Stop dog abuse!

by

Jeanne Perciaccanto

While doing research for an educational program, I came upon a series of stories and pictures about dogs that stood and still stand guard over their owners who have passed on.

We all remember this iconic picture of a fallen hero and the dedicated love of his dog.

The loyalty and dedicated theses dogs freely give as devotion in life does not seem to end once the physical connection ceases to exist.

We know our dogs willingly give their lives and confront dangers to keep us safe.  Dogs in service with the military and police forge head first to willingly take the bullet.  Search and rescue dogs courageously enter unstable and dangerous rubble with a driven desire to search for life buried beneath.  Stories from war are filled with the heroism and tireless bravery dogs performed to assist our soldiers in the heat of battle. 

The stories of dogs that stand guard over their deceased owners is the most telling aspect to the true nature of dog and man.  There are no visible ties, no received rewards, no safety nor comfort for them in their final role as that of loyal companion.

Our dogs appear to have made a silent pact with us.  “I will forever be your dog!”  They ask little to nothing in return for their devotion.  Food, water and some meaningful time is not a fair exchange for a life offered or forfeit of their lives for our safety.  This indelible bond is neither tangible nor substantive.  It exists because dogs exist. 

Our history of dogs indicates humans domesticated dogs for our needs in service and work.  I suspect we were the domesticated ones as dogs chose to assist us in our struggle to survive. 

However, we have cheated our dogs and broken that bond showing ourselves unworthy of the honor and dignity they bestow upon us every day.   Thousands of years spent breeding dogs for our purpose to now tell them they are not allowed to be what we have created.

Patiently they await our enlightenment as their daily lives become certain boredom.  Calmly they accept our ignorance as to who and what they truly are, in anticipation of the day when they can run free and are once again a part of the nature born in them. Virtuously they allow the same mistakes to play out in town after town as “no dogs allowed” signs mark their inevitable demise making their world smaller each day.

The most egregious indignity of all is the allowance of their mass slaughter.  We use the word humane to appease the inhumanity of our actions.  We offer no solution other than finger pointing and blame as these most devoted creatures slips from a life committed to the safety and protection of those whose final act is betrayal. “ I will forever be your dog” becomes “I am sorry for not being enough of what you wanted of me!” 

We give up when they never do.  We create the problem and when the dog becomes what we have created, we kill them out of laziness and single minded ideology.

No longer are we connected to the husbandry that created dog as mans’ best friend but rather forced to slip quietly into the world of politically correct nonsense void of any singular reference to the actual workings of the dogs’ mind.

We use words like welfare and rights as a badge of honor.  Words which have become synonymous with the death and destruction of a animal dedicated to our well-being.  Laws implemented to blindly destroy a dog for how it looks rear its ugly head.  Legal entanglements designed to steal dogs from their homes and render untimely deaths under the guise of compassion shows us for what we really are, ignorant of the value of the life we designed.  We have become dishonest with our own needs as dog owners.  No longer are dogs seen as a natural being but rather a mindless child incapable of anything other than tricks and costume modeling.

The single greatest source of animal abuse is from those politicians and organizations who most promote humane treatment of dogs by implementing laws whose main intent is putting more dogs into the raging holocaust.

Politicians fearing lawsuits against the town enact laws limiting the very outlets that help reduce dog problems.  They disregard common sense approaches for fear of liabilities such as recommending dog training as part of the licensing agreement.  Certainly kill the dog rather train it!  The institution of laws to stop training or training tools that actual produces result and replace with it what makes us emotionally feel good even if the dogs’ life is in the balance. 

As a plea bargain, towns build dog parks too small to accommodate the number of dogs attending, turning most into local fight arenas accompanied by clueless owners void of any idea of how read dog behavior or body language beyond what they learn on the internet or from a book. 

For thousands of years our dogs have brought solace, comfort, assistance and practical help into our daily lives.  They have watched over our young, our food stores, our flocks and our homes only to reach a point in history where their very existence has become so very fragile.  Our greatest form of compassion towards mans’ best friend is to proclaim the humane way in which we resolve our own incompetence through the mass slaughter of an animal whose sole purpose has been to protect and defend us.

Jeanne Perciaccanto Ultimate Dog Training www/ultimatedogtraining.com