I wrote a Tip of the Day for Dogster.com called “Why Do We Chop off Puppy Dog’s Ears and Tails?” and it triggered many vocal and often angry response from those who shared my opinion that this mutilation serves no purpose, and those who wanted to hold on to the “tradition.” The last comment posted on Dogster.com about this asked why I had written The Dog Bible and why people got dogs if they didn’t even know how to take care of them. This was my reply:
Good question – I wrote THE DOG BIBLE because no book existed that gave information and facts which people could consider and then use to make their own informed, responsible decisions about their dogs. (And if you DO get it for a friend, send me your mailing address so I can send you an autographed bookplate to put in it, inscribed to your friend’s dog). In response to your rhetorical question, nobody is born knowing how to treat a dog or train one or feed one – we’re all the product of our own upbringing and experiences and some of these things serve us well and others were misguided all along or have become so with more information and education. For example, there are many people in many states in the U.S. who chain their dogs outside 365 days a year with minimal or no shelter from cold and heat. It is legal and the accepted way of treating them. I now live in such a state – Vermont. It’s deeply troubling. But it’s part of an ingrained culture and history that is changing only very little and very slowly. I hope that practices and attitudes like surgically altering dogs for cosmetic reasons (with excuses about how it’s always been done that way or theoretically protects a dog out in the field) will also change based on logic and humane practice. It’s safe to say that CHANGE is threatening to people in any area of their lives – we are creatures of habit and will defend what we do just because it’s how things have been. It’s great to open a dialogue – change happens from an exchange of ideas and a raised consciousness resulting from that – but as our wonderful new President says, it’s fine to disagree as long as we aren’t disagreeable about it. I think a safe yardstick for determining if what we’re doing with our dogs is good for them is whether it enriches or enhances their lives – because having them share our lives does exactly that for us. The least we can do is extend the same Golden Rule to them. It wasn’t that long ago that Chinese women had their feet bound and were purposefully crippled for life. Those who ardently defend doing this to their dogs’ ears and tails, please stop for a minute and really give this some thought.
Tracie
