A kind-hearted North Carolina woman outbid a Coney Island freak show operator to buy a five-legged puppy last week, paying $4,000 to save the 6-week-old dog from a life of humiliation.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
"Saved from a life of humiliation!!!!" Do reporters realize how absurd and ridiculous their statements are sometimes.
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26 comments:
They got it right. Sincerely Paul
No, Paul, they got it very, very wrong.
Wade
$4,000!!!!
Euthanasia= $45
Adopting a homeless pet with four working legs= $80
I wonder if the buffoon who thought it a smart idea to pay 4 grand for a physically retarded animal realizes how many healthy dogs she could have saved.
Casey,
I agree, although I think "physically challenged" is more appropriate.
How could this animal be anymore humiliated in a side show at the state fair then the millions of cows, chickens, rabbits, or myriad of other wonderful animals in zoo's, aquariums, pet shops, circus's.
I could only see it being humiliated if it was a member of The Big Circus Sideshow. But thats life, and Daisey Mae could have probably helped him through the hard times.
Wade
You seem to be assuming that she would have taken the $4000 and saved the equivalent number of four legged dogs. She is obviously an extraordinarily kind and compassionate person and desrves better than to be called a "buffoon". This is one instance where the media most definitely got it right. Sincerely Paul
Besides that fifth leg can be surgically removed to give the puppy a normal life, but somebody exploiting it as a sideshow freak would have a huge disincentive to do that. She saw this dog and saved it. Good for her. Sincerely Paul
Paul,
How is it a more humiliating life for a 5 legged dog in a sideshow, then a cross eyed white tiger in a zoo a crossed eyed lion in the movies, an albino animal, Champagne lion. Was Ika humiliated with only three legs?
Wade
I'm sorry folk's,but that dog does not know that it has a fifth leg. Amimals don't get humiliated, only humans and that is because we teach them that they are differant. I know people that are very happy that they are differant.And make a very good living at it. Joanne
No Paul,
I don't "assume" she would have spent 4 grand helping healthy animals at shelters. She is a buffoon, and rather made an impulse buy to save the "dignity" of an animal that not only doesn't have "dignity" but doesn't want it or understand it. I am absolutely positive the animal could care less how many people look in amazement at its unfortunate disability, as it snarffs down food. I also promise it doesn't give a $hi& who is feeding it, as long as some one does. Take the "human" emotion out of the equation Paul and you will see it made no difference where it went, I just see two buyers getting "duped" by a lucky person who had a retarded dog born.
Joanne,
Animals do not get humiliated, but they can be humbled in the wrong hands. I don't know if the folks you mention are happy with they way they are per se. It would be a waste of time and energy to be unhappy. I suggest they are accepting, as is a great part of our society, which accounts for their happiness. Just like I have had to accept your aren't going to 86 Pee Wee and come with me. LOL Give the lucky man my best.
Wade
It may be that humiliation is the wrong word. I had already asked myself the same question you posed as to whether exhibiting a five legged dog is any different than exhibiting a white tiger in a zoo. Maybe there is no difference. As to whether Ika was humiliated I think you'd have to have asked him. I don't think the loss of a leg made him a greater attraction. I'll bet everyone who came to see him would have prefered that he had four legs. I don't know how he moved around on three legs, but maybe he felt humiliated. I think this lady did something noble and decent. She got what she wanted and it was evidently worth $4000 to her and it was her money to spend. I think she is a thoughtful person not a buffoon. I almost forgot to sign this. Sincerely Paul PS Not everything is about money. I read the other day that dogs have the intelligence of a two year old child. An orange utan has the intelligence of a seven year old child. I think we are discovering that animals and people are'nt as different as we like to think.
Wade have you heard about this? http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004125 Sincerely Paul
So Paul,
Then what you are saying is, it isn't what the animal would have felt by being exhibited that would have bothered you, but more, why people would would have been looking at the animal. I am not going to ask if you believe animals have human type emotions, because you have already answered that. But now you are trying to propagate the theory they have the same thought process as human children. So I ask, what study determined that? Done by who? For what agenda? Intelligence on what level? I have a six year old daughter that can turn on the computer, connect to the internet, and type out a conversation with a girl who doesn't speak english, all the while searching for music on iTUNES, and watching Michael Jackson videos on youtube. Find me a Orang that can pull one of those tasks off and understand what it is doing, and I will buy into the intelligence BS
Most Sincerely,
Casey
I wonder if the woman will now shell out the money to have what looks to be a useless leg removed or will leave the dog like that to remind everyone including herself of "what a wonderful person she is for saving the poor little dog from its life of exploition!"
Do you think the dog felt humiliated being shown off in the paper?
