Patrick J Battuello

Archive for the ‘Dogs’ Category

Burning Up

In Animal Cruelty Law, Dogs, Factory Farming, Turkeys on August 2, 2011 at 12:34 pm

In late June, English police-dog trainer Sgt. Ian Craven attempted suicide after learning that his charges, two Belgian Shepherds, had died after he left them in a sweltering car for nearly six hours. Worse, this is not the first time a dog has baked to death under his care. Also in June, a 19-year-old California woman left her young Golden Retriever to die in a mall parking lot while she shopped…for three hours. In May, a Florida woman did the same while visiting her mother on a college campus. After being alerted by security, she returned to her car to find the dog (Florida Times-Union, 5/22/11) “panting and unable to stand.” That dog, too, perished.

This past month, a Minnesota woman, who had just completed a vet visit with her two Terriers, stopped at a restaurant for lunch. She emerged 2 1/2 hours later to find the dogs dead. But within that same state, word comes of the heat-related deaths of roughly 105,000 factory-farmed turkeys and 1,500 cattle. No talk here, however, of animal cruelty charges, suicidal guardians, or angry citizens. Just money: “Minnesota Turkey Growers Association Executive Director Steve Olson says the 105,000 turkeys lost equals an economic hit of somewhere between $1.1 and $1.6 million.” This stunning incongruity conveniently ignores that dogs and turkeys suffer in an uncomfortably similar way.

Since a dog cools himself by panting, a hot, tightly-shut car quickly becomes a hellhole, even in milder summer temperatures. The process begins with rapid, frantic breathing (which further deteriorates the confined space) as his internal temperature climbs. He will then become unsteady and stagger, with vomiting and bloody diarrhea common. As desperate panic mounts, cells die, and the kidneys and brain begin to fail. Seizures and/or coma, then death. However, renowned veterinarian Holly Cheever told me that “heat prostration is much the same in most vertebrate species”; in other words, the turkeys and cows endured the same awful, and ultimately fatal, distress as those dogs. A distress, by the way, measured in hours.

So, why is one reported as cruelty and received with sadness, while the other a business misfortune? Simply put, we have long-acquiesced to a gaping hole in our moral reasoning. The pity and outrage we feel regarding the dogs is born of allowing ourselves an emotional attachment to them. Of course, the people responsible for those canine deaths will never be punished satisfactorily; we profess to care about dog suffering, but not enough to do more than merely inconvenience dog killers. On the other hand, the turkeys and cows, as production widgets, elicit virtually no sympathy upon news of their untimely ends. That is irrational, inconsistent, and very sad.

Eating Dogs

In Animal Rights Philosophy, Dogs, Pigs on June 7, 2011 at 1:00 pm

From China, word comes of a confrontation between animal advocates and a trucker hauling 520 dogs to slaughter. The man was eventually persuaded (200 protesters and 15 hours later) to sell his cargo at a loss. It did not escape some that it was a Mercedes driver who initially forced the truck off the road. One angry human advocate even posted threats to kill a dog per day until the canine rescuers donated money to poor people instead. The Washington Post quotes the trucker as saying, “I still don’t understand what was immoral about my shipment. People also eat cow and sheep. What’s the difference? They were just a group of rich bullies who own pets and have nothing better to do.” As China’s economy has grown, so has pet ownership and a new sensibility on animals. Still, buying dogs for the home (as opposed to the plate) is viewed as a luxury for the haves. Class warfare, Chinese style.

Though dog may, in fact, be cheaper than pork, the indignant working-man need not resent those who can afford more expensive cuts; they can simply become vegetarians. In other words, if there is classism at play (and those Beijing advocates who continue to eat pigs while liberating dogs are probably being classist), it is largely self-imposed. Furthermore, the belief that vegetarianism (veganism) is only for the affluent self-righteous is misinformed or, worse, a rationalization meant to absolve the holder of any personal responsibility.

Controversial issues are rarely black and white. But in this case, an either/or clearly applies: If this (picture gallery on Chinese dogs) is wrong, then so is this, and this. Either all of it, or none of it. The dog pictures are, admittedly, a bit more shocking because I can imagine my three rescues hanging on those hooks; the forms and faces are uncomfortably familiar. But I also realize that emotional attachments can cloud rational thinking. The 10 billion animals slaughtered annually in America are not offered a chance to be our friends. They could be though. As a test, visit an animal sanctuary. The pigs (and many other species), you will soon discover, are intelligent and sensitive; they have personalities. Just like our dogs and cats.

