Most people living in the first world are some of the luckiest individuals on the planet. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t suffer from our own “first world problems”. One such challenge we face is the high rates of obesity in children and adults. In 2010, reports estimated that nearly 50% of the population in developed nations are either overweight or obese.
In a similar fashion, our pets are suffering from the same fate. In the US alone, 85 million of the 170 million pets are considered obese. In turn, pet insurance claims for diabetes has skyrocketed by 253% in 2011! The problem has gotten so bad that some genius actually developed a doggy stairlift so our pets won’t need to climb those doggone stairs anymore.
So the question is: what are we to do with these pudgy pooches? The answer, believe it or not, may lie in the November 1939 issue of Popular Science. I present to you the Poochmobile!
That's right, the Poochmobile or as I'd call it, DPT (Dog Propelled Transit). Image from Modern Mechanix.
With the Poochmobile, we can travel to work in sustainably, and help our pets exercise. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Joy – our office hound – as you can see, is incredibly thrilled about it.
Just one of those lazy dog days of summer...until we get that Poochmobile!