RiverDog wrote:Nevertheless, they are not the equivalent of a human being.
Hawktawk wrote:They are better than human beings by far. Its probably TMI but I was raised by a violent mentally ill father who abused every one of his kids physically and otherwise and I also witnessed extreme animal cruelty by him. He would kick a dog right in the ribs, probably break a few for barking and damn if it wasn't licking his hand an hour later. I finally stood up to him in my early 20s when he smashed a rock the size of a football on the back of a big golden lab we had. I told him to stop or I was gonna kick his ass and I never witnessed anything like that out of him again. Honestly I needed a long time to reconcile the role of pets in my life, I was kind of afraid to get attached.
I can understand and agree with your sentiment. I was speaking from a legal standpoint as much as I was a moral one. There are some people, such as those you referred to, that I have a lot less respect for than one of my dogs.
Hawktawk wrote:Now I have an old broke down Jack Russell we got from the vet after his owners had brought him in all busted up at age 2 to be put down. The vet signed off on him to give him a chance. His legs are falling apart from arthritis and abuse in his first home. He would squeal anytime your feet were near him when we first got him so I know he was getting punted. He is also very protective of Momma, literally he will bite me if I make a quick move around my wife. My guess is his first owner was a lot like dad. The one good thing the POS did is name him MOPAR after my favorite hot rod brand of all time. He's my makeup dog, truly my rescue animal. He will sit on my lap for hours.The only dog I've ever let lick my face. Not sure what im gonna do when he passes assuming I outlive him.
Neat story.
Although I don't suspect that she was abused or intentionally mistreated, we adapted a 2 year old Chesapeake Bay retriever that had very little human contact and was extremely difficult to train until we figured out that she had a special aversion to electrical shock. In any event, that dog was extremely territorial and caused us some big problems. But it also came with some advantages. When I was working swing and graveyard shifts leaving my wife at home by herself, that dog was a huge comfort to her as if a home invasion was ever attempted at our house, they would have had to kill the dog.