body language from their animals and knowing when exactly they are distressed.”
This is true too. We all need to be better informed about what our dogs are saying to us. A great starting place for those interested is the work of Turid Rugaas. And of course you can’t tell what a dog is thinking about being dressed up from a still photo. You need the whole context. They might just be trying to calm the person who is inappropriately approaching them with a camera.
“Essentially, what they are going to be is just advice for people in the media, as well as people who are using animals in social media and promotion, on how to portray animals appropriately and to not put them in situations where they are uncomfortable,”
As I think I said, all dogs are individuals, and dogs are not immutable and some will be uncomfortable, but many will not. And for those that are not comfortable, there is always the opportunity to rid them of the phobia by behaviour modification, particularly systematic desensitisation that we use in training dogs. Then the human and dog friends can participate in things that are enjoyable to both.
I thought pretty much the same thing when I read the article, that it made a mountain out of a mole hill.
What’s the natural state of a human? A suit and tie? High heels? I’ve worn some pretty uncomfortable Halloween costumes! 
Domestic animals are unique and have their own personalities. But something like drugging an animal to dress up or do stunts for TikTok is plain cruel.
My first cat over 20 years ago was an un- neutered male who was indoors and outdoors. Had no problem with my little sister dressing him up. Was seen chasing off a rival male next door with his tiara/turban in tow. He would sleep on top of the car all dressed up. This was in the tropics.
My present cat is strictly indoors, neutered and does what ever he likes, but never tolerates anything other than a collar. Gives me a “ how dare you cover my beautiful fur” look 
In the UK, it’s kinda cruel for some dogs not to have something nice and warm to wear when it’s cold outside and sometimes something snug can provide extra comfort in their old age indoors too. Here’s one of my mates - the mighty Nelson who actively asks for his pyjamas to be put on when he’s feeling a bit out of sorts. In this picture he’s snuggled on one of his favourite ‘outfits’.
And here he is wearing it - “I don’t want to be anyone, but if I have to be someone, I’d prefer to be Batman.”
What a handsome fellow💖! Tell me he’s got a cape!
Sadly he doesn’t have a cape 
, but he is a rescued ex-racer (please petition to shut down that ‘sport’ if it’s in your country, there’s really nothing good about it) and he used to ‘fly’ when I first met him at 4 years old. It’s an exhilarating feeling standing in a field with a large greyhound running at full pelt within inches of you. He was very playful that way - you had to brace yourself and let him do the fine adjustments to avoid a collision. But that was about 9 years ago - he’s all about comfort now.
Bhante @sujato, the dog whisperer, with Freya the springer spaniel, who took bhante for a nice walk. 
By the third picture they’re both looking quite resigned.
I can’t work out what sort of being is this ?
It’s a beaver, a lovely being. 
