Throw your pet the pawty of his or her dreams
and robbers,” he said.
Criminologist Professor Nirmala Gopal says it’s not unusual for women to be involved in gang-related crime but their involvement has always been overlooked because of society’s focus on men and as a consequence of that there wasn’t enough empirical evidence that showed, over a period of time, to what extent women belonged to gangs and perpetrated criminal activity via a gang.
She said their actions were probably motivated by various economic reasons and they chose to become professional criminals because targeting others was an easy way to sustain themselves.
“In all probability they have been doing this for a while and they got away with it, and so they continue with it until they are apprehended and receive an appropriate sentence through the criminal justice system.”
She said criminals usually carried some form of emotional psychological baggage of their own as a result of being victims of violence or other types of abuse which led to the phenomenon of “violence begets violence”.
“No criminal believes that he or she will be apprehended. So that is the greatest motivation. These are usually people who have no empathy, so it’s very selfish. They don’t care about the feelings of others, they don’t care about the consequences of others, whether psychological, emotional or social.
“They are unremorseful, and these kinds of individuals we label as sociopathic, because they manipulate, they perpetrate these crimes without having any feeling, care or emotional attachment to what is happening to the victim,” said Gopal.
MOVE over, humans; there’s a new party animal in town.
In an era when our pets have become integral members of the family, it was only a matter of time before they demanded their slice of the cake.
Enter the age of “Pawty Planning”, where Fido gets a fancy hat and Fluffy has a whole buffet of gourmet catnip treats for her big day.
Not all pet parties might match the scale of late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette – she celebrated her 11th birthday last year with a private jet party.
But more and more pet owners across the world are making sure that their pets’ milestone days are celebrated.
Particularly in South Africa, where pet owners are now throwing their beloved animals lavish parties for their birthdays.
Pet retailer Absolute Pets offer pet owners the opportunity to throw their beloved pets the pawty of their dreams.
“Absolute Pets has branches around South Africa, which gives it unparalleled insight and information about pet trends and the wishes of pet parents across the country,” says Genevieve Adams, the marketing manager.
“We’ve also seen a great uptake of our Pet Parents loyalty programme, which includes a free birthday gift for pets in their birthday month – and this includes cats, dogs, birds and small pets such as rabbits and hamsters.”
One of the major factors driving the desire to celebrate pets is the trend of pet humanisation.
This is the increasing tendency for people to view pets as if they were human, and the consequent desire to provide them with top-quality food and accessories.
“Over the last few decades pets are no longer seen as ‘just animals’ but rather as very important members of the family who bring their owners a great amount of joy and happiness, and should be celebrated in the same way as humans are,” says Adams.
But global commentators point out that social media is also responsible for putting pets front and centre of family life, with both celebrities and ordinary content creators sharing hours of cute footage about their animals’ daily activities and celebration days.
South African pet owners are no different and are increasingly joining the pet party spirit. Retailers are meeting this need with a growing range of products available for them to mark their animals’ big days.
“Two of our best-sellers for special celebration days are our party pupcakes – delicious ‘iced’ treats for dogs that are made of wholemeal flour, peanut butter, olive oil, dehydrated egg and tapioca icing – and our happy birthday biscuit bone, which is also made with high-quality ingredients that are safe for your dog,” says Adams.
“You can get pupcakes that celebrate the Springboks or Christmas themed ones.”
And even if your pet is looked after elsewhere while you’re at work, it doesn’t mean they have to have a miserable birthday – an increasing number of doggy daycares are hosting pawties on behalf of pet parents, throwing themed parties with photos of the pet’s big day, and including pawty packs sent home with their pet friends.
Keeping pets’ health and safety in mind is a number-one priority, so it’s important to bear this in mind when wanting to celebrate your pet’s big day.
“There definitely is a growing trend of people celebrating their pets’ birthdays. In fact, I’m one of those people – I treat my dog to some tasty wet food on his birthday,” says Absolute Pets vet Dr Candice Cooper.
“But when we are talking about treats for pets, I would apply the same advice I give about general nutrition.
“You want to avoid diets that are too high in carbohydrates and so while you can give the occasional good-quality treat, in general you want your pet to have a diet that is higher in lean protein and avoid too much salt, sugar and additives.”
“You also want to avoid human treats such as chocolate and food with onions, garlic, raisins and macadamia nuts. If you’re making your own treats you must also make sure that there’s no xylitol in them.”