Animal Cruelty

• se-alum

  

  Some may have seen the story on the news of the Pitbull in Ross Co. that was killed and left at the entrance of a nature preserve. It's been a big deal on all the local Facebook pages, and people are outraged over it, planning on going to the arraignment to ask for the max sentence. I contend that the steak or hamburger we eat comes from a killing just as cruel, but they have no problem posting pics of their delicious steak they had for dinner or the pound of bacon they made for breakfast. I grew up on a farm, and even your pets were taken out behind a barn and dispersed of when their time was up. Where does animal cruelty begin and end?
• Mohican00

  

  sorry, you shouldn't compare dogs and cattle
• mcburg93

  

  se-alum;1590152 wrote:Some may have seen the story on the news of the Pitbull in Ross Co. that was killed and left at the entrance of a nature preserve. It's been a big deal on all the local Facebook pages, and people are outraged over it, planning on going to the arraignment to ask for the max sentence. I contend that the steak or hamburger we eat comes from a killing just as cruel, but they have no problem posting pics of their delicious steak they had for dinner or the pound of bacon they made for breakfast. I grew up on a farm, and even your pets were taken out behind a barn and dispersed of when their time was up. Where does animal cruelty begin and end?

  
  This is something that has always bugged me. We always disposed of our pets when it was time. I am not saying it was easy and sometimes it truly sucked but I learned to deal with it. People talk being humane about putting your pets down. So am I suppose to pay $100 to have a pet put down when I can spend .02 cents to do it myself? We always took our animals after we put them down and bury them in the woods. I know a few that we put down in the winter we just threw in an old dump. People have become soft and its pathetic.
• se-alum

  

  Mohican00;1590154 wrote:sorry, you shouldn't compare dogs and cattle

  Do dogs serve a greater purpose than cattle?
• Mohican00

  

  se-alum;1590156 wrote:Do dogs serve a greater purpose than cattle?

  Why frame it around greater purpose?
  
  But to answer your question, yes, they are loyal, protective, unquestionable friends of mankind.
  
  I'd say that's a lot better purpose than a burger
• HitsRus

  

  Goddard's law recently raised the penalties for cruelty to "companion animals"....any dog or cat or any animal kept within a residential dwelling or pet store. It does not include livestock or wild animals.
  
  so, the answer is yes, there is a special status assigned to these animals that is not afforded wild animals and livestock.
• se-alum

  

  I just find it ridiculous that sheriff department detective was investigating this incident, when they are plenty of unsolved burglaries, and other crimes against humans that need investigated. Not to mention using tax payer money to jail someone for shooting a cat or dog.
• friendfromlowry

  mcburg93;1590155 wrote:This is something that has always bugged me. We always disposed of our pets when it was time. I am not saying it was easy and sometimes it truly sucked but I learned to deal with it. People talk being humane about putting your pets down. So am I suppose to pay $100 to have a pet put down when I can spend .02 cents to do it myself? We always took our animals after we put them down and bury them in the woods. I know a few that we put down in the winter we just threw in an old dump. People have become soft and its pathetic.

  I would rather the animal be put down whether it be from lethal injection or gunshot as opposed to suffering and alive.
  
  Feel good story: My neighbor is a good guy, but a shitty pet owner. He had two beagels which he used for hunting. He'd keep them out in a cage 365 days a year, through snow, rain, cold, and heat. Come to think of it, I can't remember him ever taking them out for hunting, but perhaps it was many years ago. I was always tempted to call animal services as he'd keep them outside even on the nights when it was subzero freezing (not this past year, but years past). Well, he finally realized what he was doing, and decided he needed to have them put down, since he was no longer using them. He only had the money to put one down, though. So he did that, and left the other one outside still in the mean time. My mom always felt bad for the dogs, too. So she started researching how she could find a home for them. The dog, despite it's shitty living conditions, was very affectionate and well-behaved. She paid out of pocket to have the dog get up to date on its vaccinations and what not. The dog is now happy and healthy with a good family in Michigan.
• hang_loose

  friendfromlowry, HIGH FIVE TO MOM!!!: thumbup:.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Seems like a pretty easy question. Does a cow protect your home, guard your children, give up its life for you? No, they've been bred and domesticated to provide milk and beef and are "dumb" animals.
  
  Dogs have been bred to trust humans and be part of the family and are "smart" animals. I know some people aren't dog people - I call those people idiots. Our dog protects our home when we are away, and prevents burglaries. We owe them an extra level of protection, and shouldn't exploit the trust that has been bred.
  
  Was this a serious question?
• Manhattan Buckeye

  "He'd keep them out in a cage 365 days a year, through snow, rain, cold, and heat."
  
