Dustin... re-homed animals...are they living or existing?
The sad sack who started the thread kinda has a point!
Our relationships are mostly founded through selfish motives if we really think about it open and honestly. The selfishness occurs from both parties wanting to avoid pain and attain pleasure.
I see people all the time with the best of intentions for their pets, unfortunately passion does not come with understanding of how these intentions are perceived by the other species.
Understand the species and the then you can say you are acting humanely
Not every dog owner is in the wrong. me and my wife have 3 dogs all of which came from a rescue organization. they all live great lives, very comfy and spoiled even. I think they all would say they are glad to have some good owners who let them live most of their lives very happy dogs. 1 of them was beaten and starved of even any sort of communication with anything.. the other was owned by a breeder who left her somewhere when they were done with her and the third was left tied to a tree in the mountains and just happened to be found by someone before she died. We in essence have given them all a new and proper lease on life.
Hey, what kinda party is this? There's NO booze and only one hooker???
Bless you and the millions of others caring for rescue animals but my point is not about passion but about understanding. There is generally an aversive cost of being a pet from the point of view of the dog.
Your dog's interpretation of the scenario would be far from yours. While you do provide for many of the dog's needs there is a real stress and at times potential anxieties that arise from the limitations the humans impose on the dogs freedoms restraint or loss of contact for example.
Dogs are pack animals and don't understand the concepts humans take for granted. They will never understand why we have to leave for work or why we want them to stay when they want to go. This can and does cause stress on the dog who is not conditioned/socialised to it.
A happy dog is independent not dependant
Treat dogs like the amazing adaptive animal they are, not surrogate children if you really want to be the most humane owner.
I have always taken the position that people should be required to take even a basic training course with their dog as a condition of adoption. (Ideally, they should also take a canine behavioral course but I know that would be asking too much).
Your comment on conditioning/socialization is spot on though - a well socialized dog is a happy dog.
In a society that abolishes adventure, the only adventure is in abolishing that society.
ThePsyko - Pissing off the planet one person at a time.
there are some valid points made here on both sides. Fortuneately for me and my companion dog(a rescue dog) I'm with her 24/7. We go everywhere together. I don't have her on a leash most of the time and I tell her to sit and wait for me when I go into a store shopping and when I return she's always right where I left her. Even if someone trys to take her she won't budge and uses good judgement weather to use just her body wieght and just lay down and if the person takes it up a notch and tries to pick her up or starts dragging her she'll give them deep growl and bare those teeth and anyone that would continue what they are doing is just plain stupid. I've witnessed two different times this happened. One time the person wasn't there when I returned, but someone who witnessed everything told me what happened. The second time I could see her from where I was in the check out line and a woman was petting her then she grabed her collar and tried to get her to walk away with her. My dog just laid down and streatched out. The woman tried to get her to stand up by lifting on the collar and she was just not strong enoughor was afraid to really choke the dog by lifting her that way. When I walked out I told my dog to get up and asked the lady why she was trying to take my dog. She said she thought it was a stray dog because it didn't have a leash on it. I told her well be assured she's not a stray quite the opposite that is why she is sitting there patiently waiting for me. Get your children to behave thjat well then start worrying about other peoples bussiness. I was proud of my dog for not biteing the lady for touching her. People need to learn and teach their children not to go up to anyones dog and try and pet them without speaking to the owner first. The way a dog might react when you are there is not always the way they will react when you are not there. Sorry I drifted way off the subject there. lol My point I guess was that if my dog wasn't happy she could leave at any time. She doesn't because we are buddies. I love that dog and she gets to be a dog enough for her to be content to hang out and wait for me when I'm doing people stuff. Like any relationship there is an even trade off of activities we do together that some are for me and others for her then others for us both. As far as pack animals some of these abused rescue dogs have issues being close to other dfogs. mine isn't quite that extreme, but she likes being around other dogs for a short time and it's ussually just smelling all the dog scents and messages they've left everywhere.
Question; so is it better to own a dog ,who may otherwise be put to sleep or in "doggie jail"? Or should i just leave him there because i have to go to work a few hours out of the day?
By raypaul [865369]
who want's to control another animal, pet owner's..
who want's to be superior, those who own pet's..
so you do it for compasion, friendship, lonelyness, love, then try putting them feeling's your fellow human's.....
my best friend has two guinea pigs, is looking to see about getting more rodents in the future and has done all the research possible so that she gives them the best life. Some of the rodents cannot live as good a quality of life without human help.
