When he made the point that dogs are parasites and not man’s best friend, columnist Chris Reed of the San Diego Union-Tribune knew he was being provocative. He even said so in a tweet:
Over-under on when I'll get my first angry Twitter response over this column: In eight minutes. #SportsBookOfLifehttps://t.co/7EQSuH0G2J
— Chris Reed (@chrisreed99) July 12, 2018
And sure enough, social media did not disappoint. Waves of people posted responses, most of them taking issue with Reed and his point of view:
Idk who Chris Reed is but I’m certain he is my least favorite human on the earth https://t.co/42n78RX6yK
— Stone (@Stone_116) July 12, 2018
World's saddest man says dogs are parasites, not man's best friendhttps://t.co/yNPufVSCvx pic.twitter.com/XQt0C4UKog
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) July 13, 2018
they'll find you soon. delete your account bud.
— Ryan Shannon (@ryantshannon) July 12, 2018
@chrisreed99 BOO THIS MAN!
— Sean Bakken Jr. (@SeanBakkenJr) July 12, 2018
“This crazy dog love keeps getting more and more costly,” Reed wrote, then noted that the amount of money Americans spent on their pets had more than quadrupled, from $17 billion in 1994 to $69.5 billion in 2017.
“Is that love in your dog’s eyes — or is that the look of a con man sizing up his mark?” Reed wrote.
One animal shelter, the Morris Avenue Refuge in Philadelphia, took a more proactive approach in response to the column:
Loving lab-mix Monty and cheerful pug-mix Macy haven’t read the piece either - b/c they’re dogs, and can’t read - so they’re being all happy too. Definitely not parasites, @sdutIdeas! But they do need homes. Adopt! https://t.co/aWuOrIB5so. 🐶 pic.twitter.com/qXIPNZbrs4
— Morris Animal Refuge (@MorrisAnimal) July 12, 2018
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