  This really, really grinds my gears, but unfortunately is prevalent in southeast Ohio. To the extent that my wife hasn't been there in 5 years because it bothers her so much and tells me I grew up in redneck hillbilly land (she isn't wrong). People just keep their dogs caged or chained and don't even bother to consider how the weather affects them.
  
  I wasn't raised that way. Like many others in southeast Ohio I grew up on a farm, with about 50-60 head of dairy holsteins at any given time and we had dogs and treated all animals with respect, but the dogs were part of the family and the cows were there for milk. The working dogs stayed in the barn, but it was always heated, and the protective/companion dogs stayed with the children - and forget burglaries, or child molestation, or some other goon hurting us - our dogs struck fear in any potential criminal. And we always euthanized them humanely. Some we buried on the farm (the working dogs), some we kept the ashes (the companion dogs). But we didn't take ole' yeller out and shoot them in the head.
  
  We owed them much more than that. The dogs served a very important work and family role, and some of the working dogs were smarter than some of the people posting here.
• Midstate01

  

  We always put our dogs down our self. Usually we took them to the vet and if they said they wouldn't make it, then we'd take them home and put them down. Always buried them and it was never ever easy. Definitely easier to put down a cow that was sick. I too grew up in Southeast Ohio and regularly saw dogs being treated very very poorly. I never thought us putting our dogs down ourselves was a bad thing. But my wife can't believe we'd do that.
  We love our dog we have now. Nobody will ever try to enter our home. People that knock see him when he comes running towards the door just take off. He's actually a huge baby, but when he puffs his chest out and barks, it's definitely intimidating. He's an American bulldog, about 110 pounds. Strong as hell.
• Tiernan

  "American Bulldog" is like saying "Mahi Mahi" instead of green dolphin (which it is). It's a Pit Bull Sparky.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  "I just find it ridiculous that sheriff department detective was investigating this incident, when they are plenty of unsolved burglaries, and other crimes against humans"
  
  This is a friendly suggestion: think about the type of person that would do that to a dog, and how likely they are committing crimes against humans.
• LJ

  

  HitsRus;1590200 wrote:Goddard's law recently raised the penalties for cruelty to "companion animals"....any dog or cat or any animal kept within a residential dwelling or pet store. It does not include livestock or wild animals.
  
  so, the answer is yes, there is a special status assigned to these animals that is not afforded wild animals and livestock.

  Correct. It is illegal in Ohio to shoot your dog or cat to put it down. No one is going to bother you though if you do it humanely and bury the animal properly.
• WebFire

  se-alum;1590152 wrote:Some may have seen the story on the news of the Pitbull in Ross Co. that was killed and left at the entrance of a nature preserve. It's been a big deal on all the local Facebook pages, and people are outraged over it, planning on going to the arraignment to ask for the max sentence. I contend that the steak or hamburger we eat comes from a killing just as cruel, but they have no problem posting pics of their delicious steak they had for dinner or the pound of bacon they made for breakfast. I grew up on a farm, and even your pets were taken out behind a barn and dispersed of when their time was up. Where does animal cruelty begin and end?

  As far as the dog vs. cattle comparison, cruelty is cruelty. Killing an animal for food isn't a problem. It's how you do it that can be the problem.
• mcburg93

  

  To the guys that think their dogs protects their house while they are gone need to watch the film, I think its called "To catch a burglar" or something like that. I will look it up when I get home. Almost all guard dogs will just go lay down while people rob your house. Dogs will protect the owner more than the house. The movie shows how guys robs houses with guard dogs more often than they would rob a house without them due to figuring people have more valuables in a house that have a guard dog. Now I am only going off the movie on that I have no way to corroborate what they are claiming. They were interviewing criminals and what type houses they looked for when they wanted to rob one. They had people volunteer their homes to be broke into and robbed. It showed trained guard dogs just going to another room while the robbers would take whatever they want. As the robbers moved around the house the dog would just move from room to room to avoid contact with them. I guess the false sense of security a dog gives you is good to have but you better have a security system on your house cause your dog is not stopping a robber.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  "To the guys that think their dogs protects their house while they are gone"
  
  I don't need to watch dick, I just speak with my neighbors and the mail guys that crap their pants when they knock on the door and listen to his bark. No robber is dumb enough to get into our house.
  
  We've trained him not to attack humans, but the meth-head doesn't know that, and again you will pee your pants if you hear him bark.
• OSH

  

  friendfromlowry;1590213 wrote:He'd keep them out in a cage 365 days a year, through snow, rain, cold, and heat.

  I guess I don't see how this is cruel? It may be cruel if he didn't provide a shelter and/or some hay for insulation.
  