I personally believe animals such as the present house cat would be extinct without the help they've received from humans over the years. We give them shelter from the cold environments, (many times theres also food for them to hunt in this shelter... rats.) and more importantly, feed them to keep them alive. The current eco system doesn't seem to have enough smaller critters to support an entire small hunting species such as a cat anymore, especially when larger animals would hunt them.
9320 out of 48148 Pen knives owned... And counting.
I dont feel bad,
I've started to get reptiles and all the reptiles i get are from quality sourced reptile houses and are captive bred, they are not allowed to be re-natured because of their unfamiliarity with outside life. I keep them in the same conditions as the reptile house and show them more love.
Whoever has had a cat knows you don't own them. They own you,,,,,end of story.
To the poster that said cats can't make it in the wild has never lived in the country,,,feral cats have been drug up numerous times by my German Shepherd....Some of them escape her because she does't run so well anymore...14 years old takes a little out of you if you are a large breed dog.
Back to the wild cats....Most don't make it because of the coyotes around here,,,,but some do if they find a home in a barn that has feed in it. Not that they eat the feed but they eat the mice and rats. Sometimes they get so numerous some farms have what they call an annual cat killing to thin the population down.
By damaster [641864]
I personally believe animals such as the present house cat would be extinct without the help they've received from humans over the years. We give them shelter from the cold environments, (many times theres also food for them to hunt in this shelter... rats.) and more importantly, feed them to keep them alive. The current eco system doesn't seem to have enough smaller critters to support an entire small hunting species such as a cat anymore, especially when larger animals would hunt them.
Don't be a moron. The house cat is a result of thousands of years of selective breeding by humans. Without humans they'd still be the wild form of whatever species they originally came from. That aside, feral cats are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. Your cat might have more trouble if they've been an indoor cat their whole life but in general they are still very much able of hunting their own food. My own cat catches birds and squirrels (and leaves them outside the garage for us) on a daily basis.
You're also hopelessly naive if you think the ecosystem (it's one word, by the way) doesn't have enough small animals. You need to take a long walk in the country because you're obviously a city boy. There are plenty of small animals. More than you could possibly count. I'd go crazy just by trying to count all the squirrels in my yard much less in the whole neighborhood or even any nearby uninhabited mountain.
The above idiot aside, I see nothing wrong with owning a pet so long as you are able to take responsibility for it and make sure to give it plenty of care. There are tons of excellent pet owners out there and I think it's horribly offensive to be judged a horrible person for owning a pet just because there are a few bad owners out there. My own cat was a stray when we took him in. He wasn't even fully grown yet but was so skinny that I could literally grab him around the waist and have my fingers touch. He's much better now and lives with me as an indoor/outdoor cat. He's still extremely skittish even when indoors and it kind of makes me think he was mistreated as a kitten by whichever family he used to live with. Despite that he is the sweetest cat I have ever owned and I have never once believed that he would be better off in the wild or that he didn't want to live with me. So I will keep owning pets, thank you very much, and I will smack down whichever PETA loving moron tries to take my pet away from me just because they think that they know better.
By Foggy [939739]
Whoever has had a cat knows you don't own them. They own you,,,,,end of story.
To the poster that said cats can't make it in the wild has never lived in the country,,,feral cats have been drug up numerous times by my German Shepherd....Some of them escape her because she does't run so well anymore...14 years old takes a little out of you if you are a large breed dog.
Back to the wild cats....Most don't make it because of the coyotes around here,,,,but some do if they find a home in a barn that has feed in it. Not that they eat the feed but they eat the mice and rats. Sometimes they get so numerous some farms have what they call an annual cat killing to thin the population down.
German Sheperd, 14 yrs? Hmmmm.
I lost my Ridgeback at 13, fit as could be but with a little researched illness, larangeal paralysis.
Right. The 'dog shrink prick' yes, dogs are pack animals, is it too hard for you to understand the pack leader changes to it's owner?
Why, otherwise, would the dog do as asked, fetch what you wish etc?
Why did my dog sleep next to the pack leader (me) as a sign of respect for all his life?
I had one hell of a happy large dog for all his natural life.
