Why do people treat animals so badly here?

[laurapasinifan]

whirleybird: I was not

I replied to the OP .....

Ill add I dont approve of animal abuse, but think that killing some has its place. Believe it or not there is a difference.

bob

 

[whirleybird]

whirleybird: I was not

I replied to the OP .....

Ill add I dont approve of animal abuse, but think that killing some has its place. Believe it or not there is a difference.

bob

I agree with you and, at the risk of getting myself hung, drawn and quartered, we have a friend out this weekend with a gun culling deer back in England and I am also not anti fox-hunting - some things have to be done if the land is becoming overrun with a particular species (a situation usually created by man in the first place I would add) but what I am saying is that we can try to help the locals in their quest for the status quo which they probably also desire given the opportunites. I am not looking to change the way the DR is nor do I have any desire to leave it...

 

[is mikehunt there]

Yes I know...I know....this is a developing country, lots of poor people, homeless children, all kinds of social problems. You can?t equate hungry, unemployed, undereducated people with street dogs (I wont even get started on the unfortunate ones who are someone?s pet but still go hungry, fleabitten, abused and mangy).

I know that the guy who sells platanos from a horse drawn carreta has to feed his kids, and the poor skinny sun-beaten animal is to him just that...an animal.

A local told me that I won?t last long here with my "crazy foreign" ideas of feeling sorry for an animal...and that only foreigners can give themselves the luxury of treating animals like....oh I don?t know....living things possibly????

Oh you silly thing, said a neighbor lady to me, when I ran to the vet?s office after my 10 lb. silky terrier was mauled by the chow across the street (which by the way, that the hell is it with the chow-love here? HELLO! It?s a hot country!!). She laughed her head off when I told her the visit cost 500 pesos plus taxi each way. I told her I adopted this dog from a shelter in NJ and spent hundreds just to bring her with me and wasnt about to let her die from a crazy hot mangy dominican chow. She couldnt wrap her mind around the whole shelter concept and just kept laughing and shaking her head the way you do to a child when they say something cute. The chow?s owners were also completely surprised and didnt even realize that they were in any way responsible. The husband told me that I should keep my little American dog home because she doesnt know how to deal with Dominican dogs.

God in his mercy gave me patience not to tear him up.

I swear since I moved here in April I haven?t seen a cat walking around anywhere....mentioned this to someone and they nonchalantly said that some people either eat them, or use them for 'training' dogs....and not in the sit-stay sense.

My family is from the DR....I?m well accustomed to all the charming and sometimes hair-raising, what the F! ups and downs of Dominican culture. But the animal situation here is making me sick.

Why do people treat animals so badly here?
because they can!!!! the same reason people hurt children or consume illicit drugs ... because they can!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Guachupita]

Thanks to all for your comments. Just about every post has a valid point whether pro or con, etc.

To whoever said conform or leave....surely the options aren't so limited? Don't wanna change DR society, don't wanna leave. Don't tell me you've never bitched and moaned about something just to get it off your chest.

I understand that if you're poor, you're not going to 'waste' good food on an animal when there are hungry people around you. Although I did see a documentary about India where they showed some very poor people sharing their food with animals. Maybe because of Hindu religion....

Yes, killing does have its place, but I was talking specifically about inhumane behavior.


To laurapasinifan re your ........ "Tell me would you go to India and DEMAND that you be served steak!!! sure you could do it...but it would be against the grain....so whay do that.???? " .......... Er, what the hell....yes, I would order steak and wave my American flag and snap my fingers and yell loudly chop chop give me my steak as I am here with cape and standard to change you all!
/end snark

My dog didnt wander off my property when she got mauled. She was on her leash walking with me when the chow ran out of her yard from behind us and jumped my dog.

I don't mind cat eating if you're hungry if you kill them humanely.

And to whirleybird re your ...."We arrived in the DR with our 5 dogs and 2 cats from the UK last June. They are happy and settled here with huge gardens, many acres and a river to play in. " .....

Please adopt us. :cheeky:

 

[whirleybird]

Thanks to all for your comments. Just about every post has a valid point whether pro or con, etc.

To whoever said conform or leave....surely the options aren't so limited? Don't wanna change DR society, don't wanna leave. Don't tell me you've never bitched and moaned about something just to get it off your chest.

I understand that if you're poor, you're not going to 'waste' good food on an animal when there are hungry people around you. Although I did see a documentary about India where they showed some very poor people sharing their food with animals. Maybe because of Hindu religion....

Yes, killing does have its place, but I was talking specifically about inhumane behavior.



To laurapasinifan re your ........ "Tell me would you go to India and DEMAND that you be served steak!!! sure you could do it...but it would be against the grain....so whay do that.???? " .......... Er, what the hell....yes, I would order steak and wave my American flag and snap my fingers and yell loudly chop chop give me my steak as I am here with cape and standard to change you all!
/end snark

My dog didnt wander off my property when she got mauled. She was on her leash walking with me when the chow ran out of her yard from behind us and jumped my dog.

I don't mind cat eating if you're hungry if you kill them humanely.

And to whirleybird re your ...."We arrived in the DR with our 5 dogs and 2 cats from the UK last June. They are happy and settled here with huge gardens, many acres and a river to play in. " .....

Please adopt us. :cheeky:

Whereabouts are you?

 

[Celt202]

in this country there are millions of a certain type of intelligent animal. Regularly abused and killed, often with no good reason. when taken care of properly they are gentle and affectionate pets. This animal is the rat. Why does noone here cry over the rat?
..................

