Letters to the Editor
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Dogs and "moral agency"
"Of course dogs are "innocent". They lack moral agency. That's one reason we can kill them at will if they are threatening. They are not people." -- After That
You might want to brush up on the latest research in non-human animal intelligence, After That. The latest findings are that reasoning and moral behavior are hardly limited to humans.
As for why we kill dogs and other abandons, it has nothing to do with their "moral agency," or lack thereof. It has to do with the fact that we are more powerful than them and so do with them as we will.
To us, animals are property. I.e., slaves, and as history shows, slaveowners have always been able to kill their slaves without fear of consequence.
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Dogs and "moral agency" (corrected)
"Of course dogs are "innocent". They lack moral agency. That's one reason we can kill them at will if they are threatening. They are not people." -- After That
You might want to brush up on the latest research in non-human animal intelligence, After That. The latest findings are that reasoning and moral behavior are hardly limited to humans.
As for why we kill dogs and other animals, it has nothing to do with their "moral agency," or lack thereof. It has to do with the fact that we are more powerful than them and so do with them as we will.
To us, animals are property. I.e., slaves, and as history shows, slaveowners have always been able to kill their slaves without fear of consequence.
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owners are the key
owners are the key to safe dog ownership. We have had two blue tick coonhounds. coonhounds, as a rule, are wonderful dogs to have. The first was always had a good home. Sweet dog, wonderful temperament and accepted my wife and I as alpha most of the time. Our second dog had been abused and was so out of whack we took her to a dog behaviorist who instructed us to put her on a "no free lunch" clicker training based behavior program. Within a few months she went from being a dog that would lunge at you with no provocation to a dog you could trust reasonably well in a crowd of friends at a party. Yes, we've had two or three events where she behaved inappropriately but it was always our fault for not keeping up with training reinforcement and recognizing her stress limits.
An example of a bad owner behavior I would like to highlight is dogs in public spaces. Too many bad owners let their dogs run loose. The dog typically gets in another dogs face and will not leave them alone which creates, I consider, a harassment situation. People who claim to have their dogs under voice control, tell their dog to come at least five or 10 times before the dog loses interest in the other dog and wanders off completely ignoring their owner.
careless owners, bad training = bad behavior
unfortunately, we can't stop this except through economic incentives such as significantly higher license fees unless the owner can demonstrate participation in a certified obedience class within the past few years.
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Blah blah blah Part II
It is the breed folks - what kind of human and what kind of dog. I don't know if the writer or any of the pro-pit folks have young children - I suspect not. If you did, you would feel differently if a pitbull lived behind you as we have. Our neighbors delinqent son brings home girls with dogs and the dogs stay. They have a chihuahua and a pit. The chihuahua has scarred the face of their middle son aged 13. The pit is a puppy still but who knows what that dog would do.
I know this - if the chihuahua attacks my nine month old or my 3 year old. I know I can pull the dog off and I know they won't die. That is not the case with a pit. I would feel the same if it was a rottie or a doberman. The owners are assholes for not thinking of our 2 kids and the 7 other kids immediately around them. If you want streetcred - ride a motorcycle and get a tattoo for christsake! I'm sick of this crap.
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pit bulls
Guns don't kill people, people kill people.
Pit bulls don't kill people... who does?
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Anyone
Anyone who has the money can legally own a car. Cars kill orders of magnitude more people than dogs ever do. A poorly operated car can kill several people at one time. Almost all traffic fatalities are caused by improper operation.
Anyone who has sex can create a new person. Humans kill orders of magnitude more people than dogs ever do. A poorly raised person can cause, either directly or indirectly, many many deaths.
We just accept the deaths and injuries caused by cars and other people. We try to legislate in such a way to minimize the damage. But we accept the fact that there will be a certain level of mortality that results from cars and sex.
Yes, "pit bulls" are more potentially dangerous than almost all other dogs. There are numerous reasons for this. Dogs with responsible owners are much less likely to attack other dogs or humans.
My personal experience with the breeds of dogs known as pit bulls has been extremely positive. They are generally sweet ,kind, fun, happy dogs. But I will never own one. I have no desire to take on the responsibility of being in control of such a powerful animal.
I drive a car because it would be very difficult to exist in modern culture without one. Not impossible, but more difficult than I want to deal with.
I will never father a child. I don't want the responsibility. I am far too selfish. I don't want to spend the money child-rearing requires.
We are never going to legislate perfect safety. It may be necessary to highly regulate pet ownership. But what is important is to keep this all in perspective. Singling out a certain type of dog, without addressing the issues behind the perceived benefit is unfair and short-sighted. It also isnever going to work.