Dear Dr.Phil,
I have watched you on Oprah and more recently on your own show, and have usually agreed with the advice you have given people, even when it appeared to be rather tough. I knew that your heart was in the right place when such advice was given, so I took it as such.
However, I was very disappointed to hear you tell a family to "get rid of their pets" on a recent show that I saw.I believe that your advice was well intentioned, but highly irresponsible.In case you are not aware, both Canada and the US have an epedemic of unwanted pets who are abandoned on the streets or dumped at a shelter.There are thousands of advocacy groups who are spending every waking moment trying to educate the public, so that this sad state can one day be irradicated. Only through educating people about responsible pet guardianship, can we ever hope to reduce the horrific numbers of dumped pets who sit rotting away in our shelters, ever hopeful that their best friend will return for them, only to be put to death because nobody else adopts them. Pets are an integral part of most families, and should be treated as a valued member. Would you tell someone to take their child to an orphanage if money was tight? I think not. I would like to ask that you please re-phrase any future advice of this nature, and make it clear to people that dumping a pet is not acceptable, and help us to educate people that they should consider their lives/responsibilites FIRST, BEFORE GETTING A PET. A pet is a lifetime committment as are marriage and having children, and for you to suggest otherwise, goes against everything I've heard you say before.