Part of a magazine's responsibility to readers is make them feel insecure about themselves. Or maybe that's just the unintended consequence of listicles like "20 Foods That Slim You Down." But, one other responsibility of magazines is service; that is, to teach readers how to do something. They'll tell you how to solve a problem (even if one doesn't already exist), improve your self-esteem (even if you weren't feeling bad about yourself), and please your man (even if you're a S&M dungeon master and kinda know what to do in that department).

Real Simple knows they owe it to readers to be service-y. Which is why they've provided a how-to guide on killing your cat.

Part of an article titled "Good Riddance," the magazine offers 18 tips on how to oust things from your life, like coffee breath, a scar, spinache in your teeth, or urine odor. Also, unwanted pets. Blogs Cat Sitter in the City:

Reading this, I get the sense that this article will help me figure out how to get rid of the bothersome things I don't want in my life, and it does. There are helpful entries on how to ditch a third wheel, eradicate coffee breath, fade a scar, get spinach out of your teeth and remove cat-urine odor among others.

But there is also an entry on how to "get rid of" a pet. To be fair, the advice is responsible in that it encourages the pet owner to find a new home for their pet, but given the tone of the article, which is all about saying good riddance to annoying, pesky things in your life, Fido and Fluffy don't fit into the mix, and the inclusion of pets comes off as mean.