What are the values of our opposition? Last time, we discussed *our* values. What are the values of the yard barker's owner, the power dog fanatic, and various other miscreants? How do they justify doing what they are doing?
While I/we can't get completely into their heads (and probably would not want to if we could), we can listen to what they say, watch what they do, and induce a value system from that. In other words, you can take someone's secondary values and "back them up" into a primary belief system.
The dog fanatic does not have any real system of ethics. They do not think critically. They have no objective sense of right and wrong. They have a belief system based entirely on faith. As I've said before, their "value" system resembles a primitive religion: It is so, because Dog Almighty made it so!
I am going to refer to these "true believers" as The Initiate.
The primary value of The Initiate's belief system is this:
Dogs and dog owners are always the agents of good. This is an axiom, not a general belief. By that, I mean that it is always true, with no exceptions. I.E. 2+2 always = 4, there is no discussion, digression, or exceptions. It is important to consider that this pernicious "value" has infected the larger culture and is now a primary ethic of a large part of the population.
Everything else flows to and from the primary "ethic" above. It demands the following secondary values. Note that the following are not true ethics, just a set of conceits based on the primary ethic indicated above.
All dog and dog owner behavior is self justifying. If a dog does it, it is good. If a dog owner says it, it is true. Its just a dog being a dog, its what they do, etc... When a dog owner is terrorizing the neighborhood, just go over and talk nicely to them - its a fact that they are great people - they must be, they own dogs!
The interests of dogs and owners take precedence in any and all situations. As long as the dog and/or owner gets what they want, its good. The rights, needs, and interests of others are of no consideration. Ever.
Place no boundaries on dog or owner behavior. The dog not only has the right to make noise, but to be heard. Dog owners have an unconditional right to let their dog run free, and to take their dog anywhere they want. Everything they do is just and good by definition. You cannot improve upon perfection.
Always blame the victim. Do not bother investigating any dog related "problem", simply because no such "problem" could possibly exist: The "incident" is either made up or the victim/complainant deserved what happened to them. To The Initiate, the Dog and Dog Owner can't do anything wrong, so it MUST be the victims fault. There is no one else TO blame. Best case, it was just an accident.
Block any and all effective measures that might solve the problem. Again, to The Initiate, the "problem" is the victim's complaints. This is why "anti" barking laws place a ridiculous burden of proof on the complainant: To them, our neighborhoods do NOT have a barking problem, or the barking is 100% justified. Therefore, the complainants are always the problem, not the dogs or the owners. Moreover, since it is a given that all dogs and dog owners are perfect, why would we need to place any boundaries on their behavior? We can't improve on perfection!
Dogs and dog owners are at the top of the social and legal hierarchy. This enumerates the right of dogs and owners to exert control over everyone around them. Again, legal and social boundaries are for US not THEM. See, this is why THEY get to decide when you get up in the morning. Indeed, your front yard IS their dog's toilet. They even get to make life and death decisions for you. THEY get to make your life choices from now on, not you. Essentially, they OWN you. Why? Again, go back to the First Principle - they are better than you, that is why!
Force must never be exerted against dogs or owners for any reason. The interests of dogs and owners is paramount, so they cannot under any circumstances be stopped from doing what they are doing. No fines, no lawsuits, no impoundments, no arrests, no self help/defense. Ever. Again, you cannot improve upon perfection. Is a given that the dog and the owner are in the right, so preventing them from doing anything would be completely wrong. Moreover, due to their place at the top of the legal hierarchy, they have a 100% monopoly on the use of force.
Anything done to promote the interests of dogs and/or owners is good. Forget about any objective "Golden Rule". Lying, cheating, even killing people is just fine when it promotes the stature of any dog or dog owner. Remember, YOU are an egg that needs to be broken to make the Omelet of dogtopia!
Dogs make everything better. Dogs must be everywhere, all the time. They not only have an unconditional right to be in restaurants, computer factories, and construction sites, they MUST be running loose in those places. It will improve the quality of life of everyone to be completely surrounded by dogs every minute of their life.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and some of these "values" overlap each other.
Note how these "values" conflict with the set of values outlined the other day. The Initiate has no real ethics - they don't believe in Truth, Peace or honesty. Their ethic is Canine Supremacy - If there is a dog involved, its all GOOD.
One thing a reader may want to do is, consider each of these "values" and do a bit of self-analysis - if you harbor any of these "ethics" you may want to re-structure your belief system a bit.
The challenge for the rest of us is to undermine the legitimacy of this primary value - convince people that MAYBE - just MAYBE - a dog or owner just MIGHT be in the wrong? Not to bash all of them, or even most of them, but consider the possibility that its NOT always the victims fault? Perhaps they should NOT be making life decisions for everyone else?
THINK ABOUT IT.
