Lacy and I attended the "Dogs in Danger" event in Yorktown Heights this weekend. It was for a good cause, pet adoption and saving dogs from being euthanized, a cause near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, it was not well attended, possibly because it was the first of an annual event and the weather was soggy, but the spirit wasn't dampened by those who attended, and the dogs were wonderful.......... It got me thinking however, about how some people view dogs and the bad press they sometimes get.
To me, most dogs really aren't so called, helpless victims of human cruelty. They're pack animals that know how to survive as such and so, if they feel threatened, they will fight back........as is their nature. It's man however, who has the upper hand. If they do fight back and attack a human who is hurting them, they are classified as "vicious" and are beaten into submission or worse, put down.
My question is, who are we to determine how another species is "supposed to" survive. The rule of nature is, after all, "survival of the fittest". If a dog attacks a child who playfully pulls on his ears, that's a tragedy, without a doubt. But think about the mind of the dog. The child doesn't know that it's a creature who's survival is based on an instinctual behavioral mechanism. The consequences of pulling on the dog's ears one too many times is not in the child's own instinctual behavioural mechanism and so, the dog may react in the only way it knows how......self preservation. The child doesn't know about self preservation because it has it's mom and dad to worry about that for him. Also, the dog doesn't know that the child is only playing, but may read it's behavior as aggression. Neither one's thinking is right or wrong, but the dog "must be distroyed" because we humans say so.
An old cocker spaniel in my neighborhood some, 34 years ago, was startled by my little 4 year old daughter, who visited him now and then because she loved dogs. He was old and deaf and when my child came up behind him, he jumped up and bit off the tip of her nose. Ofcourse, I was upset for my daughter and as a mother, thought in terms of how this would disfigure the face of a young girl but never did I blame the old dog nor demand that as an uncontrollable and vicious beast, it should be killed. That is, however what happened. Sadly, it was put down by its owners, a hard decision for them I'm sure, but when my little 4 year old found out, it was more devastating for her than the plastic surgery she needed to repair her nose.
I know that most people are good and kind hearted when it comes to animals, and if they saw an injured animal on the side of the road, they would stop and help it. Am I naive? Probably, but then, Lacy and I talk about this all the time......or, actually........I talk, Lacy listens..........(I think).
To me, most dogs really aren't so called, helpless victims of human cruelty. They're pack animals that know how to survive as such and so, if they feel threatened, they will fight back........as is their nature. It's man however, who has the upper hand. If they do fight back and attack a human who is hurting them, they are classified as "vicious" and are beaten into submission or worse, put down.
My question is, who are we to determine how another species is "supposed to" survive. The rule of nature is, after all, "survival of the fittest". If a dog attacks a child who playfully pulls on his ears, that's a tragedy, without a doubt. But think about the mind of the dog. The child doesn't know that it's a creature who's survival is based on an instinctual behavioral mechanism. The consequences of pulling on the dog's ears one too many times is not in the child's own instinctual behavioural mechanism and so, the dog may react in the only way it knows how......self preservation. The child doesn't know about self preservation because it has it's mom and dad to worry about that for him. Also, the dog doesn't know that the child is only playing, but may read it's behavior as aggression. Neither one's thinking is right or wrong, but the dog "must be distroyed" because we humans say so.
An old cocker spaniel in my neighborhood some, 34 years ago, was startled by my little 4 year old daughter, who visited him now and then because she loved dogs. He was old and deaf and when my child came up behind him, he jumped up and bit off the tip of her nose. Ofcourse, I was upset for my daughter and as a mother, thought in terms of how this would disfigure the face of a young girl but never did I blame the old dog nor demand that as an uncontrollable and vicious beast, it should be killed. That is, however what happened. Sadly, it was put down by its owners, a hard decision for them I'm sure, but when my little 4 year old found out, it was more devastating for her than the plastic surgery she needed to repair her nose.
I know that most people are good and kind hearted when it comes to animals, and if they saw an injured animal on the side of the road, they would stop and help it. Am I naive? Probably, but then, Lacy and I talk about this all the time......or, actually........I talk, Lacy listens..........(I think).
My daughter grew into a beautiful young woman, but to this day, I still feel a twinge of regret about that old cocker spaniel and the people who loved him.
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