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I don't know that they are, at least, not any more so than feral cats or feral teens. Joel Send a noteboard - 28/03/2011 04:27:44 PM
That said, the trap-neuter-return approach has proponents. The cynic in me thinks they've probably never stepped foot outside a city in their life, but there you go.

We don't lock up either of those groups and kill them if no one comes for them within a week (or four days, in this case). A lot of cat owners (e.g. all my moms cat-owning neighbors) seem to consider it practically abusive to deny their pets the "freedom" to prowl the neighborhood, walking on our windshields, dumping our trashcans and tormenting our dogs by sunning themselves in plain sight but well out of reach. I'm not sure why the same thing can be treated as a virtual right for cats but a torment for dogs.

For the record, I've most definitely stepped outside a city before, in fact, what probably got my first dog killed (we don't know because we never found him) was that he'd grown up at my grandparents house in the country and when my dad brought him to Houston nothing we did would keep him in the yard: One day he just didn't come home. :( City dogs dumped in the country by city folk who think it's some kind of doggy buffet are probably in worse shape, because they never learned to hunt live prey or deal with natural predators but, particularly in America, we throw out enough food annually and dogs have sensitive enough noses perpetually to sustain a population of strays a lot better than euthanizing shelters evidently can. I've taken in a few strays over the years, too, and the ones who were malnourished were usually the ones who already had serious health issues. Perhaps it's an ethical dilemma: How many more healthy dogs is it acceptable to "humanely" kill in cold blood so that a far smaller fraction don't starve on the streets? While we're deciding that, perhaps we should consider the ethics of needles and gas applied to Malthusian principles for other overpopulated species like cats, deer, pigeons and humans.
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This Is Why I Like Dogs So Much More Than I Like People (Animal Rescue Workers: I LOVE You!) - 27/03/2011 03:20:40 PM 1599 Views
Louisiana has a bit more on its plate than adorable animals. - 27/03/2011 06:14:01 PM 913 Views
No doubt, and I respect that; it's tightening the budget by killing animals that bothers me. - 27/03/2011 06:37:17 PM 1084 Views
Feral dogs are dangerous and destructive. It's not really an option. - 27/03/2011 06:48:06 PM 733 Views
I don't know that they are, at least, not any more so than feral cats or feral teens. - 28/03/2011 04:27:44 PM 694 Views
how many people are mauled by house cats? - 28/03/2011 04:57:32 PM 648 Views
Me, for one; I don't have complete stats on everyone though. - 28/03/2011 05:06:57 PM 822 Views
How many stiches did it take to fix it? - 28/03/2011 06:42:31 PM 818 Views
It is animal control not planned parenthood for dogs - 28/03/2011 03:13:02 AM 785 Views
Interesting how that comparison keeps being made.... - 28/03/2011 04:26:38 PM 776 Views
Yes, it is easier to kill animals than have them roaming the streets. - 28/03/2011 09:36:31 PM 882 Views
I can at least respect the honesty of that. - 31/03/2011 11:43:02 PM 788 Views
I made myself a promise. - 27/03/2011 11:28:02 PM 684 Views
I'm fairly upfront about my opinion of the value of human life vs. animal life, yes. - 27/03/2011 11:51:07 PM 855 Views
Well, we differ on this, certainly. - 28/03/2011 05:14:44 AM 888 Views
how very 1960 of you - 28/03/2011 02:15:11 PM 733 Views
To answer... - 29/03/2011 04:09:33 AM 724 Views
This is an interesting subthread to observe.... - 28/03/2011 04:52:04 PM 777 Views