W.P
Can you imagine if a zoo did anything so repugnant as to exhibit a five legged puppy? Can you imagine the outcry and the backlash from the public and from within the zoo community, and what the AZA would have to say about it? I remember that somebody made an analogy between a two headed calf and a white tiger, but a white tiger is more analogous to a chinchilla cat than to a two headed calf. White tigers and albino animals are not grotesque. Besides I thought it was illegal to exhibit freaks. I thought there were charges when Ringling Bros. had a unicorn. I don't think that having crossed eyes makes big cats a greater draw and I would think that if it did someone would have deliberately bred their white tigers to have crossed eyes. I don't know anyone who would'nt consider that a defect or any zoo that would'nt prefer to exhibit tigers and lions with eyes in normal alignment. I am grateful that this woman saved this puppy from being exploited for profit. She almost redeems my faith in humanity. A tiger cub was born at the Toronto Zoo and the mother bit off one of its legs. They euthanized it. They said that no zoo would want it. Evidently that included the Toronto Zoo itself which already owned it. Before someone asks whether it would have been better if this five legged puppy had been euthanized let me answer no, but that was'nt the only other option. I would'nt have prefered the euthanize the tiger cub either. Of course animals have the exact same emotions as human beings. Do you think there are different sets of emotions? I'll see if I can find you the article which stated that dogs have the same intelligence as a two year old child. It also said that they understand the meanings of several hundred words. Darwin made the observation that his dogs could understand words. Do you know that if you indicate something with your finger, point at it, a dog understands that, and looks. A chimpanzee is incapable of understanding that you are pointing at something. It does'nt get that. There may be different kinds of intelligence, but I am quite certain that an orange utan and a dog can both swith on a computer. Sincerely Paul
Paul,
The dog doesn't "understand" you are pointing. It looks because it has "learned" you are pointing. I have an arena full of tigers that look where ever I point a whip. I however don't kid myself for a second into believing the "comprehend" the motion.
And to answer your question. No, I think they can't comprehend emotions, much less feel the ones we have. Come on Paul, if you believe dogs have the mental capacity of a two year old, how can they have pride or vanity? Know any vain egotistical two year olds Paul? How much did the buffoon lady out bid you by?,,,,LOL
I can see I'm not going to get anywhere with this. Can you name an emotion which an animal possesses, but humans do not? For the first few years of their lives apes are more intelligent than human children of the same age. They have superior problem solving capabilities. That is what intelligence is. This has all been studied and is well documented. I think that a Dr. Stanley Coren wrote a book on the intelligence of dogs. He's an expert on dogs and a psychologist. I have'nt read his book, but he may be one source you could look at if you're so inclined. The newspaper article I cited I was not able to find in a stack of old newspapers. I don't know why you would imagine that if you point at something and your tigers look at it they have'
nt grasped the concept. There's no reason to think that they have'nt, and yet as I mentioned that's one thing you can never teach to a chimpanzee. I'll see if I can find that article on dog intelligence online. I'm sure there's plenty on the intelligence of orang utans. Sincerely Paul
I was right it was Dr. Stanley Coren who is a British Columbia psychologist. Here's a newspaper article titled Dogs as intelligent as two-year old child http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/5994583/Dogs-as-intelligent-as-two-year-old-children.html There were lots more articles saying the same thing which I found when I googled it. I'll see if I can find something on the subject of the intelligence of orang utans. We now know that parents understand much of what they are saying. They are actually talking.
Birute Galdikas says that orang utans can learn how to use language at the level of a three year old human. http://www.tropical-rainforest-animals.com/orangutans-intelligence.html Sincerely Paul
Who can't comprehend emotions? I don't recall asking this question. How can who have pride or vanity, dogs or two year old children? I don't know any two year olds. Sincerely Paul
PS She outbid me by $4000. Sincerely Paul
Dogs, 2 year olds, they all have to be "taught" emotions and the child can go on after 2 years to learn new ones and the dog cannot. If we are not taught humility we would all be riding bicyles naked and painted. Those folks could be on display in a side show because they obviously aren't humiliated. And they should be !!!!!They must have been taken away from there Mothers to soon Joanne, Dog trainer and emotion expert !!!!!!!
Thank You Joanne!
Nobody can be taught an emotion. The very idea is ridiculous. I have done an extremely poor job of explaining for your benefit precisely why it would be wrong to do anything as obscene and sick as to charge people money to look at a deformed puppy. I am not a professional ethicist or a professor of moral philosophy and so I am perhaps ill equipped to explain it. I just know right from wrong when I see it and few moral issues are more cut and dry than this one. Sincerely Paul
I don't know what humility has to do with riding bicycles naked or what emotions you think a child will learn which a dog does not possess. Maybe you could give me an example of one, or on second thought don't bother. This discussion has gone on far too long already, and I accept most of the blame for this. Sincerely Paul
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