She’s at it again. Our favorite anatomically incorrect career hopper is adding another hobby to her already formidable list — promoting the purchase of animals.
Last week, Mattel announced a new Plush Pals line, featuring Blissa the kitten, Lacey the Chihuahua puppy and Sequin the poodle.
Well, in case you haven’t noticed, shelters aren’t exactly overflowing with Chihuahua puppies and poodles.
The toys, 10-inch plushes with cramped, matching carriers, condition little girls to want designer dogs and treat pets like accessories (and for Barbie, that’s exactly what they are).
Mattel could have easily presented the pets as rescued animals. They could have invented past abuse or neglect and allowed children to “save” them.
Instead, as usual, they took the cute, easy route and contributed to the nationwide epidemic of animal overpopulation. That’s not even the only problem — studies show that purebred animals are less healthy than “mutts” or mixed breeds. But we get it — only the best for Barbie.
Until Americans acknowledge that it’s a problem for animals to die in shelters while people (and dolls) buy pets, the problem is not going to get better.
If Barbie had forgone the puppy mills and adopted a pit bull, a mutt, or even an adult Chihuahua, we might feel differently.
But once again, like when she got knocked up (we don’t see a commitment ring on those webbed fingers) or decided to become a unicorn, Barbie made a dumb choice.
