Those individuals whose excessive attachment to animals has negative consequences for themselves or their loved ones suffer from a disorder known as pedophilia . We have a good example in the recent case of a resident of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) who offered 10,000 euros to whoever found his dog Lonchas , a small dachshund –one of the most fashionable breeds– that had been lost.
It is an increasingly frequent example of the intense relationship that humans have with pets . Like the thousands of photos and videos that flood social networks of kittens, dogs and other irrational beings, sometimes staying in five-star hotels with menus based on Iranian caviar, a hairdresser and a spa. There are those who fall into pedophilia disappointed by their peers and decide to take refuge in the unconditional love and without problems that only their pets can offer them . At other times, the bond is created by the sense of protection provided, for example, by dogs.
The American journalist Jon Katz, one of the experts who has written the most about this behavior, recalls that, like any sentimental bond, affection for animals becomes a problem when it becomes an addiction . What is evaluated when distinguishing an unhealthy relationship is not the specific behaviors: spending a lot of money, treating them like humans or filling them with whims should not be considered worrisome symptoms in themselves. We are faced with a case of pedophilia if the affected person only feels satisfaction when they have contact with irrational beings and isolate themselves from their environment, if they completely limit their way of living or if the individual hooked on this anomalous bond wants to detach from it but feels incapable to do so.
The truth is that it is a disorder that is growing, and is being strongly fed by some famous people and the diffusion they get through Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. But treating an animal as if it were a person or a human member of the family can border on paranoia. Of course, it is not bad or pathological to love an animal, take care of it and pamper it, but turning them into people, dressing them like dolls, putting jewelry on them or taking them to the spa is ridiculous and unnecessary. To personify them is to steal their true nature and disrespect them .