You know this actually reminds me of PETA they're against people owning pets and they claim to be an "Animal Rights Advocate" and yet they kill stray dogs rather than putting them in shelters. Funny really...
There is nothing wrong with pets the simple fact is that we Humans have ascended higher than Animals we are much superior than them. And that is why we the humans have infested this god-forsaken place called Earth and they're(Animals) are dying to extinction that's evolution for you.
Have you ever looked into the pets perspective? They get free food, free shelter and etc. and avoid the harsh wild life they need to survive? I guess you never thought about that didn't you. And I guess letting animals out in the wild and watch them have an agonizing death on Nat Geo and Discovery Channel more entertaining.
I don't know any others reasons for having pets but my partner definitely doesn't do it to feel superior. On christmas day 2 years ago she was given a dog that was found half starved and left on a balcony dying of hypothermia, the dog would literally shit itself if you even looked at it and within 6 months it was a changed dog, she eventually was well enough that MB could give her to a person on the transplant list because the guy needed a reason to get up and out everyday and now that guy loves the dog to bits and she is really happy in her new home.
MB also has a snake and a golden tegu (google it) and in converting our spare room into a reptile room for them so that they have loads of space to move around in, she even has their enclosures custom made and treats them really well.
So no she doesn't have pets because she wants to dominate them, she doesn't have pets because it makes her feel superior. She has them because she genuinely loves them. There are 25 legally registered Tegus in Ireland, MB owns one of them because they are usually imported illegally and only a few people know how to look after them and she is one of them. If she didn't have it someone else would and it would die really quickly because people buy animals like that thinking it will be "Cool" but after a few days realize they haven't got a clue how to care for them so they either kill them or abandon them in car parks.
For the record MB's tegu is still young (There are pic's of it on her profile) but this is what a fully grown one looks like
![raypaul [865369]](http://awardimages.torn.com/865369-97222-large.png "raypaul [865369]")
![Dustin [1130481]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1130481-74511-large.png "Dustin [1130481]")
![kcochctaps [1543982]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1543982-61860-large.png "kcochctaps [1543982]")
![MattyMontana [193042]](http://awardimages.torn.com/193042-28948-large.png "MattyMontana [193042]")
![ThePsyko [130621]](http://awardimages.torn.com/130621-52588-large.png "ThePsyko [130621]")
![Miss-Sxc-Abby [735376]](http://awardimages.torn.com/735376-84268-large.png "Miss-Sxc-Abby [735376]")
x![Shady_Grady [134496]](http://awardimages.torn.com/134496-53791-large.png "Shady_Grady [134496]")
![Skunkdoctor [1371548]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1371548-62086-large.png "Skunkdoctor [1371548]")
![Spliffeh [315389]](http://awardimages.torn.com/315389-11899-large.png "Spliffeh [315389]")
![lsreal [1484253]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1484253-10552-large.png "lsreal [1484253]")
![Naruto [1538618]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1538618-87899-large.png "Naruto [1538618]")
![BeCiKa [1521531]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1521531-83712-large.png "BeCiKa [1521531]")
![7Thommo7 [523173]](http://awardimages.torn.com/523173-73891-large.png "7Thommo7 [523173]")
![Foggy [939739]](http://awardimages.torn.com/939739-42241-large.png "Foggy [939739]")
![damaster [641864]](http://awardimages.torn.com/641864-12579-large.png "damaster [641864]")
![BowTie [1544809]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1544809-66130-large.png "BowTie [1544809]")
![Artiq [475603]](http://awardimages.torn.com/475603-15522-large.png "Artiq [475603]")
![hello_tabby [244110]](http://awardimages.torn.com/244110-93656-large.png "hello_tabby [244110]")
![Huskies [557209]](http://awardimages.torn.com/557209-78954-large.png "Huskies [557209]")
![Pluto [541636]](http://awardimages.torn.com/541636-58993-large.png "Pluto [541636]")
![Bisu [1599783]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1599783-49132-large.png "Bisu [1599783]")
![Jenocide [1282365]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1282365-3441-large.png "Jenocide [1282365]")
![LONE_BUNNY [1073845]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1073845-13010-large.png "LONE_BUNNY [1073845]")
![INGSOC [1560887]](http://awardimages.torn.com/1560887-97024-large.png "INGSOC [1560887]")
Follow @TornRPG