Oh man hell hath no fury like humans responding to dog cruelty.
Kill or torture a brown person, meh, not so many people will care, but if you kill or torture a brown dog, you will be an exile from all humanity until the end of time.
I do wish we could extend some of this effortless empathy that dogs get to other human beings.
A quote from the Bahai texts about how to treat animals:
āIt is not only their fellow human beings that the beloved of God must
treat with mercy and compassion, rather must they show forth the utmost
loving-kindness to every living creature. For in all physical respects,
and where the animal spirit is concerned, the selfsame feelings are
shared by animal and man ā¦ The feelings are one and the same, whether
ye inflict pain on man or on beast. There is no difference here
whatever. And indeed ye do worse to harm an animal, for man hath a
language, he can lodge a complaint, he can cry out and moan; if injured
he can have recourse to the authorities and these will protect him from
his aggressor. But the hapless beast is mute, able neither to express
its hurt nor take its case to the authorities ā¦ Therefore it is
essential that ye show forth the utmost consideration to the animal, and
that ye be even kinder to him than to your fellow man. Train your
children from their earliest days to be infinitely tender and loving to
animals. If an animal be sick, let them try to heal it, if it be hungry,
let them feed it, if thirsty, let them quench its thirst, if weary, let
them see that it rests.ā
Itās similar, I think, to the way right wing fundies are fierce protectors of the unborn, but once the kids are whelped, they donāt really care so much any more.
Like the unborn, pets are pretty much innocent. You can hate on their parents for whatever the little monsters are up to, but they themselves cannot earn the kind of violence we see inflicted on them.
Mind you, I feel the same way. If it were my dog that heād hurt, Iād be in V for Vendetta-ville. Not that Pet Smart is going to noticeā¦
I get it in the abstract. I wish I could love all other human beings the way I love my own children, but the chasm is just too wide to cross. Maybe it is the one degree of abstraction, where dogs are āeveryoneāsā children because they are kid-like but obviously are not directly human or kids.
I donāt happen to own any people. I do own a dog, though.
I see your point, entirely though, despite what I find to be some obtuse wording (thats just my opinion) I overall very much agree with you.
Hell, I nearly reported an intensive care vet to my stateās veterinary board of governors for even suggesting that acupuncture and āenergy medicineā would be an effective and safe treatment for my boy.
Instead she got āyouāre a fucking quack, and youāve lost all my business and everyone else I can convinceāsā and an unpaid consultation fee.
I took him to a real doctor after that, where he got real treatment thatās based on evidence and scientific study.
It was all I could do not to become violent. I donāt take kindly to medical quackery. And I doubly donāt take kindly to someone trying to sell me bullshit to try and save my dog. Thatās a one-way express ticket to my shitlist.
Humans are foul creatures not worthy of our empathy.
This is a bit of a mess, really. I think weāre having a heap of different things going on here. Thereās the bit with dogs pushing our āinnocent childrenā-button, as people have said, but thereās also our innate tendency to xenophobia, especially perhaps in situations we donāt see up close and personal, where we donāt know the people involved. Even someone fairly prone to xenophobia, hell even racism, might know one person of the āwrongā skin color or sexual orientation, and would in all likelihood look out for that one person, if there was trouble. But weāre sadly all too wary of strangers, especially those we perceive to be different from ourselves.
It does kinda stink, tho. The people that are full of passion for the well-being of strangers fill me with hope, tho. And thereās more of them than youād think, they just usually donāt make headlines, I guess.
The truly compassionate people of the world do good works regardless of there being a photo-op. They know that itās reward enough doing what they can for others.
Wisdom.
Johnny Deppās let himself go
The best I can make sense of it:
1.) Dogs as a rule are incapable of deception, dishonesty or guile.
2.) Dogs give every indication that they believe we are literal gods.
3.) Since dogs donāt lie, and they seem to believe weāre gods, then it follows that dogs actually believe we are gods.
4.) Thatās freaking awesome.
I used to know a dog named Brian who was full of dishonesty and guile. His put upon limp and reproachful gaze when you told him no, he couldnāt have another biscuit was an acting masterclass. He was a splendid dog.
Oh, well. Iāve never met a dog that had that kind of wit. Not without being taught the skill.
Oh, it was most definitely innate. Heād done it since he was a puppy. He also peed on things he didnāt understand and had a major problem with any dog taller than him (i.e. nearly all of them. He was a terrier, natch). And thatās only scratching the surface. He was a marvellously bad dog.
Sounds like a marvelously smart dog.
I had an English Setter x St. Bernard cross for a time. Name of Moose. Spookily intelligent. You could tell the gears were always turning when he looked you in the eye.
He was an escape artist. Figured out in a week that if he sat at the edge of the radio fence, he could wear down the collarās battery until the warning beeps stopped, then walk right across without being shocked.
But you know, when I got big and strong enough, he saw me as god too. Eventually I grew big enough that his tail couldnāt knock me over. Then the tables turned. And he respected and loved me.
But he bit someone. And the county had him put down. He was very dumb for such a smart dog.
Yeah, not sure thatās true?
Dogs are pack animals, so they are completely subservient to the alpha, which is you as the owner, yes? It always seemed to me this was part of the attraction of a dog ā they never question your leadership! People, on the other hand, are constantly doing itā¦
Thereās other great qualities of dogs. But anyway, theyāre my āspiritual thingā if I can say I have one. They seem to exhibit to extreme magnitudes the best and sometimes the worst of what humanity has to offer.
But usually the best.
Which I know is probably just observer bias on my part. But at least I can admit it.
Iāve had two dogs in recent decades. Both of them considered me alpha, unless my dad was in the room. Both, without the slightest confusion, understood that HE was the real alpha in the āpackā, despite never feeding, playing, or living with them.
Dogs have a deep intelligence, itās just different than ours.
Some of here do.