To be sure, the lack of animal welfare standards in the land of Buddha is appalling (though some are trying to change that), and any effort to bring a measure of kindness to a dog’s wretched existence should be commended. But until Westerners (and any nonvegetarian Chinese protesters) get their own houses in order, they lack a moral authority to rebuke those who eat canines (roughly 10 million annually in China alone). Some meateaters argue that man is an apex predator acting in concert with nature. At least they have staked a position, misguided though I think it is. But most choose to ignore the issue altogether, either nonsensically complaining that it is too disturbing to contemplate, or comforting themselves with abstract notions of ethical standards and watchdog agencies. But this is, forgive the analogy, like turning away while the Auschwitz trains roll by.

To paraphrase Darwin, any difference between a pet animal and a livestock animal is one of degree, not of kind. Certainly, no rational distinction can be drawn between a pig and a dog. Once the outrage over these dog pictures subsides, a simple truth emerges: there is no valid reason to spare one and not the other.

Michael Vick and the Amoral Sports Fan

In Dogfighting, Dogs on June 1, 2011 at 12:45 pm

“When Vick takes the field, I for one will imagine the thrashing of pacifist puppies as they are drowned or twisting in the wind as they are hanged. …Maybe an athlete can’t quite get away with murder, but drowning dogs is a different matter.” (Richard Cohen, Washington Post, 8/11/09)

The American sports fan (short for fanatic) creates idols of people whom they know nothing about, aside from their game exploits (my own childhood hero Roger Staubach was caught canned-hunting pheasants with Dick Cheney). Athletes (actors, musicians), made absurdly wealthy by this idolatry, are not truly held accountable for their off-field activities, illegal or not. As long as someone can run, throw, shoot, or hit, abhorrent personal behavior is forgiven (and mostly forgotten). Witness Michael Vick.

Vick, a sadist (written without a hint of hyperbole) who admitted to personally executing his under-performing dogs, is back in the NFL and more popular than ever. The 2010 Comeback Player of the Year is again being fawned over by broadcasters and fellow players alike. One, Dallas Cowboy Tashard Choice, actually requested an on-field (and very public) autograph after a game (saying, “I have nothing but respect for [Vick].”) Pathetic, if only for the athlete. But if, as Choice claimed, done on his three-year-old nephew’s behalf, truly despicable.

The erstwhile dogkiller is a marketing wunderkind, feted like never before: His jersey is the 6th most popular, he finished 2nd in Pro Bowl balloting (fans and players), and he just recently finished 2nd in fan voting for the cover of Madden NFL 12. And the NFL (and Philadelphia Eagles) relishes every moment. Just say you’re sorry, and we can get on with the business of making money and winning games.

Vick’s defenders underscore the American spirit of redemption; indeed, the President personally congratulated the Eagles’ owner for offering Vick a second chance. Some sadly twisted this into a racial matter (like Jesse Jackson unconscionably comparing him to Jackie Robinson). While others simply laughed at the torture of intelligent, sensitive creatures.

The AP reports that the animal rights group Dogs Deserve Better has recently purchased the former headquarters of Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels, planning to transform the property into a full-scale rehabilitation facility. The group’s founder, Tamira Thayne, says, “I would like to see that he’s really remorseful, and I personally don’t feel that I’ve seen that, because actions speak louder than words. I haven’t seen him really put effort into making amends.”

Having closely followed the Vick saga over the past four years, I cannot help but think him a complete fraud. Bad people rarely change. Dogfighting was as much a part of Vick as hurling a football (his father says he staged fights in the family garage: “I wish people would stop sugarcoating it. This is Mike’s thing. And he knows it … likes it…”) So, when did his supposed dog epiphany occur? While serving his wristslap 20-month federal term (the three-year state sentence was suspended for good behavior)? Or was it post-release when he was squarely focused on regaining NFL riches? For us nonbelievers, true contrition would be indicated by joining real animal advocates in the inner-city and isolated-rural trenches. In other words, we would see more than a few don’t do this, kids statements at the behest of the HSUS. Standing to earn almost $20 million per year, it will take much more than words to convince the cynical.

And please, spare the paid his debt to society garbage. The debt, in fact, is not owed to society (how many people were harmed by Vick’s actions?), but rather to the dogs that he hanged, drowned, and electrocuted and the ones still suffering in rings today. He cannot repay the first, and he hasn’t begun to repay the second. And the smart money says he never will, for the debtor is bankrupt (morally, that is). And to each fan who drools over his football feats, shame on you.

This is Michael Vick…

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