Breaking news! Have you heard? It’s suddenly big news that microchips in pets can cause cancer. There’s one reported case out of hundreds of thousands of  microchipped pets. But mice, apparently, show an impressive susceptibility to cancer at the microchip injection site, according to research the microchip industry allegedly buried for fear its...

Ah, the New York Times…all the news that’s fit to print…and a Sunday magazine that gives its writers a little room to maneuver around the news—with editorial vigor, if necessary. And that’s my primary objection to the article. The writer stalked this project with a jaundiced eye aimed squarely at the pet-owner relationship.

 “The increasing specialization of the pet food industry today may well...