Are you a dog racist?
Do certain breeds of dogs have more violent tendencies, or
does it just depend on how they are raised?
Or is this mostly a non-problem blown up by the media? What laws, if any, should a country put in
place to keep aggressive dogs from becoming a danger to its citizens? If dogs (of any breed) can be dangerous and
even kill people, would it be better to stick to safer animals as pets?
The issue of violence between dogs is not really spread yet. However, some cases of violent dogs causing harm exist already. Since there is a huge variety of a dog breeds, the characteristic features of each breed differ.
ReplyDeleteIf considering violent tendencies of dogs as a feature, there is a category of breeds of dogs that tend to be more violent than other for sure. These breeds include pit bulls, Rottweiler’s or boxers as mentioned in the article. Different breeds of dogs, which tend to be less violent, include Chihuahuas or Yorkshire terriers. I believe that the breed influences the violent tendencies of dogs of different categories for sure. However, another reason for violent tendencies of dogs may be also the way, in which dogs were raised. Since I have a dog, I can prove that the raising of a dog is not easy at all. It requires patience and large amounts of time. In my opinion, the most risky phase for developing violent tendencies is when the dogs are punished for doing something wrong. The punishments should not be painful because in such case the dogs may develop an aggressive response. In continuous provoke of aggression, it may become stable, which leads to a raised dog with aggressive and violent behavior that can be hardly changed.
This issue about violence is not a non-problem blown up because the consequences of wrongly raised dogs, that have tendencies to be violent from their breed, may be extremely serious. There are cases when aggressive dogs caused harm to children, adults or other dogs. In such case, the violent tendency of the dog should not be ignored. However, I think that in most cases the violence is not only the fault of the dog but also the fault of the owner. Dogs are not capable of moral thinking, so once they feel in danger they become aggressive. The violent tendency of a dog can be linked to the “purpose” of the dog. Some people have dogs only for guarding or for other related purposes, which may increase the violent tendencies in some cases too. So if I had a chance to introduce a new law, the law would be more concerned about the owners of the dogs that caused harm. The law would become more objective in terms of the blames.
In my opinion, it would not be better to exchange dogs with other animals just because of some spreading, sometimes false rumors. In terms of pets, there are dogs, which are really the “persons best friend” because they are extremely honest. The further behavior of the dog depends primarily on the owner and their raising. In terms of media, there are also many cases, which should not be forgotten when dogs are really helpful. This includes the Labradors that help blind people or German shepherds that help in police. Lastly from experience, I would never exchange my dog with a different animal.
You said one thing I absolutely agree with. The owners of dogs should be the ones that carry responsibility for the actions of their dogs. The problem is no dog owner (or a very small fraction of owners) ever cares about the safety of other people when it comes to his or her pet. You hear phrases like “Don’t worry, it doesn’t bite”, but how does the owner know? He does not. And there are laws concerning dogs, such as that a dog must always be on a leash and have a muzzle on while being walked outside, yet seeing somebody walking a dog like this is very rare.
DeleteI would increase the restrictions imposed on dog owners. If a dog owner walks his dog outside among other people without a leash or muzzle, the owner is consciously endangering everybody around the dog. The owners are fully aware of the risks, yet the owners do not care and if I was in a position that would allow me to act on this problem I would place a larger fine on breaking these simple rules. I do not understand how he owners could accidentally forget to put their dog on a leash and put a muzzle on it while not forgetting to put pants on when going outside. It must simply be their decision to ignore the law. And I get it. When they go out to walk their dog they ask themselves “My dog is not dangerous so why should I put a leash and muzzle on it?” and of course they find no answer. I would simply give them one. “Because of the ten thousand euro fine you ignorant moron”
It is generally known that dogs come in different breeds. These breeds have evolved over time in order to adapt to their ever changing surroundings. Such adaptations can occur in various forms and may include evolutionary developments that improve the dog’s ability to hunt, fight, eat and survive; this brings us to the fact that some breeds possess more apparent forms of offensive evolution than others; that do not necessarily require such developments to improve their survivability. As Sabina pointed out, her so called “more aggressive” breeds have refined their ability to survive in harsh and hostile habitats. As these developments remained present amongst some breeds, the dogs can occasionally exhibit their primal feral instincts, given a certain situation. These “aggressive” breeds can hurt and in some cases even kill human beings, which is why I believe that these “aggressive” breeds require extra care if one wants to have them as a tamed pet.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that the method with which a dog is raised has a great impact on how it reacts to different situations. However, this topic is often regarded as controversial, as various methods of training dogs have been proved to have a positive effect on some dogs, while having negative or no effect on others. This makes me believe that the best form of raising and training a dog varies; therefore more focus should be put on the understanding the dog -how it reacts to various situations, and adjusting the training method accordingly.
It is my opinion that laws would not be of much effect in this case, as the selfhood of a dog is dependent on how his owner takes care of it. Laws would only serve as an inconvenience to the owners, as ways on how to avoid them are always existent. However, we must not forget that dogs have evolved from cold-blooded hunters and that they feel no remorse.