Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Tails, Testicles and Tits


PETA spokes-idiot "Pink" gets her nipple pierced.


Have you ever noticed
that the same people who want to ban all tail docking are the very same people who want mandatory spay and neuter laws?

Why is one bit of 10-second work considered "mutilation," while the other (major surgery) is considered the height of "responsible ownership?"

Would these same people push for mandatory spay-neuter laws for humans while supporting a ban on all nipple-piercings, tattoos, circumcisions, tummy tucks and botox injections for people?

And what do these people have to say about Mother Nature which makes naturally bob-tailed animals (including dogs and cats) but which makes no animals without reproductive organs? If "natural" is good and "artificial" is bad, then perhaps they might want to rethink their position?

Or is this simply a case of nannyism -- the precursor to jack-booted authoritarianism?

To be clear, I am no libertarian. Call me a communist if you want, but I think there is a place for police and fire departments, and I want the public health service to be fully funded. I am affirmatively in support of regulated commerce.

I am even willing to concede that there is a place for the state to intercede when individuals maintain misery by not properly taking care of their charges, whether those charges are human or animal.

But I do not get it when it comes to tails, testicles, and tits.

Please do not tell me this is about a concern for dogs when you express horror at a simple tail docking while simultaneouly demanding the mandatory gutting of every female dog.

I am a bit vague on some aspects of animal regulation, but I am perfectly clear on two bits:
  1. The need to push back on mandatory spay-neuter for all dogs and cats, and;
  2. The need to led freedom reign when it comes to tail docking.
As for nipple-piercing ... well, I have no opinion and not much interest. If you do, please feel free to add your thoughts in the comment section!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tail docking and dew claw removal are done when the dog is a neonate. It has no memory of the procedure. I know that in my own breed, dew claw removal is not done nearly as often as it once was. I've never had one without dewclaws on the front feet. But that said, it's not that big a deal to have dewclaws removed.

Spaying and neutering are medical procedures, which are often a good idea, but they are done under anesthesia. That means there is a higher level risk in spaying and neutering than dewclaw removal and docking.

What I think motivates this mandatory spay-neuter movement is something that many progressives deny (and I was once one of those who denied its existence). We know well that there were studies on the "authoritarian personality," which essentially said that there were intolerant and dictatorial people on the right. This is true. I don't deny that. However, those studies implicitly denied that those characteristics existed on the left. The truth is there are authoritarian tendencies within progressive circles as well. And the animal rights movement has tendencies towards authoritarianism. For example there is now animal rights dogma that exists that says the following: 1. All hunters are evil. 2. Anyone who buys a dog from a breeder wants dogs to die in shelters (no-- someone else does and that's PETA and the HSUS). 3. You must have your dog spayed or neutered at four months old, even if it predisposes your breed, which is already cancer-prone, to developing bone cancer. 4. You shouldn't keep pets other than dogs or cats. 5. You MUST be vegetarian or a vegan, even if you tried it and developed some health problems on such a diet.

Plus, wasn't the author of Sarah Palin's Convention speech one of those animal rights fanatics? Okay. Case closed there.

Viatecio said...

I've always seemed to question the whole "Let's have other people tell me how to take care of what is mine" kind of thing. I know we all have opinions on such things as parenting (who hasn't observed a child in WalMart and thought "That kid needs a spanking?") and dog ownership, but I like to think of myself as a good dog owner. (I concede that I would be an awful parent!) I paid money for my dog, whether it was a purchase price or adoption fee, I pay the vet bills, I buy the food and license, and I spend time training and simply having a healthy, balanced relationship with my dog. If she were intact, I would take responsibility to either a) get her spayed, or b) make sure she is 110% safe during heats. Unfortunately, back where I used to live in rural Ohio, no one sterilized their dogs, and the short encounters I had with such people showed me that they had no idea of the responsibility they had to ensure that no unintended pregnancies happened and no overt sexual behavior occurred. (Not only that, but also anything with working reproductive organs was "breeding quality"!) These are the people who need that spay/neuter law.

As for docking/cropping...I love the analogy with human cosmetics and AMEN to everything! (Although someday in my life I wouldn't mind having an undocked Rottie, but my future Dobe will be both docked and cropped.)

Barb said...

AMEN!!

I would have much more respect for the anti-crop/dock forces if they were equally concerned about post surgical pain and complications following spays and castrations - which are MUCH more major, painful and complicated procedures.