Fat Homeowners & the Fat Pets Who Love Them

A new study out of Finland finds that those who own pets tend to be less active – and much heavier – than those who don’t have pets. Huh? Wha? Aren’t you supposed to walk your dog every day? Hike with them? At least roll from one side of the couch to the other with them? We at LAist find it impossible to believe that owning a pet makes you less active. It doesn’t compute. How can this be?

The study is a little vague when trying to make this point, but it does mention that those most likely to own pets are middle-aged and were already predisposed to be sedentary before they got pets. Fine. We’re following so far. The study further identifies the other likely group of pet owners that are unhealthy and inactive -- homeowners. Huh? Wha? Owning a home makes you fat? Again, we ask, how can this be? Who the hell knows…but it seems things are going to get a lot worse soon.

In true American let’s-just-lay-about-and-get-fat style, Pfizer has just approved Slentrol, a liquid formula to help manage the weight of obese dogs. It’s not yet on the market, but we can see the Finnish study writing on the wall. Soon we’ll be reading about pet owners getting chunky in droves. If you don’t have to walk the pooch because a drug will slim him down for you, why on earth would you get off the couch at all?

photo by Mr TGT via Flickr