Animals' Rights And Our Duties

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I was reading last night about some of the "holistic" vet medicine techniques that are beginning to become more prevalent, and I came upon a quote that I really love and thought I'd share.  It's by Dr. Michael Fox....

"Much improvement is needed and will be achieved when certain bioethical principles that constitute the rights of all animals under our dominion become part of the heart and moral fabric of society.  These principles are: right breeding (to avoid harmful diseases of hereditary origin); right socialization and rearing; right handling and understanding; right environment and nutrition.  These are animals' basic rights and our cardinal duties as their caretakers and custodians."

I like a lot of things about this quote.  I especially like that thoughtful, controlled breeding is considered a basic animal right and our duty.  We have so far to go before these are recognized and integrated into the "heart and moral fabric of society".  That said, when I think about our little DK community, I know we do "get it" and are committed to this with our Doodles...now to just "pay that forward".

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Thanks for sharing. It's a wonderful statement and oh so true. Just like you said, all we can do is just spread the word. Last week I had a presentation at my husband's high school about therapy dogs. I usually start the discussion by asking kids how many of them have a dog at home. About half of the hands in the room went up. Then I asked: "and how many of you are spending time socializing and training your dog?"  NONE of the hands went up. I was pretty alarmed so I spent a good amount of time preaching to them about the need of training and interaction with dogs. I know that Monty has issues and is by no means a well trained dog, but I was able to show them some commands and have the kids "practice" with Monty, just to give them an idea what a dog can do if you spend time with him.

[DJ & Chance]

Excellent.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Jane, for sharing this important message.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thank you so much for posting this. We have an obligation to nurture and protect those who cannot do it for themselves (i.e. children, the disabled, old old adults, and our beloved pets).  I am glad that it is becoming more common to include pets in our obligations, and since we have the ability to control their entire being, to control breeding, should be fundamental.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Thank you for sharing, Jane.  When I see a baby bird struggle to fly, a groundhog mother lead her babies nose to nose, away from my house and into the woods, past my "Have a heart" traps, a mother deer adopt an orphaned fawn in addition to her own, an old workhouse befriend a skittish young thoroughbred, new to the herd, or the loyalty in my dog's eyes, I am left in awe of the world we share and what a responsibility we have to those animals who share it with us. 

[Kyoko]

Thank you for sharing...

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

I love every part of that quote!   Perfectly said and so true!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I like all of the quote.  To capture what we try to say each day in just a few sentences... Priceless.   It must be so hard to be a vet many days.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Love this, Jane, especially the part about thoughtful, controlled breeding to avoid harmful hereditary diseases. It's sometimes so hard to get people to understand this...but we have to keep trying. 

Thank you for posting this.