Siddha-svarupa: It’s often seen that an owner of a dog looks just like that particular dog. They look very much alike, and they have similar personalities.
Prabhupada: Yes. That’s a fact, because the subtle body is doggish, and he is going to be a dog next life. Tad-bhava-bhavitah [Bg. 8.6]. Because he is always thinking of his dog, always, therefore he is going to be a dog.
Bali-mardana: By association.
Prabhupada: Yes. Sangat sanjayate kamah [Bg. 2.62]. The desire becomes according to association.
Ambarisa: Everybody that’s walked by today has had a dog. [laughs]
Prabhupada: Oh, why you are laughing? …two without association of dog. They have developed that consciousness, dog consciousness.
Bali-mardana: …thinking when the dog has to pass stool, ’cause then they have to take him outside.
Prabhupada: …the statistics, how many dogs are there in the United States?
Siddha-svarupa: Yes, there are. There are more dogs than…
Prabhupada: Than human being?
Bali-mardana: No, no.
Siddha-svarupa: I think there might be.
Bali-mardana: There are many millions, though.
Ambarisa: I think there’s more than humans.
Siddha-svarupa: Maybe dogs and cats combined.
Bali-mardana: The people, they feed their dog and cat so much food that millions of human beings could be fed from the food. Because so much grains are required. They feed them meat, but so much grains are required to produce that food.
Siddha-svarupa: More money is spent on food for dogs in the United States than for babies.
Prabhupada: Accha?
Siddha-svarupa: Yes. He was saying that in the recent food crisis in the United States, 18% of the people started eating dog food because they use such high quality beef, and based on so many grains and everything. And they use grains themselves. Milk products. They’re even learning how to eat dog food.
Prabhupada: …barks in the beach, you cannot walk without seeing dog. More footprints of the dogs than human being.
Siddha-svarupa: …actually give dogs more rights also, in a sense. For instance, if every time you walked there was a human being yelling at everyone who walked by and was going, “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! You get away! Get away! Get away!” then soon the man would be arrested for being a nuisance or a threat to people. But a dog is allowed to do that. He can stay there and yell and yell at everybody.
Morning Walk — June 18, 1975, Honolulu