My mother just got word that my family will probably be allowed a new puppy from a bullmastiff litter. There is, quite seriously, just about nothing in the entire world as cute as a bullmastiff newborn. Please join us in rejoicing.
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But then they grow up, and they're nothing but disappointments.
Surely your mother understands this.
There is, quite seriously, just about nothing in the entire world as cute as a bullmastiff newborn
Ok, now I KNOW you troll for controversy. :)
Yes, very cute! Congratulations!!! And that is a nice site. Someone needs to tell them about pagination, however. Virtually locked up my computer entering and exiting.
Ugh. Personally I think that's ugly.
Shout out to the Web department of The Atlantic. Since the beginning of Megan's blog there is something majorly wrong with the spam technology? No matter if it is a short or long post - we get blocked all too often and it is depressing (especially when there are links involved or special characters). This does NOT happen on the other blogs of the Atlantic. Please - deploy the same rules as on Matt's blog. We know you can do it - now do it for Megan as well! Cheers.
Here I try again:
Having a dog or an animal in once life is priceless. Even humans sometimes make good companions but they have to be trained more and longer and because of their "language" have diminished their raw intelligence? I am happy for Megan that they found a new puppy - especially one that is sweet. Dogs are wonderful. Because they ARE wonderful - let us not support breeders of ANY kind (kennel club, loving family operations, puppy mills). Let us only adopt. Let us all spay/neuter all "pet" animals (including owners).
But as an animal rights advocate I have to point out three things.
1. Rescue a dog - don't add to the problem.
3-4 million dogs are killed because people get animals from breeders or family operations. In 2007 there is no such thing as responsible breeding (video)! Or read more here. Any family back-door litter, any "responsible" kennel club breeder is as bad as a puppy mill and is responsible for other people having to do a dirty job. Adopt a rescue dog – do not, never buy humans or animals.
2. Spay / Neuter all your animals.
ABC of Birth Control
3. Don’t support pure breeds of any kind is not in the best interest of the dogs. Breeds are after all nothing but incest and inbreeding. This is why all breeds have far more health (and behaviour) problems than any random mud.
Take the German Shepherd as an example - he looks almost like a wolf but he rarely reaches his 10th birthday and his last few years are often suffering. Same with Labradors and ANY incest Arian breed. Look at the brains of dogs compared to a wild wolf (same species but tiny brains) - it is a sad testament and symbolic for our own intellectual developments of recent times? Come on - WHY do these dogs "look" the same.
PLEASE bear in mind that breeding is in itself a VERY VERY BAD AND UNETHICAL word!!! It is NOT natural (or we would not have evolved sexual pleasures and being in heat, etc.). Breeding is NOT reproduction. Breeding is NOT cloning (something that does who support incest find spooky?). Breeding is not copying.. Breeding of pure breeds is simply incest/inbreeding aka making something weaker and weaker until it is finished!
4. Boycott No-Kill shelters as long as they do not boycott breeders themselves. No-Kills alone do nothing to help the problem (the cause of it all).
Thank you!
It worked - it worked - after only 14 attempts "IT" let me post!!!!! I have not clue why - but who cares... let us celebrate the ghost in the machine and hope that The Atlantic does have an IT department of sorts?
Again - off all the blogs on the web - it is only Megan's that is random at accepting posts (if you introduce special rules such as length limits or disallow some special characters such as §$% - please tell us. Come up with a word counter as other blogs do? etc). Obviously this has been an issue from day one for many here? Cheers again!
Congratulations to your family. Bull mastiffs are wonderful animals, and I don't think there is anything wrong with pure bred dogs or dog breeding. Selective breeding is how the dogs we all love were created, and I don't think breeders are any more responsible for irresponsible dog owners than auto manufacturers are responsible for bad drivers.
I don't know whether the puppy is being adopted or purchased, but I have no problem with owning dogs. In that regard I was sorry to see Jessica Valenti scolded for buying a pure bred dog, and I hope that if your family is buying this puppy that they will not be scolded by people who think dog breeding is like slavery and imagine themselves as akin to abolitionists.
Eric writes:
The added italics are, I think, self-explanatory? We do not create animals like cars. They are not property like cars. They should not be produced for profit any more than children should be produced for profit. China would not fight natural population growth given an overpopulation crisis only to allow some companies to manufacture human babies that are sold for profit?
Can we imagine reading something like this in our local paper: "Mary and Paul are two siblings children from good parents who are now looking for a good home. They are quite used to each other and would prefer to stay together but it is not a must. The highest and fastest bidder will..."
All while we are killing millions of innocents? Animal owners should pay for spaying/neutering while anybody can breed for profit?
I am not sure how a single word of Eric's post is addressing this issue? Many of us if not all love dogs - but do we respect them as sentient, emotional beings who feel pain, loneliness and depression just like we do?
I love purebreds that I know but for that very reason I do not want to see them suffer of poor health only for some Frankensteins to have their fun or profit? What kind of love or respect would that be? What if we could respect others only in case they had a specific color or size?
To me - if one respected and loved dogs - they want all dogs to be free of needless suffering? How does Eric feel about 3-4 million animals who end like this every year in the US alone? What is his solution?
When Marry Wollstonecraft first wrote her A Vindication of the Rights of Woman - she was portrait as naive by her mentor, Thomas Taylor, who wrote a satire to counter her arguments: A Vindication of the Rights of [Animal] Brutes". He claimed that if Mary was right and women indeed had the same rights as men - then we should also consider animals...?