I read this and thought "Adopt a Rat"; then I thought "Google 'Adopt a Rat' "; then I thought "naaah"..............; then I Googled it and found this:

Rat Fan Club

 

[Chip]

In the US it is estimated that PETS kills like 6 dogs a day on average - hey I thought they said it was wrong to kill animals??!!(at least that is what their website says).

That being said I wonder if they have animal shelters here in the DR? And if so, what do they do with strays if no one wants them? Hopefully they euthanize them in a humane manner if they do so.

 

[aimelove]

Everybody is different. My Dominican wife is crazy about Toby, her dog that she left behind in DR (she didn't want to separate her young cousins from the dog, and my apartment was a little too small here for Toby). Ever since my wife has moved to the US , she has sent a few dollars back per month so that her dog is cared for. When she calls home, her second question after asking about the welfare of her family is the welfare of her dog. When we were dating, she would not leave the house until she whipped together the food leftovers into tomorrow's dog food. I always see this kind of stuff strange because I don't have the same love for animals that she has. I see it as a waste of time. She doesn't. Once again, I have to put this in the category as everybody is different.

 

[Rafael Perez]

Yes I know...I know....this is a developing country, lots of poor people, homeless children, all kinds of social problems. You can?t equate hungry, unemployed, undereducated people with street dogs (I wont even get started on the unfortunate ones who are someone?s pet but still go hungry, fleabitten, abused and mangy).

I know that the guy who sells platanos from a horse drawn carreta has to feed his kids, and the poor skinny sun-beaten animal is to him just that...an animal.

A local told me that I won?t last long here with my "crazy foreign" ideas of feeling sorry for an animal...and that only foreigners can give themselves the luxury of treating animals like....oh I don?t know....living things possibly????

Oh you silly thing, said a neighbor lady to me, when I ran to the vet?s office after my 10 lb. silky terrier was mauled by the chow across the street (which by the way, that the hell is it with the chow-love here? HELLO! It?s a hot country!!). She laughed her head off when I told her the visit cost 500 pesos plus taxi each way. I told her I adopted this dog from a shelter in NJ and spent hundreds just to bring her with me and wasnt about to let her die from a crazy hot mangy dominican chow. She couldnt wrap her mind around the whole shelter concept and just kept laughing and shaking her head the way you do to a child when they say something cute. The chow?s owners were also completely surprised and didnt even realize that they were in any way responsible. The husband told me that I should keep my little American dog home because she doesnt know how to deal with Dominican dogs.

God in his mercy gave me patience not to tear him up.

I swear since I moved here in April I haven?t seen a cat walking around anywhere....mentioned this to someone and they nonchalantly said that some people either eat them, or use them for 'training' dogs....and not in the sit-stay sense.

My family is from the DR....I?m well accustomed to all the charming and sometimes hair-raising, what the F! ups and downs of Dominican culture. But the animal situation here is making me sick.

guachupita, i'm with you in this, i get really upset by the way my fellow dominicans treat animals over there (not all dominicans do) I thought that I was the only one being sensitive about the situation.

 

[alicious]

How animals...particularly "street dogs" are treated in the DR was one of the hardest things for me when living there. It made me cry more than once...I'll admit.
It's HORRIBLE!

There was a dog our whole apartment building had more or less adopted. We all fed her, and she was friendly, and protective with everyone in our building.

When she was pregnant, one evening we came home to find her on our front porch, with her stomach slit open. It was very clear someone had cut it open with something sharp, as it was a clean cut. Who could be sick enough to cut a pregnant dog's stomach??? I was beside myself, and not much use when we first found her, because I think I was almost hysterical....

Luckily, and amazingly it didn't kill her or her puppies, but the skin was cut so far open, we couldn't really move her or anything.

I called the parents of some kids in my class who owned a Veterinaria, and even though it was a Sunday night, we did get the phone number of a Vet who was off work and agreed to come over and look at her.

Everyone living in our apartment (mostly Dominicans) pitched in some money, and we explained the situation to the Vet, that she was a street dog, but we all sort of took care of her, and he cut the price in half.

She had to get 40 some stitches...

She ended up having her puppies and was fine. It quite a few months for her to heal up properly though, she ended up pulling out her stiches, and went and hid under some fishing boats on the malecon a few days before she had her puppies, and then came back to up with all of them a few days after.

But I was so sick over what happened, I don't know how ppl can be so cruel.
I was very happy how everyone in the building pulled together to help, one of the little Dominican kids gave us his allowance money to help out!

But still I find it disgusting and heart breaking how the dogs are treated there!!!!!!..although I guess some ppl also get treated just as bad...

 

[Chip]

A lot of it is just plain meaness coupled with ignorance. I saw a guy slowly run over a dog becasue he didn't want him to get out of the way. Afew Domincans were offended too and at least one yelled, "animal"!

 

[zak023]

Most of these people who treat animals badly are animals themselves..I saw everything from women beating their kids with sticks to Domestic violence that went unseen or just that nobody gets involved..This is True in the deep SW at least..And yes I personally witnessed thes events...Dominicans are so afraid of Dogs that they kill them with their cars or beat them to death like a COWARD would do..

 

[laurapasinifan]

Some people need to loose the motherly thought process once in a while.

even though most of the dog in the DR...I bet 99.9% of the ones I have encountered, were non agrressive, they are still a serious health risk.

not from biting or disease, but just out of shear numbers alone they are a threat to people on the road.

imagine you are driving and a dog gets shooed out of someones yard and runs away into the street right in front of you.....you ever the animal lover swerve to avoid it and run over the kid on the other side of the street....tooo many people live right on the edge of the roadway...especially little children.... they just assume that cars will avoid them.....

the numbers of dogs roaming the streets takes them out of the pets catergory and puts them in to the pests one!!!!!!!!

bob