The difference in how dogs are treated in different regions. My question: why?

[Kathy813]

My goodness, Acworth, GA has changed quite a bit since Flutterby lived there. It was named one of the best places to live by Money magazine in 2007. 65% of it's residents have completed at least some college and there are 24 colleges, universities, and professional schools not to mention 16 junior colleges and technical schools within a 30 mile radius. According to the magazine, there are 31 libraries within 15 miles. Acworth has become an affluent northwestern suburb of the city of Atlanta.

As far as the way people here treat their animals, I think it depends on a rural versus suburban/urban outlook. We have doggie daycare and pet boutiques everywhere in the suburb where I live (about an hour away from Acworth on the northeastern side of Atlanta) and many animal rescue and no-kill shelters. I do know that my husband was raised differently in south Georgia where he lived on a farm and dogs were considered work animals that were not allowed in the house. He certainly got over that and now sleeps with two little shih tzus in his bed. Even his mother who would never allow a dog in her house when she lived on the farm now has a pet chihuahua who she treats like a baby. LOL

by the way, I think that rural Pennsylvania also is known for its puppy mills.

ETA: I did a little research and found that the Humane Society identifies these states as the six worst puppy mill states: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.


~Kathy

 

[flutterby]

It doesn't surprise me about Acworth; it had a lot of potential, but still had a lot of rural areas. I lived right near the - what is it, 4 corners or something - real close to Barstow and 2 other counties that I can't think of off the top of my head. (Acworth is actually in 2 counties - Cobb and Bartow.) Cobb County was really booming when I lived there. I think at that time, 85% of the people in Atlanta were not native to the area.

In any case, our vet clinic had another office in Bartow Co and we had a booming business. People really did take care of their pets. I think there were more kill shelters there at that time. But, that was probably the case in a lot of places. 15 years changes a lot.

I remember this one client. They called us in hysterics - I took the call. They're outside dog had an "injury" to it's jaw and they were so distraught because they didn't have much money and just knew the jaw was broken and they were going to have to put the dog down because they couldn't afford treatment. They brought the dog in and it turned out that the dog just had something lodged in it's mouth which is why it couldn't open it's mouth or eat. The owners stood in the lobby and wept with relief. Just because a dog is kept outside, doesn't mean it's not loved and cared for. For some people, it's just the way they've always known.

We had clients in the lobby of about every socioeconomic class and there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

However, it gets much colder up here for much longer periods of time. When it hits a certain temperature, they need to be brought inside. My ex father in law wouldn't allow that. It was -14 (in GA) and the dog was "OK" because it was in an insulated dog house with bedding. I made my now ex, nail a thick blanket over the opening to the dog house so that it would block the wind and at least help hold body heat in. I was so distraught over that. But, there were too many things about my ex father in law that I didn't like - and this was one of them. It was more a reflection on the kind of person he was then how he was raised.

 

[donna723]

In most places the animal cruelty laws are extremely weak. As long as they have food, water, and some kind of 'shelter', it's not considered to be 'cruelty'. Not that there's anybody checking for that here but ... My neighbors have a cute little mixed breed dog that stays on a short chain in their yard 24/7, 365 days a year. Nobody ever plays with him or gives him the slightest bit of attention. He gets no exercise except what his short chain will allow him. He's like a little concentration camp victim. I'm sure he's eaten alive by fleas. I suppose he has food and water (that freezes in the winter) because he's still alive and his 'shelter' is what's left of an old wooden crate. He's out there in the summer when it is 100 degrees and in the winter when it's down to zero. But according to the law, this is OK. And once in a while he gets loose and he runs happily through the neighborhood, sometimes dragging his chain. He runs circles around my house and eats all the cat food I put out on my back porch for the neighborhood kitties, but I can't get blame him for doing it. I know that not everybody treats their dogs like I do but there must be some middle ground there! Why do people like this even bother to have a dog?

 

[Star*]

I will say this - I have volunteered for a lot of animal resuces here and up in Ohio where I am from. Now I'm from here - S.C. I've seen things all over the places I've lived everywhere that would just curl your toes. I've been a member of the Humane Society for 38 years.

I have no problems speaking out for those who can't speak for themselves but that is me. I'm not anyone else, and I'm not now nor would I ever suggest to anyone - "Go and tap a biker on the shoulder and confront him or anyone else about their abuse." It's dangerous. I DO condone reporting anyone abusing a person, a child, or an animal. No matter where you live geographically - abuse is abuse. You CAN report abuse anonymously.

Sadly - our state (South Carolina) is the #1 state in the United States for homicide by domestic violence. Each year our state house has a candle-light vigil where families take cut outs of thier lost family members and place them on the steps of the capitol building to let the people driving by see how many women, men and children have died because of domestic violence.

In accordance WITH those stastitics - the people who will abuse ANIMALS first - WILL ABUSE and have a higher chance of ABUSING and possibly KILLING humans. THAT is why it's important to me to report animal abuse.

I'm not saying that everyone that doesn't feed or water a dog is going to kill someone - but the facts are facts. People who have little regard for animals have been proven to have little regard for human life.

