Nation of dog lovers?

[gemsybobsy]

I thought I'd better carry on the rant over here. I'm so bleedin' tired of the negativity and taboo surrounding dogs in this country at the moment. Yes, I understand they can be a nuisance. They can attack people, they can interrupt your picnics, they can be noisy, they can disturb ground-nesting birds and of course the poo can be a problem. But you know what, litter is a problem, so are bike riders who think they are above slowing down when they zoom past another person, so are human scum with no regard for any other person's right to a life, let alone our rights to be able to walk through a park without being harassed...

Why do dogs need all these separate rules? Why not just take each case on its own merits, or lack of, and punish crap dog owners under all the other antisocial laws? All this anti-dog legislation does is turn people against dogs. It makes humans unnecessarily cautious, which means they react to dogs differently, which means dogs react to humans differently... 'Oh well, if the council's banning dogs from everywhere, they must be dangerous.' What happened to staffies (stigma = fear = status dogs = fear = accidents = stigma...) will happen with all breeds. Contempt breeds contempt.

When I was a kid, everyone had dogs. Our extended family had them, our friends; every other house had a dog barking away all day in the kitchen, left alone while the humans went to work and school. When my dad was little dogs used to roam the streets (just like cats are still allowed to do!) We wouldn't be here, as a society, if it wasn't for our partnership with dogs. How comes they're suddenly being ostracised? You can't have a dog if you work more than 4 hours a day. You can't have a dog if you live in the city. You can't have a dog if you can't keep it on the lead. You can't possibly rent any sort of property if you have a dog. No waaay. You can't have a dog if you live in a flat. Any flat. Negativity. Dogs a massive inconvenience for everybody, don't bother.

Then there's the unnecessary fear of fouling. Yes, I know it's not pleasant to step in dog poo. I remember stepping in it hundreds of times as a child, and it was disgusting and frustrating; we'd walk looking down at the pavement at all times, just in case. 'Mind the poo!' But it really isn't as dangerous as people seem to think. There was one or two cases of toxocariasis in young children years back, something of which there are 1-4 cases a year (and most of the time those cases occur in children who have been digging around in soil in the garden) and suddenly dogs aren't allowed on any beaches anymore, they're not allowed in shops, restaurants, parks, and HOW DARE you bring a dog into a children's play area?! What if you have children AND dogs? Oh no, that's taboo as well. When you have babies you're meant to get rid of your dog, aren't you?

I feel like I need to do more to get the message across. I'd love to maybe run some classes, a club for dog lovers or something; introduce dogs to children, and give them some true lessons about what dogs have done for us. As for the hygiene thing, I live with two male dogs, and have had TEN in my house, all together. Raw meat gets flung around the kitchen, the garden, there's been, let's just say, countless accidents in the house... there's been a few disagreements and incidents between the dogs, but I have never had so much as a dodgy tummy as a result of my life with dogs. The over-nannying uber-concern about dogs is ridiculous, and it will only breed a cynophobic generation of people who will probably end up banning them altogether.

So shut up.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_pyromancer_/]

I think a big part of the problem is that the irresponsible dog-owners are the only ones who actually get noticed, the ones who kick their dogs out to crap all over the area instead of actually walking them, the ones who have "dangerous" dogs as a status symbol / weapon, etc. The people who actually look after their dogs properly don't get noticed - so non-dog people tend to assume all dogs and owners are like the bad ones.

Personally, I really, really don't like dogs. It's a personality thing, all the jumpy bouncy all-over-you behaviour, which dog people love, I really hate, and even more so if the dog tries to lick you - a friend used to let another friend's dog jump up and lick her face, which made me want to scream - but she loved it! I'm a cat person for a reason.

But I also respect people who look after dogs properly, and invest the time and care they need. I have friends who have dogs, and I've even gone out for walks with their dogs, and TBH walking a dog can be a fun way to spend time, as long as someone else picks up the doings.

But agreed, the anti-pet bias is a major problem. At least one of the animal charities was campaigning to have blanket "no pets" rules in rented property made illegal, I know of one case where someone was told they couldn't even have a small fishtank! What did the landlord think the fish was going to do, leap out of the water and spray-paint grafitti on the walls when the tenant was out? *boggle*

In my 20s I worked as a take-away delivery driver, and I also did some leafletting for the SDP/Liberal Alliance - the most memorable bit of which was putting a leaflet through a letter box only for something the size of a bear and with a bark that would have graced a Baskerville Hound to throw itself bodily at the other side of the door! Delivering take-aways gives you quite an insight into how different people live, from the very posh down to houses that quite literally stink of dog poo. So TBH I can kind of see where some people get their ideas from. But banning pets is not the answer, and punishing all dog owners just because some people are twats is not the way forward.

There's also the over-hygene thing - it's actually healthier to grow up with a decent exposure to dirt. Think of the conditions people lived in for the first several million years of human evolution. It's only in the last few centuries we've had any concept of hygene. I'm not saying we should go back to living in filth, but kids need to be allowed to get dirty, experience germs, and play with animals. The "now you've a baby you must get rid of your pets" viewpoint is particularly nasty and really needs to be stopped in its tracks.

[smurf-pop.livejournal.com]

Really I think the problem isn't the dogs, it's the shit owners. They don't take responsibility for them, they don't train them, they don't give a shit, ergo the dogs do things they shouldn't (because they're not taught not to do it) and the dogs get the blame.

And sorry but stepping in dog shit is vile. If you (people in general, like) can't or won't pick up your dog's shit, don't have a dog. Simples.

I think dogs can be absolutely lovely when they're well-looked after and well-trained, but so many aren't and it sort of gives all doggles a bad name, unfortunately :(

[messyhearts.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you have said. It's horrible how people treat dogs and dog owners; punishing good owners with bad ones.