[ SHOWGSD-L ] And Yet Another Dog Bite

  • From: "David Fritsche" <d_fritsche@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:20:21 -0700

> "If an animal bites a person and causes what the ordinance says is
> substantial bodily harm, in most of the cases that animal will be 
> declared
> dangerous," said Burt Osborne, Director of Operations, Licensing and
> Environmental Services for the city of Minneapolis.
>
> When that happens, the owners may keep the animal, but it has to be
> contained. Authorities say the dogs that bit Ybarra were kept inside
> properly. But now that they've bitten yet another person, animal 
> control
> authorities say they're too much of a risk to keep alive.

For generations, dogs have been bred to serve the needs of their human 
masters. And we live in an entirely different world than our 
pre-industrial past. We needed trained killers to help us hunt down 
food, keep our flocks safe from wolves, protects us from the 
neighboring tribe and to do the dirty work we would rather not do or 
could not do ourselves. They were a utilitarian object of a nomadic, 
then agricultural society.

But things have changed. We now live in close proximity to one another 
in a post-industrial, techno-social age. And the dog has been elevated 
from the utilitarian killer or protector to the cuttley lap dog that 
we honor as our child or in some cases as a junior god. The dog is no 
longer a tool but now has it's own rights, it's own organizations, and 
chains of pet stores just for it's needs.

But while society has changed and the philosophies of the human race 
have changed, the dog is still bred on the genetics of the past. And 
yet, we are trying to move the dog from its genetic past to our needs 
of the moment. We are in a conflict of realities.

But we cannot make excuses for the genetics of the past and its 
conflict with the realities and expectations of the present. The dog 
must fit into our world. They are our creation and, as long as we 
maintain that we are owners, ruling over this creature of our 
creation, rather than guardians of that which has its own rights and 
which must be subservient to our needs and our world, we are 
responsible to continue the process of domesticating the dog. We can 
make all the excuses we want to for their behavior, but it is our 
world and they have to conform to it. If they can't then they are 
doomed to the reactions of the non-dog world we live in and the legal 
controls that are forthcoming because of the conflict between the 
genetics of the past and the needs of the present.

It is sad that the human race is not quite up to the task, because of 
our ignorance. We also have genetic flaws <G>. People are ignorant and 
do stupid things and children do test dogs and poke them and hit them. 
They should not and parents should see to it, but when push comes to 
shove, it is of no use to blame the child or dog bite victim in a 
world that is not going to let the dog testify in its own behalf.

While I am not in favor of breed specific legislation, I am in favor 
of breeder specific responsibility. I would love to discover a method 
of determining who should and shouldn't breed and for what reasons, 
without violating anyone's civil rights - OK Impossible! But that is 
specifically the point of conflict. The dog has to move forward in its 
adaptation to our modern world and we have to see to it.

Temperament is not optional.
Dave 

============================================================================
POST is Copyrighted 2007.  All material remains the property of the original 
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind 
are permitted without prior permission of the original author  AND of the 
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY 
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS 
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY 
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE 
PROSECUTED. 

For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx

VISIT OUR WEBSITE - www.showgsd.org
============================================================================

Other related posts: