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| It looks like Walter could barely see, such were the excessive folds of skin on his face. |
In Billings Montana, this is the story on the local news:
The year started out as an adventure of a lifetime for Walter [the Saint Bernard] as he made his way to one of the greatest dog shows in the world: The Westminster Kennel Club show.
There, he earned an award of merit. This award is given at a judge's discretion to outstanding entries that do not place in Best of Breed or Best in Show contests.
Walter's journey came to an end Wednesday after he battled congestive heart failure, pneumonia and, eventually, organ failure. He was 7.
According to his twitter, Wally's organs began to fail and the team in New York was unable to do anything more, so his owner Mary Jo Fox decided to end his suffering.
A fundraiser is set up to help with his medical bills.
I, for one, will not be giving to that fundraiser. Neither should anyone else. These folks had the money to campaign a dog to Westminster in order to get a ribbon from a club that celebrates inbreeding and puppy mills and prohibits health checks and performance standards? But they don't have the dosh to cover their vet bills? Give me a break!
Or, as Heather H. put it: "No one could have predicted the levies would fail"
Perfect!
Meanwhile, the page collecting money to pay the $10,000 vet bill (to do what?) notes:
His delighfully squishy face makes each of us forget the problems of the world and has brought so many people together in laughter & understanding. Any and all donations would be appreciated.Right.
The administrators ask that no negativity be expressed on this page. Inappropriate comments will be deleted.
Let's not talk about canine health, human ego, or values. Let's just whistle pass the graveyard.
2 comments:
"His delightfully squishy face makes each of us forget the problems of the world and has brought so many people together in laughter & understanding. Any and all donations would be appreciated."
This quote pretty much sums up everything that's wrong with purebreeding animals:
- There's no such thing as a "delightfully squishy face." Faces are not supposed to be squishy. Stop disfiguring domestic wolves.
- While they "forget the problems of the world," they literally impose them on their poor dogs.
- While dog shows may bring people together in "laughter and understanding," they do the opposite for dogs, who must endure grotesque distortions.
- Now they want donations for a condition that could have been *easily* prevented with outcrossing and normal reproduction. I think not.
It is, of course, sad that this dog had to die at the tender young age of 7 ... but unfortunately, that is typical for giant breeds. Dogs come from southern Eurasian wolves (similar to the Arabian or Indian), which are about half the size of northern wolves (like European and timber wolves). Dogs are not meant to grow to 140-264 lbs, like the modern St. Bernard and other modern giant molossers do. If you want your cherished dog to be relatively free of health problems and grow to a ripe old age, then DON'T BREED HIM INTO A FREAK. Domestic wolves really should not get any bigger than about 90 lbs to remain healthy (extremely small size is associated with health problems, too). And dogs certainly should not be highly brachycephalic or riddled with folds of excess skin. I feel sorry for this poor dog, who was a victim of inbreeding. But as for people, we really should know better by now.
I concur. There was another page where a young man was begging for vet bill money for an older lab that kept getting tumors and wanted thousands a month for the continued use of an experimental drug. I felt bad for him but keeping a seriously ill animal alive at all costs is ridiculous. When you get a pet you should know that day will come when it is ill and will die. This is a part of pet ownership too.
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