Charged With Cruelty and Neglect
Two brothers living in Britain, it would seem, have been prosecuted by Britain's Royal Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animals. That incendiary headline alone would be enough to ensure that the casual reader would outright condemn the two hapless brothers. After all, to be charged with cruelty to a poor helpless animal is pretty low. Cruelty to an animal which obeys, trusts and loves its owner/s is fairly indefensible.
Dogs, those most forgiving of creatures who know their furtive forays, their playful annoyances, their frantic barking, their insistence on attention will always be forgiven - know also how to manipulate their owners into thinking they are the leaders of the pack, while everyone knows who runs the house in actual fact. They are masters at interpreting our body language, let alone the verbal language in which their owners communicate. Try spelling; no use, intonation will give you away.
Here was this pet Labrador retriever, a companion animal shared between David and Derek Benton, now 10 years old and suffering the identical medical conditions that so many people do when they over- indulge and let themselves go. I suppose the question here is was that Rusty's choice? Or did his evil owners design his health downfall deliberately and with full intent. For Rusty, at age 70 (for large breeds, about 7 human years to 1 dog year) has succumbed to old age with complications.
Personally, my husband and I are always anxiously on the lookout for potential health problems surfacing with our two little dogs. After our toy poodle was neutered (admittedly at a time when he was already mature at 5 years of age) we realized that while eating the same diet as previously he was putting on a lot of weight. We implemented a diet for Riley and he wasn't dreadfully thrilled. Mostly, we cut back on his cookies, his treats, no longer encouraged him to share our meals at table.
He did lose a little bit of weight, but never did return to his svelt pre-neutered shape. At the same time we realized that Button, our (then) 12-year-old miniature poodle was heavier than she should be, and a similar diet was imposed upon her. They both lost a little weight. And this past summer and fall neither experienced much difficulty climbing mountains with us in New Hampshire. A little bit of additional weight has since been restored. We're clamping down again on the treats.
At least we say we are; my husband sneaks extra tidbits to them, and I invariably relent when I'm cutting up vegetables for salad and offer them their favourite bits of red pepper - on top of what they already have consumed in their own post-dinner salads, a daily staple. So we're recidivists. And they're smarter than we are; we've never challenged them on that point, just take it as a given. Besides which, we've placed them both on lower-calorie kibble, still the same high quality, but for older (in Button's case) and overweight (in Riley's case) dogs.
The thing about having pets is, they take advantage of what we like to term our better natures, and what they actually realize and take full advanage of is our habitual stupidity. We know that they know that we know what they're doing. They know, in addition, what pushovers we are. They feel sorry for us. They are prepared to put up with our resolutions on their behalf, knowing full well that those resolutions will collapse the moment we're eyeball-to-eyeball with their sad, pleading eyes. Game over.
So what Rusty's owners succumbed to was the deliberate blandishments, pleadings and insistence of their beloved pet. Rusty, moreover, like most large-breed dogs had begun to suffer from hip dysplasia from the time he was a year and a half old. That led to an arthritic condition. Which led him to resist his owners' efforts to have him exercise as regularly as he should. Which in turn - you guessed it - led him to gain weight.
Prodigious weight gain, I might add. For Rusty now weighs about twice what he should if he were a well aged and well exercised and well fed dog. The British Veterinarian Association admits that 30 to 40% of pets are overweight. They don't feel that pet owners should fear prosecution - if they follow the advice of veterinarians. Of course advice of any kind is often open to interpretation. Or subject to exigencies of one kind or another.
Hell, none of us is perfect.
Dogs, those most forgiving of creatures who know their furtive forays, their playful annoyances, their frantic barking, their insistence on attention will always be forgiven - know also how to manipulate their owners into thinking they are the leaders of the pack, while everyone knows who runs the house in actual fact. They are masters at interpreting our body language, let alone the verbal language in which their owners communicate. Try spelling; no use, intonation will give you away.
Here was this pet Labrador retriever, a companion animal shared between David and Derek Benton, now 10 years old and suffering the identical medical conditions that so many people do when they over- indulge and let themselves go. I suppose the question here is was that Rusty's choice? Or did his evil owners design his health downfall deliberately and with full intent. For Rusty, at age 70 (for large breeds, about 7 human years to 1 dog year) has succumbed to old age with complications.
Personally, my husband and I are always anxiously on the lookout for potential health problems surfacing with our two little dogs. After our toy poodle was neutered (admittedly at a time when he was already mature at 5 years of age) we realized that while eating the same diet as previously he was putting on a lot of weight. We implemented a diet for Riley and he wasn't dreadfully thrilled. Mostly, we cut back on his cookies, his treats, no longer encouraged him to share our meals at table.
He did lose a little bit of weight, but never did return to his svelt pre-neutered shape. At the same time we realized that Button, our (then) 12-year-old miniature poodle was heavier than she should be, and a similar diet was imposed upon her. They both lost a little weight. And this past summer and fall neither experienced much difficulty climbing mountains with us in New Hampshire. A little bit of additional weight has since been restored. We're clamping down again on the treats.
At least we say we are; my husband sneaks extra tidbits to them, and I invariably relent when I'm cutting up vegetables for salad and offer them their favourite bits of red pepper - on top of what they already have consumed in their own post-dinner salads, a daily staple. So we're recidivists. And they're smarter than we are; we've never challenged them on that point, just take it as a given. Besides which, we've placed them both on lower-calorie kibble, still the same high quality, but for older (in Button's case) and overweight (in Riley's case) dogs.
The thing about having pets is, they take advantage of what we like to term our better natures, and what they actually realize and take full advanage of is our habitual stupidity. We know that they know that we know what they're doing. They know, in addition, what pushovers we are. They feel sorry for us. They are prepared to put up with our resolutions on their behalf, knowing full well that those resolutions will collapse the moment we're eyeball-to-eyeball with their sad, pleading eyes. Game over.
So what Rusty's owners succumbed to was the deliberate blandishments, pleadings and insistence of their beloved pet. Rusty, moreover, like most large-breed dogs had begun to suffer from hip dysplasia from the time he was a year and a half old. That led to an arthritic condition. Which led him to resist his owners' efforts to have him exercise as regularly as he should. Which in turn - you guessed it - led him to gain weight.
Prodigious weight gain, I might add. For Rusty now weighs about twice what he should if he were a well aged and well exercised and well fed dog. The British Veterinarian Association admits that 30 to 40% of pets are overweight. They don't feel that pet owners should fear prosecution - if they follow the advice of veterinarians. Of course advice of any kind is often open to interpretation. Or subject to exigencies of one kind or another.
Hell, none of us is perfect.
Labels: Peculiarities
posted by Pieface @ 4:30 PM
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