On Sun, 29 May 2005 20:11:15 -0500, Hax Planx
wrote:

Lynette Truitt says...

The dog factor led me to install a Pergo laminate floor a few years ago.

Am I the only person who thinks dog ownership is a really bad idea for
most people?

I can't speak for *most people*, but I love my dogs, and they're an
important part of my family.

I like dogs as much as the next guy, maybe even more than
most people who actually own them, but I just don't see owning one is
rational in the 21st century. The same goes for cats for the most part,
although some of them serve a purpose in keeping rodent populations at
bay, although the cure is arguably as bad as the disease.

It is? What did a cat ever do to you? I'd rather have cats in the
house (and the strays in the neighborhood) than disease-carrying
vermin that try to get in and spoil my food. Of course, that's just
one guy's opinion.

The problems
I have went through because of dogs is just too many to list, but here's
a sampler: getting bitten riding my bike on a public street. The fear
of being attacked just by walking, jogging or biking down any street.
Constant barking from every direction day and night. Yep, my next door
neighbors have six dogs between the three houses. Two of them are rabid
Rottweiler looking things that just go ape**** every second I'm in my
backyard. Fortunately it's just a strip behind the garage and there
isn't much reason to go out there except to mow the grass or take out
the trash.

Now these are good reasons to dislike some dogs, and I tend to agree
that there are a lot of problem animals around. However, it's like
anything else- you see and hear the ones that are causing trouble, and
have no reason to notice the majority of them that behave themselves.
While it's not always effective, call your local animal control and
report the irresponsible pet owners- that's not going to make you feel
better if the junkyard dog next door keeps you up all night, but it's
about all you can do.

Incalculable property damage done. Whole houses full of
carpet destroyed, furniture, grass, window sills, siding all destroyed
by dogs.

People do that too. When a dog does it, it's usually the owners'
fault.

Men, women and especially small children maimed and killed by
dogs. I know of a few tragic cases just in my circle of acquaintances
over the years and seeing some of the dogs people kept, I'm actually
surprised there weren't more.

Why is that surprising? I know you probably will not buy it, but most
dogs aren't any more likely to attack you than your neighbor is. Some
of them look really mean, but then again, so have many of my
neighbors. Dogs are social animals, and they act accordingly.

I know most people aren't going to agree
with me, but it really doesn't make much sense. Most of us don't have
any sheep to herd or fox to hunt, so what's the point?

Here's the thing I wanted to reply to the most- my wife and I decided
not to have any children. I really, really wanted children, but my
side of the family tree is so full of crime, violence, mental illness
and drug abuse that we can't justify creating children that are likely
to be flawed enough to represent a danger to the community just
because we *want* to. We may adopt someday- but the expense and
stress of the process is too much for us right now, so our two dogs
are our surrogate children. They are in fact hunting dogs- they both
go pheasant hunting, and the beagle is a good rabbit dog. Neither of
them are allowed to bark outside of the house unless they are working,
and each of them are tethered when we let them out so they do not
scare people walking past. The point is that there *are* good reasons
to own dogs, and there are responsible owners. There are also jerks-
but they should not be held up as examples of typical pet owners and
used as a justification for shutting out a type of animal that has
evolved alongside humanity for tens of thousands of years as a trusted
companion, guard, and co-worker. We made them what they are today,
and to turn our backs on dogs is to break a very deep commitment to a
species that helped us in many ways to become what we are today.
Useless? Pointless? Hardly...