Dog owners should be subject to the same laws as everyone else. More actually, I read so many stories of dogs jumping fences or breaking into doggy doors to attack and kill other pets or people. There should be a severe charge for that, the owners should get a minimum of two years in prison and have to pay at least a million dollars in restitution. You might say, and would probably be right that the dog they killed isn't worth a million dollars, but the victim should be paid for losing some of their peace of mind. A responsible person, with a normal, well behaved dog, should be able to let their dog use a doggy door, leading to their fenced yard. They should also have a right to the safety of their own yard and house and so should their family and friends. Any dog jumping a fence, or coming out of a window, or going into another yard to attack should be immediately destroyed. That owner should never be allowed to have another dog. Imagine, you're sitting in your living room, with your kids, and a pug (chosen because they're one of the least obnoxious breeds I've met) at your feet. All is quiet until the neighbor's pit comes through your screen or doggy door and attacks your little dog, ripping it apart and going after your kids before you can react. Now you have a dead pet, possibly mauled family members, and the dog and owner get a free pass? Nope, the dog gets a dirt nap, the owner does time, and the family owes you big time. If a dog attacks and kills a person, charge the owner with murder. Make them pay all of the medical bills, plus a hefty sum for emotional damages to the victims of maulers, and again a hefty sum to the surviving family members. Give every citizen the right to charge for any cleanup when the owner lets their dog use your yard as a toilet. Three tickets, and your doggy goes bye bye. People are the problem, dogs are a symptom. I know that with proper rules in place, you can live peacefully, even happily around dogs and their owners. The senior apartments across the street are proof of that. I also know living around dogs can make life hell, The monster next door and the yappers close by prove that. I would love to see the rules the seniors have, and see those enforced everywhere. It's nice to see these older people with friendly, quiet, well behaved dogs, who clean up after them. I don't mind dog owners like them at all.
ReplyDeleteA pug? The least obnoxious? Are you frickin' kidding me?
DeleteMy quality of life was DESTROYED by the incessant yapping of a neighbor's pug. To the point where I REJOICE in the fact that it is now gone. Either they got ride of it or it died. I don't know and, frankly, I don't care.
I watched the scene in Babadook where she strangles the little white dog that looks like the jackhammer next door over and over. I would if I could.
DeleteFocusing on the breed. you're missing my point. I've never happened to meet a pug who was yappy. That's why I chose them, it could be a capybara for all I care. The point is, no dog should be allowed to invade a home and the dog and owner get off scot free.
DeleteA woman just walked by my place on down past my neighbors. She is not home her dogs ran out in the road and the woman is carrying a huge stick to fend them off. Now the question that sits at the heart of a lot of the dog issues. Do you think she went home and called AC ?
DeleteThis is in line with the lowlifes that crawl out AFTER a pit attack to say the dog has been a menace and bitten or tried to attack humans and pets. Loose all the time. No one calls. I'm have limited mobilty right now but I'll watch for her tomorrow. I bet she will decline even if she's beating a dog off her leg.
I would but I don't need the claim that I baited her poor loose puppies.
Eileen - I hear you about the neighbors and AC. I was the only person on my block willing to take on the dog bully across the street (since moved out YEAH!). Nobody wants to get involved, particularly other dog owners.... its like they have a sacred pact between them to never complain about anyone else's dogs. In fact, many of my neighbors felt I was TOO HARD on the poor dears!
DeleteMany people consider calling authorities to be futile - because.... it usually is! Even when there are a bazillion complaints, nothing gets done until someone is killed.
If I get enough free time, I'm considering buying a body-cam and taking a walk around some of these neighborhoods... problems like yours are an epidemic. You can't walk a block anywhere without being charged, growled at and barked at by nasty ass dogs. Its a huge problem that needs to be solved. In any case, I'll make a video of that, upload it to youtube and send a copy to my county administrators.
Trisha - you have a good policy. Thanks for writing.
DeleteThank you AU. There used to be a guy who's walked his shepherd and carried a bat. He claimed his dog had been attacked and he wasn't going to let it happen again. Yet that damn dog lunged at everything. I was outside with my son, just a toddler then. My daughter was out with Ollie on the leash, we were getting ready to go for a walk. Shepherd lunged at my little one and Ollie was ready to kill it. She's a mutt, basset, beagle and lab and the size of a large beagle. She'd never shown any type of aggressive behavior before and hasn't since. The guy actually told us if our fucking dog came at his he'd kill it. I told him to get his dog far away from my son and my yard and if it ever went after any of us again I'd kill it and sue him. He walked away fuming mad. I'd argue he was one of the worst owners I've seen, acting like his dog could do whatever including go after a two year old without retribution. As for Ollie she was trying to defend us from an obvious threat. I don't know if he or the dog are still around, we've moved since then. His dog was kept outside in a roofed kennel and would snarl at anyone who went by. Asshole owners have asshole dogs.
