Sometimes things happen.

I'm not trying to belittle the relationships that people have with their pets. I would say that I considered Bonnie to be more than a dog to me. My point is that changing the term that people use to refer to their pet isn't going to change anything. People that love their pets will still love them, and people who are cruel to their pets as an 'owner' will still be cruel to them as a 'guardian.' I just don't see how it's a fight worth fighting (for animal rights activists.) If individuals want to say they are the guardian of their dog rather than its owner, because they feel it better represents their relationship, then I don't have a problem with it. But there are so many more pressing issues in the world than for this to be tackled on a large scale!