 

[BusynMember]

Star....I so agree. I've heard horror stories myself. One poor dog was tossed out of the car while it was driving and it came into the care of our humane society...they named him Miracle because he got help and lived and is now adopted by one of the workers there, but just thinking about that makes my eyes tear. I'd NEVER confront a "bad" looking person mistreating a dog...I'd call Animal Control on my cell.

Star, if somebody says "I hate animals" I get a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. It doesn't make them a bad person, but it's a kind of litmus test I personally have as to whom I want as my own circle of friends. If you don't like animals, then I sort of won't want you to hang around me...not sure why I feel that way...

 

[donna723]

MWM Mom, I agree. I know that not everybody is as pet-happy as I am. But I think that somebody who has no feelings for animals, someone with no compassion and no ability to connect emotionally with an animal and see them as a living, breathing, feeling being ... there's just something missing in that person's emotional makeup. And if they're that way about animals, they're probably not much different with people! I would be very leery of someone like that.

And along those same lines, I would be very distrustful of anyone that my dogs took an instant dislike to or were instinctively afraid of. They're a lot better judges of character than we are. Usually my dogs are extremely friendly, especially Katy who is a regular little "Miss Congeniality". But there have been a very few people that they actually backed away from, wanted nothing to do with, even growled at a little. Those people I worry about! I don't know how the dogs know, but they do and I trust their judgement.

 

[BusynMember]

Donna, I hear you. My dogs have an uncanny intuition about people and if they take a dislike to them, I believe they know what they are barking about .

I agree that if you don't respect all life, how can you respect life at all? I do think that animal abuse is one step away from human abuse...everyone knows that psychopaths almost always start out killing or hurting animals. Jeffrey Dahmer was one of them...

 

[GoingNorth]

I think you CAN get people who "don't like animals", yet still are compassionate towards them.

My mother is an example of that. She won't have pets because she feels she wouldn't be able to meet ALL their needs--she would certainly feed them and provide vet care and the like, but she doesn't feel she could provide the emotional attention they require.

In fact, she is pretty much an activist when it comes to animal care. She is anti-breeding, pro-rescue, etc.

This is a big step for her, as she spent several years in South Africa as a child, back in the apartheid days. Back then, the whites kept vicious guard dogs to protect them against the "kaffirs".

She was attacked by a Ridgeback. Luckily the dog was muzzled and other than scrapes and bruises, she wasn't physically harmed, but it left her afraid of dogs for many years.


She's no long afraid, but big dogs make her a bit nervous still

 

[donna723]

GN, in your mothers case, I wouldn't consider her to be an 'animal hater' at all. She just recognized the fact that she wouldn't be able to provide for all of the needs that a pet would have, so she didn't get one. That's pretty responsible behavior. Much better than all those people who really shouldn't have pets but get them any way.

I've only known two REAL animals haters in my whole life - one is a co-worker of mine and the other was my own grandmother. It's not just the 'dog in the house' thing. Both of them would actually be repulsed by animals, referred to them as "it", considered them all to be 'dirty', looked at them the same way they would have if a giant slug were crawling across their kitchen floor! And both of them are (were) cold hearted, selfish, self-centered people who didn't have many warm fuzzy feelings for other people either!

 

[GoingNorth]

Donna, I think that my mother took the same forethought that I wish many people who have children did!

 

[BusynMember]

My sister, who calls the cops on me for no reason, HATES animals and doesn't understand why people feel bad when animals are killed, although she's not so bad that she herself would hurt an animal. She certainly doesn't have any love for them. And she's one of the most despicable people I've ever met.

 

[DDD]

My next door neighbor does NOT like dogs.
I do NOT like cats.
Her cat spends hours in my yard......my dog is never allowed to roam.
I wouldn't "do harm" to her cat but I sure wish it would go live with another relative somewhere. Cats (childhood carryover) give me the creeps. DDD

 

[DammitJanet]

When I met Tony he had never had an inside dog. They were simply outside critters. Most cats were too though he did sneak one in the house after his mom died and kept it in his room. He really never wanted me to have a dog in the house but I convinced him otherwise when we got our first dog when Jamie was two. At first he wouldnt even let that dog -Lady - in but one day it was raining really bad so he brought her in the house. He told her to stay in the corner and to his complete amazement she did exactly as she was told. She followed his every instruction without him talking to her like a dog. She was more like a person. She was so well trained. She came to us from the shelter at about 2 or 3. She never lived outside again. She finally died when Jamie was 17. That made her somewhere around 19 or 20 or older! She was quite a dog. We have had many dogs since we first got her and most of them have lived in the house. A few were hunting dogs who lived outside. All were taken care of. Now we have a spoiled brat dog. I would have never believed that Tony would have a 5 pound furry ball of fluff that follows him everywhere but he does....lol.

 

[Star*]

Here's my Grammy confession -

DF did not like Pootie when she came to live with us.

NOW Grrrrrrrrrrandpa can't imagine life without her. Shes quite the charmer. Princess Glitter Britches.

He also wasn't keen on my American Bulldog - but now? THATS HIS boy - Not really - he's MINE but again - can't imagine life without him.