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Parenting & Family > Pets > A Dog's Life?
 

A Dog's Life?

A FAMILY has moved onto the property just west of us. The end of our lengthy driveway runs along their southern border. We have cats, all of which spend all or some of their time outdoors. Fortunately our houses are about 200 yards apart because...
They have staked six large dogs on chains outside their home. They look like hunting dogs. Not being either a hunter or a dog person, I question the humanity of this practice. They do have little igloo homes; they have water bowls; they have a tree for shade.
But except for the infrequent times they are permitted freedom to run around (hopefully not on my property), they are essentially prisoners. All day, day after day, these poor dogs will lay chained in the yard.
They are property, not family members. When our doggie Huxley was alive, our house was his house. He slept with us. He was part of our family, not some beast to be chained to a stake in the yard 24/7. I agree with Andy Rooney that "the average dog is a nicer person than the average person."
The mentality of people who treat dogs in this fashion is beyond my ability to understand. I have seen worse, I must say. At least these dogs have shelters to get into during bad weather. "The dog," James Thurber once wrote, "has seldom been successful in pulling man up to its level of sagacity, but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his."
Whoever said "it's a dog's life," which has a distinctly negative connotation, had in mind dogs like this, not the dogs many people keep as pets who are at once "best friends" as well as members of the family.

posted on July 23, 2013 10:23 AM ()

Comments:

Is there anyone who will take a complaint? A county office or animal cruelty place? I suppose being a judge you wouldn't be up for a snatch and grab in the middle of the night - perhaps after lacing the human's steak with some sedatives... This has to be very hard for your wife and daughter to live with, considering their occupation at the rescue.
comment by catdancer on July 24, 2013 9:33 AM ()
PIT BULL DOGS are recognised as a dangerous breed and are banned in Australia. too many mauling's and even a young toddler killed by his so called pet
comment by kevinshere on July 24, 2013 12:52 AM ()
6 dogs is odd, not to mention brutal, to keep outdoors on chains. Maybe they are involved in something that requires they keep dogs to alert them that anyone has approached the property.
comment by drmaus on July 23, 2013 11:01 PM ()
I have been told that people don't socialize their hunting dogs because it spoils them for hunting. I think it is horrible. I love hounds like bird dogs
and beagles and coon hounds, They want to be loved too.
comment by elderjane on July 23, 2013 5:42 PM ()
Just like pit bulls which, if they're not turned into monsters by their owners, are said to be very family-oriented, loving dogs.
reply by steeve on July 23, 2013 7:00 PM ()
Sure are treated as property, but you look after property properly.Had few dogs over the years and share one now with the Daughter, they became family and loved by all.
comment by kevinshere on July 23, 2013 5:27 PM ()
I think of property as something inanimate, i.e., without a beating heart.
reply by steeve on July 23, 2013 7:01 PM ()
"I question the humanity of this practice."
I think anyone would. Hopefully, they will build a fence around their property and let their dogs roam free.
comment by miker on July 23, 2013 3:39 PM ()
I'll let you know. I'm not holding my breath.
reply by steeve on July 23, 2013 7:01 PM ()
Sounds like the way people treat dogs kept for fighting.
comment by troutbend on July 23, 2013 12:31 PM ()
[cringe]
reply by steeve on July 23, 2013 7:02 PM ()

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