tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524655808844578153.post5228625348157880423..comments2023-08-04T01:37:48.433-07:00Comments on 17 Barks: Breedism: what is a breed?Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00482549578598366599noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524655808844578153.post-78324597321077618972013-08-10T01:33:55.255-07:002013-08-10T01:33:55.255-07:00They've lost the safety debate so they seek re...They've lost the safety debate so they seek refuge in the Canine Racism argument.<br /><br />Discriminating? Yes. Discriminatory? No.<br /><br />By FELICIA R. LEE<br />Published: December 13, 2003<br /><br />It started with a pit bull.<br /><br />Frederick Schauer, who teaches a course on the first amendment at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, was reading about some dog lovers who claimed ''canine racism'' in response to measures to curb attacks by pit bulls in New York City.<br /><br />That particular race card, he said, was an extreme example of how society has become so obsessed with avoiding any stereotypes that it ignores reality. Pit bulls are more aggressive than other breeds, he said, just as statistics show older people have slower reflexes than the young, and there are more bad drivers in Massachusetts than in Vermont. A fair number of generalizations, he insists, turn out to be accurate.<br /><br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/13/books/discriminating-yes-discriminatory-no.html?src=pm<br />vintagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01572542359054820579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524655808844578153.post-13523624283471938302013-08-05T05:48:38.339-07:002013-08-05T05:48:38.339-07:00As an owner of several pure bred dogs in the past ...As an owner of several pure bred dogs in the past I can attest to the compelling logic of this article. My grandfather bred English Setters for hunting. His line was superb and training the to point, hold and flush the birds was easy due to their linage. I had a purebred beagle who was a master at flushing rabbits and running them back to me so I could get a clear shot. I do not believe I could have trained the Setters to chase rabbits and I know it would have beenimpossible to get my beagle to point and flush birds. Dogs are not people, they do not have morals they have behaviors which are determined largely by genetic imprinting. Pit bulls have no purpose but to kill other dogs or children that they mistake for other dogs. Stop making the killers into victims. Eliminate the breed.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15402676846946927928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524655808844578153.post-23460378200462044242013-08-04T20:38:25.440-07:002013-08-04T20:38:25.440-07:00This states, in a very succinct manner, the Charac...This states, in a very succinct manner, the Characteristics that were bred into the pit bull....they VERY CHARACTERISTICS that are causing carnage & mayhem to the public today, in a misdirected effort at following their lineage. There is NO PLACE for this breed in modern society; as the article states... it is the CHARACTERISTICS of the breed that are what is in question...it is not singling out or being "racist"... it is merely acknowledging success in a breeding practice that no longer serves any purpose.<br />Karlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10767875355505384374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524655808844578153.post-58634920840042288032013-08-04T19:16:55.525-07:002013-08-04T19:16:55.525-07:00As humans fooled around creating various working b...As humans fooled around creating various working breeds (pointers, collies, racing dogs, etc), we diddled around with things on the edges of dog-ness -- a stance, a stare, a gait. We didn't try to change the fundamental characteristics that make a dog a dog and make the domestic dog fit to live closely with us: preference for avoiding conflict and seeking compromise, reticence about using real aggression, the willingness to stop a conflict as soon as the threat subsides or the other gives a cut-off signal. <br /><br />When a certain class of people started creating these baiting / fighting dogs, they changed these fundamental things that make a domestic dog a domestic dog. The pit fighting bull dog lost its dog-ness. Its behavior means it really needs to be classified not just as a different 'breed', but as some other species altogether. <br /><br />Trouble is, most species (even wild ones) don't arbitrarily attack their own kind. When there is a social conflict, most species have ritual ways of solving them without killing each other. Most species won't even attack some other species life-upon-death unless there's a reason to (defend young or themselves from being eaten, to eat themselves, etc). <br /><br />So there might not be any existing species we can put the pit bull type dog into...unless it's a species where we also put human psychopaths and humans suffering Intermittent Explosive Disorder. We can base this new species classification not on numbers of legs or other external characteristics, but on the fact that essential parts of the brain are similar (and unlike those parts in normal brains of dogs, humans, mice, etc). <br /><br />Hmmmm, we might even have to invent a whole new clade for them...since they all share not only mammalian but also some reptilian traits. Alexandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15459347524558238547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524655808844578153.post-90545876317274444282013-08-04T18:46:14.566-07:002013-08-04T18:46:14.566-07:00The new thing is for pit bull advocates to state t...The new thing is for pit bull advocates to state that all dogs are individuals, should be analyzed as such, and that most dog trainers agree. They seem to think that variation within a breed and variation among breeds are mutually exclusive. DubVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14367764785422714196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524655808844578153.post-19402311957199944952013-08-04T13:42:04.709-07:002013-08-04T13:42:04.709-07:00The reason that the pit bull apologist will scream...The reason that the pit bull apologist will scream "racism", is because they know how emotionally loaded it its, and how even rational people will loose their bearings to where they can't see the forest for the trees. Meals on Wheelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01057744351180201708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524655808844578153.post-30908369757877243322013-08-04T13:39:41.479-07:002013-08-04T13:39:41.479-07:00Well done!Well done!Meals on Wheelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01057744351180201708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7524655808844578153.post-52791287320070342912013-08-03T19:01:54.795-07:002013-08-03T19:01:54.795-07:00Amen Jake, amen!Amen Jake, amen!scorched earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15765044848187036298noreply@blogger.com