DeleteI'm trying to comprehend the words dog owner and value in the same sentence.
ReplyDeleteIts easy if you try. LOL!
DeleteNegative values tend to encroach on the right of someone who may not wish to share in your values. Perhaps instead of values they perceive their dog ownership and an entitlement which they have to contribute or do nothing to earn. Their values are superior to anyone who disagrees with them. Disagreement to the whole agenda makes you open season for any form of attack on any level to discredit. Lies and slander are then a value you can attribute to militant dog owners.
DeleteIt is easy. When I had dogs, they weren't allowed to bark and annoy the neighbors, they were walked after going potty in our yard, which we cleaned up. One got out a few times, due to visitors standing there with our front door open, but she was quickly caught, and if she did poop in someone's yard, whichever kid was behind me, had a bag to pick it up. If they barked, and we had two, they were brought in right away. The only time they barked inside was when someone knocked and that was quickly quieted too. They were our dogs and our responsibility, not anyone else's problem. With normal dogs, how you raise them does make a difference, and how you choose to live makes all the difference. You can't be a jerk who lets their dog run all over and cause problems and expect to be seen as a decent person. Ollie got out three times, twice one of my sisters was standing there with the door open, and she took advantage. The third time, we were getting ready to leave and another sister didn't listen to me, and opened the door, and let her go. Honestly, I was pissed at them, for not respecting our house. There was always an older kid, with a second leash and a bag behind me, as I had to yell for them to help me, because Ollie was fast. She did stop, and the third time she came when called, after she saw me. Still, it wasn't her fault, she is just a dog. It was more my fault for having a dog. I do blame my sisters for leaving the front door standing open too, after all, we asked them not to do that.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of these dogtards are living vicariously through their mutts. They think THEY should be allowed to act any damn way they please and since that doesn't work they allow their ego extension to do so for them. Power by proxy for people who can't feel it any other way.
ReplyDeleteOf course - if they were to personally threaten or harass somebody, that would get them shut down in a hurry. However, using a dog as a "proxy" gives them immunity, and they know it.
DeleteMonday I opened the front door and her white rat ran at me barking. Monday night the thing barked on and off for 3 =hours. Today both dogs tried to attack a person out for a walk. Tonight when it started I walked over and told her that we were not going to listen to her dog all night. To shut it up.
DeleteHer response. You shut up.
AC in the morning. again.
A neighbor accused me of discrimination when I made an AC complaint about his dog. His family business was eventually brought to a halt by this federal raid: http://www.ice.gov/factsheets/plain-sight
Delete"Her response. You shut up. "
DeleteMy ex-neighbors must have moved next door to you!
"Monday night the thing barked on and off for 3 hours."
ReplyDeleteThat is totally ridiculous. I hesitate to give advice, because every situation is a bit different. Similar, but different.
If you have not done so, you might consider sending a demand letter, or have a lawyer write one for you. Note that a quarter-million judgement was recently handed down in a barking case. A whiff of a lawsuit may be enough to get those people in line.
Suing someone who is judgement proof is a last resort.
DeleteRight now AC is doing their job. I can only hope her massive peronality disorder further enhances the nice Sheriff's drive to put a stop to this.
I do not refer to her as the Great Roaring Beast of the High Plains for petty reasons.
Despite her quip for me to shut up the dog never made another peep. Which sort of cements my thinking this is now being used as a form of harassment. Her next trick will likely be trying to get a TRO. That is another typical ploy engaged in by dog owners. I will simply call the Sheriff or SP then. Most people don't understand that a RO means the plaintiff is not allowed to contact or harass the party they claim is making them feel threatened. I have the 3 hours bark session on my tablet. Wonder how long the judge would sit and listen before tossing her ass.
Here the police will at least write tickets for barking dogs. I've laughed behind obnoxious owners backs when they've botched about the fines. Eventually They Shut Their Barker Up. They don't want to spend!$80 each time the cops knock.
ReplyDeleteCheck this out, it's right in my area where AC won't even accept a barking complaint unless you have a 'witness'. The guy maced the dogs then killed one. This is what happens when AC won't do their job and people have no other recourse. http://www.9news.com/story/news/crime/2015/04/24/dog-missing-after-arapahoe-county-burglary/26344713/
ReplyDelete"He's so comfortable doing it." Johnson said. "I have no idea what kind of mentality you have to have to do something like that."
DeleteI could say the exact same thing about the owners of non stop barking dogs. Which is most likely the cause of all of this. Dumbass dog owners who refuse to control their pets.
This is why I hate all breeds of domesticated dog. They are at fault as much as their petty owners are. Dog sympathizers are just as at fault due to their willing apathy, the worst kind of evil. The worst thing anybody can do is not do anything about the problem. That's why we have pit crazies. That's why we have crazy doggers. That's why there aren't any specific breed bans and very few kill shelters left. That's why we don't have tighter anti-bark laws to keep the peace in the neighborhood. That's why AC and "animal groups" can do what they've been doing. Human apathy, greed, and reckless carelessness.
