Charlotte Dujardin not competing in dressage after whipping video emerges
- Thread starter QueenOfGoths
- Start date
Rebecca Riot
Well-Known Member
Guide dogs, assistance dogs, search and rescue dogs, police dogs....some dogs have been trained to know when their owner is about to have an epileptic fit and leads them to somewhere safe before it starts.
If you're talking about guide and hearing dogs and the like. No.
And before everyone throws a hissy fit, I am disabled myself.
That's all kinds of wrong. Don't the horses and ponies look happy
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
I was leading up to that
But yeah, I'm sure there will be acceptable degrees of exploitation.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Guide dogs are pretty incredible. The way they have been given a purpose imo gives them a better life than your average pet dog. Domesticated animals, even the pampered ones, can lead somewhat impoverished lives, stimulation-wise, compared to their wild cousins. Working animals such as guide dogs or sheep dogs have far more stimulation and richer experiences.
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
So you think blind and deaf people should suffer because poor doggie? Do you think it would be OK to replace the poor doggie with a human?
And just because you're disabled, it doesn't make you right.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Guide dogs are taught 'selective disobedience', which I still find staggering. They have to keep in their heads the overall purpose of an exercise and to disobey any order that puts that in danger.
Humans helping disabled people I obviously have no problem with.
surreybrowncap
“Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand"
They are not the pilots are they?
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Have you met any guide dogs, though? They're really not suffering.
Good piece of advice from a friend who has a guide dog. When you meet them on the street, don't pet the dog. He's working and needs to concentrate. Yes, he's adorable. You can do what you want with him when he's off duty.
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
It's quite amazing, isn't it.
I'm all for guide dogs. I think they're essential, and not just for the guiding part.
Silas Loom
Hated by both sides
I can’t believe there are any mainstream animal rights activists who wouldn’t accept that guide dogs are a good thing.
They are l0ovely dogs, i agree. but they are open to abuse, just as much as other dogs. I was witness to one being kicked by it's owner on a train. She was trying to sit in a seat where there's a table in the middle. The dog was trying their best to get under the table so she could sit down. She got angry and kicked the dog. I told her there was no need for that. The poor dog looked so down trodden. If she could do that in public, I dread to think how the dog was treated at home.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
They transform people's lives, and the dogs themselves also have a good life. It's win-win.
Rebecca Riot
Well-Known Member
I was with a blind friend who has a guide dog this morning and I can tell you that that dog lives the life of Riley. When I arrive at her house, the dog comes bowling up to me, looks in my pockets to see if I've any dog treats then fetches her toys and wants me to play with her. She's just like any normal dog in the house and it's only when her harness goes on that she becomes serious as she knows she has a job to do.
She is 9 years old now and will have to be retired soon when she will be re-homed as a pet with a carefully selected new owner. My friend is heartbroken at the thought of loosing her but she will be allocated a new guide dog and hasn't got room for 2 large dogs in her tiny bungalow or she would keep her herself.
What's so awful about that?
klang
klang
one wouldn't be much use for future generations, because bees and biology and all that.
andysays
Love and solidarity
Early humans did lots of things which required a lot of time and difficulty with no idea about how beneficial or feasible it might turn out to be.
Your example of storing grain relates one of the most obvious ones - the development of early agriculture.
Other animals, such as pigs and cattle, were probably easier to domesticate than horses and were done so much earlier.
I suspect that one of the reasons that horses were eventually domesticated where other similar animals weren't is that that even if it required a great time and effort to domesticate horses, it was significantly easier than eg zebras (which I see you've mentioned yourself).
But once some animal species had been domesticated, it was easier to see what the benefits would be if it were feasible, and therefore more worthwhile to put in the effort.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Yeah they retire at 10. My friend recently got a new one after her old one retired last year. They have to spend weeks bonding before they can go out together. It's a huge process.
Then you're rather naive.
That's great but you're talking about one dog. You don't know how other guide dogs are treated.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
It's anecdata, just like your story of a dog being mistreated. My anecdata is also of guide dogs being treated extremely well, fwiw.
Some children are mistreated, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have children.
The relevant question here surely is: is it inherently cruel to use dogs as guide dogs? imo the answer to that question is a clear 'no'.
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
All this says is that people with disabilities can also be cunts. It says nothing about why people shouldn't use guide dogs.
You said this earlier.
So you'd be OK with this woman kicking her dog if the dog was just a companion? Otherwise your other comment makes no sense.
klang
klang
they couldn't drag me away, that's for sure.
Having children is not a valid comparison. That's a choice we make as humans. Dogs don't have a choice in being guide dogs or similar.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I didn't ask to be born.
Don't be ridiculous. Now i know you're just goading. Fuck off.
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
If pointing out your inconsistencies is goading, then fair enough. But you seem more confused than Scooby Doo.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
tbf he's following your logic, not his. You do appear to be confused on this matter. Is it ok or not for people to keep dogs? If yes, is it then ok to have guide dogs? If not, why? And you can't give your reason as 'because some guide dogs are not treated well' because I would bet you any money that a higher proportion of guide dogs are treated well than the overall proportion of pet dogs.
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
A friend of mine has a guide dog. That dog is as happy as any dog I've ever met. He can't wait to get out and do his thing.