You succeeded. - 28/03/2011 08:44:30 PM 784 Views
Undoubtedly. - 29/03/2011 04:12:12 AM 707 Views
You also have to consider pack animal behaviour. - 27/03/2011 06:45:14 PM 866 Views
It's ironic that I read this after I wrote that above. - 27/03/2011 11:30:06 PM 923 Views
don't forget all the wildlife they kill *NM* - 28/03/2011 03:17:02 AM 379 Views
Wildlife kills a lot of wildlife; "it's the ciiiiircle of life". - 28/03/2011 04:59:27 PM 787 Views
and like a market economy that works great until you start subsidizing one side - 28/03/2011 05:15:32 PM 799 Views
A dog that can make a deer run will hunt it. - 31/03/2011 11:32:24 PM 961 Views
I've lived in a lot of cities and around a lot of dogs but never seen a feral dog pack. - 28/03/2011 04:28:32 PM 798 Views
Are you serious? - 28/03/2011 08:48:54 PM 645 Views
There are a few things wrong with that. - 31/03/2011 11:11:27 PM 688 Views
I'm planning on volunteering at a no-kill shelter in NJ when I go. - 27/03/2011 11:31:02 PM 785 Views
Sweet, and the prospect of volunteers at no kill shelters changes the economics greatly. *hugs* - 28/03/2011 04:26:29 PM 869 Views
I'm trying to spend that time on "me" stuff. - 29/03/2011 04:13:54 AM 714 Views
Probably wise; good luck and God bless with that. - 01/04/2011 12:27:09 AM 890 Views
It is sad but what can you do? - 28/03/2011 03:05:40 AM 812 Views
I'm not sure how this would be helpful? - 28/03/2011 06:04:26 PM 692 Views
I don't think it is wrong to neuter a dog for behavior reasons - 28/03/2011 06:35:16 PM 762 Views
I was with you until... - 28/03/2011 09:09:14 PM 677 Views
I said it was the cynical side of me not the rational side - 28/03/2011 09:31:22 PM 825 Views
Liberals are bigger fans of animal control than conservatives? - 28/03/2011 09:49:35 PM 627 Views
If you could only choose one, it would be better to choose the female. - 28/03/2011 10:03:44 PM 675 Views
WHY??? *NM* - 28/03/2011 10:08:30 PM 326 Views
Wait, no, you're right. - 28/03/2011 10:13:58 PM 703 Views
no no you were right - 29/03/2011 02:18:44 AM 696 Views
Ah, yeah. I was assuming 100% sterilization, which is unfeasible. Never mind. *NM* - 29/03/2011 03:16:22 AM 335 Views
Ghavrel, nooooooooo! Give reason and ethics a chance first! - 29/03/2011 03:27:29 AM 906 Views
I already said it makes sense to do both. I definitely support neutering! - 29/03/2011 04:01:09 AM 912 Views
Do you know what else is absurd? - 29/03/2011 04:09:37 AM 668 Views
A clown reading Camus? *NM* - 29/03/2011 05:31:21 AM 311 Views
that would be absurd, glad I never even suggested it *NM* - 29/03/2011 02:13:39 PM 333 Views
I think you just made my point - 29/03/2011 02:16:19 AM 744 Views
Eh forget it. Not worth my time. *NM* - 29/03/2011 03:10:03 AM 774 Views
proably true. I should know better than to fight faith with reason - 29/03/2011 03:15:49 AM 796 Views
I'm not here to debate doggie sex *NM* - 29/03/2011 03:15:56 AM 657 Views
that is good because from what I can tell the subject escapes you - 29/03/2011 02:34:37 PM 736 Views
Considering that it's much harder to fix females than males - 28/03/2011 10:07:47 PM 741 Views
how hard it is makes zero differience - 29/03/2011 02:25:17 AM 715 Views
I think that last bit was uncalled for. *NM* - 29/03/2011 04:15:44 AM 303 Views
not at all - 29/03/2011 01:23:03 PM 731 Views
For the uneducated of us (i.e. me) - 28/03/2011 09:40:07 PM 747 Views
Vasectomy: sterile but will still want to mate. Neutered: no mating behavior at all. *NM* - 28/03/2011 09:56:41 PM 339 Views
Someone needs to sit my dog down and explain this to him. - 28/03/2011 09:59:25 PM 670 Views
you probably had him cut to late - 29/03/2011 02:27:49 AM 723 Views

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