  Dogs are animals. Animals have lived in the wild for how many years? I grew up in southeast Ohio (seems like several on here have) and we never once had our dogs in our house or garage during any weather. They were free to roam all the time. They had a pen they could go to if they wanted. As long as the dogs can get out of the conditions through a roof, wall, or something similar, they'll be fine.
• dlazz

  Manhattan Buckeye;1590279 wrote:"To the guys that think their dogs protects their house while they are gone"
  
  I don't need to watch dick, I just speak with my neighbors and the mail guys that crap their pants when they knock on the door and listen to his bark. No robber is dumb enough to get into our house.
  
  We've trained him not to attack humans, but the meth-head doesn't know that, and again you will pee your pants if you hear him bark.

  Someone doesn't know how to quote.
  
  LOL what a noob
• sleeper

  

  Dogs > Cows
• Manhattan Buckeye

  OSH;1590281 wrote:I guess I don't see how this is cruel? It may be cruel if he didn't provide a shelter and/or some hay for insulation.
  
  Dogs are animals. Animals have lived in the wild for how many years? I grew up in southeast Ohio (seems like several on here have) and we never once had our dogs in our house or garage during any weather. They were free to roam all the time. They had a pen they could go to if they wanted. As long as the dogs can get out of the conditions through a roof, wall, or something similar, they'll be fine.

  Because it can get cold, and it is cruel. Dogs can live in the wild but they do so in packs. You chain or cage them and it is a different story and unfortunately it happens often in SE Ohio.
  
  Jesus, just when I think Ohio isn't that backwoods or rednecky, I read this and I understand why my wife hates it. I really grew up in the armpit of America with you rubes.
  
  And to make a point to a comment earlier, dogs are usually trained not to attack because they are around children, and their protection is centered on them. But they can be trained very easily to attack - and they have four legs, while us humans have two and their teeth are much sharper.
• OSH

  

  Manhattan Buckeye;1590290 wrote:Because it can get cold, and it is cruel. Dogs can live in the wild but they do so in packs. You chain or cage them and it is a different story and unfortunately it happens often in SE Ohio.
  
  Jesus, just when I think Ohio isn't that backwoods or rednecky, I read this and I understand why my wife hates it. I really grew up in the armpit of America with you rubes.
  
  And to make a point to a comment earlier, dogs are usually trained not to attack because they are around children, and their protection is centered on them. But they can be trained very easily to attack - and they have four legs, while us humans have two and their teeth are much sharper.

  I'm not in southeastern Ohio anymore and I still don't see a problem with it. And, it happens all over the country, not just southeastern Ohio.
  
  Dogs are made for living outside. I forgot that dogs are domesticated and need a 3-bedroom 1.5-bath house with air conditioning and heating. Better make sure they are eating gluten-free and Paleo too. If anything it can be considered cruelty to keep dogs out of their natural habitat. Why should they be cooped up in a house on the couch when they could be outside running around like they are supposed to be? At least our dogs were able to run free wherever and whenever they wanted to. And for 30ish years, I have never heard of a dog, cat, cow, horse, chicken, or any other animal that we had that froze to death because they were outside. We've only had one issue in losing any animals to the weather and that was a couple cows stood under a tree that got struck by lightning (and boy did that smell for days) -- they also had access to a barn, but went to the tree...crazy how that works, doing what they do even with the luxury of a barn.
  
  Like I said, as long as the dogs have an "escape" outside, it's not cruel. If they have a dog house with some straw/hay, they'll be fine. If they have access to-from a barn, they'll be fine. As long as they can get out of the elements, they are doing what they've done for thousands of years.
• mcburg93

  

  Manhattan Buckeye;1590279 wrote:"To the guys that think their dogs protects their house while they are gone"
  
  I don't need to watch dick, I just speak with my neighbors and the mail guys that crap their pants when they knock on the door and listen to his bark. No robber is dumb enough to get into our house.
  
  We've trained him not to attack humans, but the meth-head doesn't know that, and again you will pee your pants if you hear him bark.

  You can be lulled into a sense of security with your dogs and that is fine. That movie I am talking about had rottweilers, pitt bulls, dobermans, and German shepards barking their heads off and the robbers just walked on in through a window or an unlocked door. The one house they had trouble with that had dogs was a house with poodles. They did not bark but once the robbers were in the house the dogs would not allow them upstairs. They moved around freely downstairs but when they tried to go upstairs the dogs would go after them. It is a good watch and you can be fooled by how mean you think your dog is while you are gone
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Again, the dog isn't trained to attack. It would bother us if he would and expose us to liability. But he goes absolutely nuts if anyone knocks on the door or even approaches the house - that is what he is trained to do. And we're pretty damned sure he does it when we're gone, because he does it when we come to the house - and he sleeps in the same bed with us.
  
  Based on this thread there is more evidence of ignorant and improper dog owners from SE Ohio - that isn't us. It takes a lot of work, dedication and effort to train a dog properly. You don't just put them outside during an Ohio winter with a "wall" to shelter them. It takes months to train them.