Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Jen's fault

Okay, a blogger friend of mine got me going.

in her comments on THIS post Jen said "Who in the world loves an animal more than their children?"

My response is.... LOTS of people.
I belong to various dog lists, from reactive dogs to rawfeeding to training. I find them fascinating, just reading what people do, and how they patiently resolved an issue with their dogs. sometimes just fascinating and insightful. SOMETIMES I am horrified.

I am horrified when I read comments of "my dog bit my child, now I'm wondering if I should send my child to live with my ex". "my dog took off after by boyfriend last night, how can I teach my dog it's okay for me to 'cuddle' with my boyfriend." "My dog has been deemed dangerous and my neighbours don't like him, but I really want to keep him and my hubby and I fight about it, everyone is so mean, what should I do.?"

it's like ARGH!!!! People! IT"S A DOG!
A dog. Created by God. NOT made in the image of God. Distinct difference.

yes, love them, care for them, train them...please... train them.
BUT When they bite you....so that they break skin, or chase/threaten your children/hubby/significant other with intent to do damage,... LET THAT DOG GO! Seriously...let it go.

If it is doing that type of behaviour, unless you are willing to do major intervention.. find someone else who knows how to handle an ill-mannered dog. Some people are able to train such dogs to be model citizens....many people, particularly people who manage to raise an ill-mannered dog are NOT equipped to re-train said dog.

if you can't find someone willing to retrain that dog.. then kindly, for the sake of other folks, and for the sake of the dog, put it to sleep quietly. Seriously....it's better all round.

Don't be angry with me about this. :) But sometimes folks you have to realize a dog is just a dog. And even though we are called of God to care for and protect that which he has given us, sin does affect EVERY part of this world. And some dogs well.... they aren't nice dogs, and people need to be protected from them. and it's not kindness to keep them locked up forever, it's kinder to let them go. JMHO

8 comments:

indianshawls said...

nice blog

jen said...

Ok, agreed. Perhaps I should have said "who in their right mind would love a pet more than their children?" :)

Annette said...

I do tend to think that Jen... who in their right mind let's a dog chase their child onto the kitchen table (lady I used to work let her dog do that) her excuse...well the dog doesn't like her. I used to get so frustrated with her.

Even So... said...

I agree 100% (and then some, but I won't go into it here)...

Baxter said...

U used to have a cocker spaniel that I loved. When I gave him up because of circumstances beyond my control, I was heart broken...until I had my first baby. Everything fell into the right perspective after that! I also knew a couple that loved their doberman; she was their "baby" and they doted on her...until they had their first child. Everything fell into the right perspective after that, and the dog was history. I'm not advocating that once you have a child, the dog has to go (unless there is a potential threat to the safety of your child). I'm just saying that unlike the animals, PEOPLE ARE created in the image of God and therefore of greater value and we need to have that perspective. In the law of Moses if an animal or a man took the life of a human, they were to be put to death. (Which is STILL in effect today in regard to animals) When was that ever so about the life of an animal?

jen said...

You do realize the PETA people are going to be all riled up over this post, don't you?

:)

Baxter said...

Who is PETA?

jen said...

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Not that I'm against animals being treated ethically, but they go to extremes. The animal is more important than the human.