The Park is in an uproar after the announcement yesterday that Footpad Heaven plans to expand its inventory to include collars.[pullquote]The collar … It is, quite simply, slave jewellery. — Angus Deerhound of Runaway Rovers[/pullquote]

The announcement came in the form of an advertisement that ran in many Park newspapers, including this one. The ad calls the items “Jewellery for the sophisticated Canine and Feline set.”

“It’s an outrage,” says Angus Deerhound of Runaway Rovers, a group that offers assistance to formerly Domestic Canines.

“It’s an affront to our species, as well as to others,” he says. “This object …  the collar … it isn’t clothing and it isn’t ornamentation. It is, quite simply, slave jewellery. It is something that was designed by Humans so that they could have control over us. I can’t imagine why such a wonderful shop as Footpad Heaven would even think about selling them.”

Many others are wondering the same thing. Footpad Heaven, which is The Park’s oldest shop, originally catered to the needs of Animals whose footpads and toepads suffered injury because of unpaved roads. Josiah Bandicoot, an immigrant sculptor who had dabbled in chemistry and aesthetics, established the shop 47 years before zoocracy and it has been owned and operated by his descendants since his death. A few years ago, the shop expanded its offerings to include cutting-edge fashion and trendsetting accessories, but none of those items bears the same connotation as does the collar.

According to Deerhound, a meeting of dissenters is scheduled for tomorrow night. They plan to petition Footpad Heaven to cancel its sale of collars.

“Taking the collar off is a symbol of freedom to every Domestic Canine who finds refuge in The Park. Why, then, would we who live here and have fought for freedom and the right to govern ourselves, want to put one on?” asks Deerhound.