DeleteIt's killing us, literally. We must put a stop to the nightmare.
It appears for once I made an impression on AC and the stupid dog owners that enough was enough.
DeleteIf my neighbors don't decide that keeping their roaming mutts at home and reasonably quiet they can enjoy seeing their name and address on the weekly police blotter. Which in a small community is well scrutinized.
If their dogs howl for hours they I have to assume they have met a gruesome fate at the hands of an ax murderer who is now taunting the dogs for hours by feeding them their chopped up bodies. It's my civic duty to report possible criminal activity. After all no upstanding church going responsible member of the community would let their dogs carry on like that unless they were unable to chew through the restraints and hush them.
Neighborhoods are at war because residents won't call on their lousy dog owning neighbors. Police treat it like a joke and AC is more concerned about not having to impound the dog. If the police told you the chance of a meth house blowing up was just part of having a junkie next door would you take it. That is the attitude being taken over the barking problem The dog junkies seem to have glommed onto all their rights and mine.
Dog owners suggest you shut your windows, turn on a fan or put some loud music on. Seriously ? I'm supposed to imprison myself in my own home so lazy ass dog owners don't have to detach their butt crack from the sofa to shut their fur baby up.
Everyone needs to stop being nice to the doggy owners. A common scenario is one person who refuses to take it and a pack of whiners who hate the barking but don't want to get involved. It's just rude to call the dog catcher on your neighbor. Never mind your life has been made a living hell with the constant yapping of some mutt.
"It appears for once I made an impression on AC and the stupid dog owners that enough was enough. "
DeleteYes! Give it to them with no mercy. Only direct confrontation with painful consequences will get them to change their behavior.
And, yes, I am back from vacation.
Adults of her age are set in their behaviors. The only solution is to be the bigger bully. She has demonstrated over and over that she will not control her dogs. Not that she can't. Obviously with enough pressure she will. This smacks of harassment to me.
DeleteI don't believe she really gives a crap about her dogs. Or any pet she has. Pet ownership is not a requirement. Her children aren't learning any of the wonderful benefits of having a dog(s) touted by watching their parents behave like immature idiots and break the law. Considering the next bark-a-thon will end with a request for a patrol car I don't think cop visits in the middle of the night are a value they want to teach.
Most interesting are the doggers who froth if you even suggest you might do something to their dog. And yet use it as a weapon and throw it onto the front lines by letting them run loose.
Her dog was over here twice in 15 minutes yesterday. This is the mess dog owners make for themselves. Dogs that are or have been allowed to roam do not respect fences.
I never refer to her husband because he seems worthless in all this. No matter which of us had taken issue he has remained silent. He must enjoy being a contributing factor to their problem. I suspect that in a lot of the barking/loose dog confrontations. You have one personality disorder that runs the show and an enabler that just goes along for the ride. As far as I know he's a competent adult. Why not get off his ass and fix an area to keep the dogs when they're not interacting with them ? Something that should have been done before getting a dog.
I don't have to ask my neighbors nicely , and neither does anyone else, for the right to enjoy living in their own home or yard.
I believe that pit bulls and their evil kin are simply amplifying the real problem. Bad dog owners.
Eileen - Your neighbors are nearly identical to those I had (since moved out YEAH). I mean, right down to the bullying alpha female and enabler male. The "Ms" behaved dangerously and threateningly towards me on a couple of occasions, not the "Mr" though.
DeleteThere is something very, very interesting about this whole paradigm that I can't quite get my head around - why are most of those on the "fringes" female?
Sorry to sound sexist, but the numbers don't lie. Consider Mickey's website - most of those oohing and aahing over him are women. Sure, Mickey has male supporters, but those are in the minority and/or the background.
I have also noted that most of the anti dog-cult activists are also women.
What is up with that?
I have also noted that most of the anti dog-cult activists are also women.
DeleteYou should be thankful some of us are sane.
Thank Dog for that!
DeleteI have had more than one unsettling encounter with this woman. I believe she would love a physical confrontation. Which is why we are now longer open to any communication with them. She also told me to leave her alone. And I am not going to play the restraining order game. I am not going to let my husband or myself end up a statistic over some worthless dogs.
DeleteWe live in a very rural area. I hate calling the sheriff over barking dogs. It has however become more than barking dogs.
Right now the beasts are confined and being kept quiet. Someday we may be able to relax and believe it's going to stay that way.
"Someday we may be able to relax and believe it's going to stay that way."
DeleteYou both may have PTSD as a result of these encounters. Many people, me included, carry anxiety about the situation after the real world problem has been solved. Fodder for another essay.