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How we treat dogs

Zombie

Entry posted by Zombie

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The other week I posted a pic of a dog, clipped to make it seem like it was wearing a certain type of garment.

 

Someone posted in reply that it was "the cruelest hoax ever perpetrated on a dog".

 

Well, it wasn't a hoax - it was real.

 

And it wasn't cruel. Looking at the pic it's clear the "trim" was professionally done - just like this poodle

 

poodle_dog.jpg

 

There's no evidence that the dog whose pic I posted was caused any discomfort, let alone pain. And in time the dog's hair would grow back. So no harm done.

 

Or was there?

 

What was done to that dog was certainly in bad taste. But worse, it transformed an animal from looking like it should into an object of ridicule, for people's amusement - including, presumably, the owner's - and to be laughed at.

 

What sort of owner would do that? And what should a dog look like anyway?

 

Isn't the poodle also disturbing?

 

Fact is, all domesticated dogs are creatures of man. We have shaped them to look as they do. Over hundreds of generations of inbreeding we have exaggerated certain traits to create "pedigrees" that are - I usually avoid this word but here it is apt - unnatural. Many "pedigrees" are prone to all kinds of health problems and are often produced for huge profit at "puppy farms". For our own amusement and vanity.

 

So for me, next time I have an overwhelming desire to have another dog I'll be off to the pet rescue centre to pick a Heinz Variety :)

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Aditus

I wholeheartedly agree. All my dogs were/are from the animal shelter and all of them were/are from the a-little-bit-of-everything variety. They are the best. :)

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Ashi

I'd prefer to love someone who loves me for who I am, rather than something that they can shape.  I am not equating myself as a bitch..., but whatever, you get the point.  If cats were given the same treatment..., you won't survive another day for humiliate them so deeply.  Dogs are sad like that.  Dogs don't get angry even if they're mistreated.

 

BTW, why is this blog tagged with Scottish independence?  I see no correlation.

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W_L

I want a puppy again, :(

 

I love dogs and rather they live free and happy without man made restrictions including their choice of partner. I wish my dog had puppies, but alas, he was too busy oggling his male friends.

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rustle

Yeh, Zombie, that was me what wrote that comment. I knew you'd get the point.

 

Dave and I have had dogs, 2 at a time, for over 25 years. They've all been crossbred. The shelters have been very good to us.

 

Every time we lose one, I search my soul, trying to decide if I can exercise dominion over another living creature. I cannot support a breeder in good conscience, but the dogs in the shelter are already there, and the only lives they can live are in our care.

 

When I lost Conor early this year, for the first time, there was no hesitation or doubt. I was ready to go again, like a kid on a roller coaster. Woobie Bear will be 8 months old in a couple of weeks. He's the last puppy I'll adopt, but not the last dog. I'll post a recent pic, if anybody's interested.

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