Whats wrong with 3rd world stray dogs?
Discussion
Serious question.
I went to Sri Lanka with friends in the summer and every town and village had stray dogs just walking around like they were any other part of the natural wildlife. However, a friend was always going on about how she felt so bad for the stray dogs and how they should be rehomed or whatever.
Now, apart from the health implications, I can't see whats wrong with stray dogs out there (and in many places around the world) as far as the dog's welfare is concerned. They seemed to have become a 'breed' of their own and were adequate at finding food and water etc and essentially coping for themselves. They even crossed the road looking each way first, taking into account any cars and I was seriously impressed by their general city survival skills.
So surely the city is just their habitat, in the same way that a wolf's habitat is in the wilderness, so why is it they bring upon themselves such sympathy from us?
Is it only because we look at dogs as household pets that we feel bad for strays when we see them, even though they seem to have adapted to their new surroundings? I stopped feeling sorry for the 'wild' dogs I saw on the streets, much in the same way that I don't feel sorry for pigeons I see flying around our town centres.
I went to Sri Lanka with friends in the summer and every town and village had stray dogs just walking around like they were any other part of the natural wildlife. However, a friend was always going on about how she felt so bad for the stray dogs and how they should be rehomed or whatever.
Now, apart from the health implications, I can't see whats wrong with stray dogs out there (and in many places around the world) as far as the dog's welfare is concerned. They seemed to have become a 'breed' of their own and were adequate at finding food and water etc and essentially coping for themselves. They even crossed the road looking each way first, taking into account any cars and I was seriously impressed by their general city survival skills.
So surely the city is just their habitat, in the same way that a wolf's habitat is in the wilderness, so why is it they bring upon themselves such sympathy from us?
Is it only because we look at dogs as household pets that we feel bad for strays when we see them, even though they seem to have adapted to their new surroundings? I stopped feeling sorry for the 'wild' dogs I saw on the streets, much in the same way that I don't feel sorry for pigeons I see flying around our town centres.
Maybe its because in our culture they are domesticated animals?
I lived in Kiribati for a while where almost all dogs were strays. They generaly thought it was odd to have a pet dog. Dogs there were quite feral and the i-Kiribati (locals) thought nothing of 'disciplining' the dogs with rocks.
Mind, the plus side to that was if ever they went for me, I'd mimick throwing a rock at them, and they'd run off!
I lived in Kiribati for a while where almost all dogs were strays. They generaly thought it was odd to have a pet dog. Dogs there were quite feral and the i-Kiribati (locals) thought nothing of 'disciplining' the dogs with rocks.
Mind, the plus side to that was if ever they went for me, I'd mimick throwing a rock at them, and they'd run off!
Edited by Pork on Sunday 15th March 23:49
Catz said:
Stray dogs can result in packs of stray dogs which may become scary if you get caught down a dead end followed by a pack of dogs.
Good point! I remember being s
t scared after a pack of dogs were running alongside the car and jumping up at the open windows, snapping their jaws as we drove past. Now if I hadn't have been sat in that lump of metal... ouch
Berserker LM said:
but wouldn't neutering / contraception solve a hell of a lot of problems globally, let alone the third world?
In my experience in Asia, the locals are generally trying to scrape a living so wouldn't be able to afford neutering fi they wanted to which they don't as they don't see them as pets. The local governments only tend to get involved if the packs start annoying tourists. So that leaves contraception... You going to go down there and try to put an oral contraceptive down the throats of a pack of feral dogs?
Tunku said:
We used to get stray dogs living on the rubber estate. Had to go into the hills and shoot them every so often because once the pack reached critical mass they invaded the few houses on the rubber estate. Not pleasant.
What was not pleasant, shooting them or the house invasions? The problem I have with them is that they must be a bag of diseases. Tons of them in Thailand and they all look like rabid things, barking and growling as you walk past. I love dogs, but I'd happily purge Thailand of it's strays. Apparently that goes against their Bhuddist sensibilities though...
I have a theory that women don't really develop the right master/slave relationship with dogs. They see them as something that needs nurturing and looking after, rather than a working animal which needs to be subordinate to it's master. Sounds like your friend was a case in point.
I suppose the problem is dogs are not a wild animal. They are bred specifically as domesticated, working animals, and have been for thousands of years, so they tend to stay around centres of population and not be scared of humans, like most wild animals are.
I have a theory that women don't really develop the right master/slave relationship with dogs. They see them as something that needs nurturing and looking after, rather than a working animal which needs to be subordinate to it's master. Sounds like your friend was a case in point.
I suppose the problem is dogs are not a wild animal. They are bred specifically as domesticated, working animals, and have been for thousands of years, so they tend to stay around centres of population and not be scared of humans, like most wild animals are.
Bushmaster said:
Tunku said:
We used to get stray dogs living on the rubber estate. Had to go into the hills and shoot them every so often because once the pack reached critical mass they invaded the few houses on the rubber estate. Not pleasant.
What was not pleasant, shooting them or the house invasions? Colonial said:
It's like feckin eejits around here who complain when it's time to do a Kangaroo cull. Or shoot the wild dogs that are in the Snowy Mountains
They are not fluffy animals. They cause immense damage.
Stop being so feckin ethnocentric and realise that dogs are not all cute pets.
Yes!!!!They are not fluffy animals. They cause immense damage.
Stop being so feckin ethnocentric and realise that dogs are not all cute pets.
Kill them all!
Kill them the parasites!
Oh and kill Colonial too ... he doesn't seem cute at all ... kill him!
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