Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tail...
August 5, 2018 7:12 PM Subscribe
Seven castaways found on remote island in Canada. “Two men fishing near Cross Lake in Manitoba, Canada, came across a small island with some peculiar castaways on Monday. JR Cook and his friend, Leon, were boating by the island when they heard what sounded like crying. They weren't sure who – or what – it was, and it was getting too dark to investigate.”
A lot of people in the North have a more ... I don't know what the right word is, exactly, but let's pick utilitarian as the closest approximation I can come up with ... utilitarian approach to dogs than people in cities who keep them primarily as companions. I know a whole lot of people who would do something like that, assuming they couldn't bring themselves to actually drown the unwanted puppies, which would be the more usual approach to the problem.
I don't feel that way personally, but I know enough people who do to think that calling them all monsters is inaccurate.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:41 PM on August 5, 2018 [5 favorites]
I don't feel that way personally, but I know enough people who do to think that calling them all monsters is inaccurate.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:41 PM on August 5, 2018 [5 favorites]
Sadly this is not uncommon in northern Canada. There are some rescue organizations that work to help these dogs. If you're looking to donate, I can personally recommend http://www.moosoneepuppyrescue.com in Ontario (these pups are one province over) or hit up Google to find a more local group.
posted by dazedandconfused at 7:43 PM on August 5, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by dazedandconfused at 7:43 PM on August 5, 2018 [4 favorites]
But why not take them to a shelter/rescue? Are they afraid of being judged? That’s what I can never understand.
posted by lunasol at 8:21 PM on August 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by lunasol at 8:21 PM on August 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
I got my amazing dog under somewhat similar circumstances. It was a rural area, and he had been dumped along with a littermate. He was about 4 weeks old. But at least in this case - the person who did the dumping chose the farm of someone who was known to care for animals in need (it was a remote Mexican village so there was no local rescue organization - this kindly couple are the closest thing). The woman of the couple heard what sounded like crying in the night, and when she went out in the morning to investigate, she found two tiny puppies. They now both live very privileged lives in Seattle.
posted by lunasol at 8:27 PM on August 5, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by lunasol at 8:27 PM on August 5, 2018 [6 favorites]
They better have named one of the pups Thurston Howl III.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:41 PM on August 5, 2018 [44 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:41 PM on August 5, 2018 [44 favorites]
Cross Lake is a remote area with a few thousand people spread among small towns and First Nations reserves that is a couple of hundred kilometres from the nearest small city that even might have a shelter or rescue. If you try to Google Map the trip from Cross Lake to Thompson -- itself only a town of about 13K people, but the major service centre for the area -- Google can't find any directions at all, because while it looks like there are roads, you might have to drive hours south in order to drive north in order to get from one to the other. Directions to Cross Lake that I can find are given in terms of how far it is to fly in.
So even if they were of the view that taking the puppies to a shelter was somehow desirable -- and again, that's a southern/urban world view -- it would not be a trip that is undertaken lightly. And then, getting unwanted puppies to Thompson is unlikely to be terribly helpful, because they will almost certainly be unwanted there, too. Getting them to Winnipeg is more likely to find them homes, but it's also hundreds of kilometres further away.
Just taking 7 puppies to a shelter is not easy for urban dwellers if they don't own their own vehicle. Just taking 7 puppies to a shelter is borderline impossible for a lot of people in the North.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:44 PM on August 5, 2018 [17 favorites]
So even if they were of the view that taking the puppies to a shelter was somehow desirable -- and again, that's a southern/urban world view -- it would not be a trip that is undertaken lightly. And then, getting unwanted puppies to Thompson is unlikely to be terribly helpful, because they will almost certainly be unwanted there, too. Getting them to Winnipeg is more likely to find them homes, but it's also hundreds of kilometres further away.
Just taking 7 puppies to a shelter is not easy for urban dwellers if they don't own their own vehicle. Just taking 7 puppies to a shelter is borderline impossible for a lot of people in the North.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:44 PM on August 5, 2018 [17 favorites]
I wonder if the gender ratios match Gilligan's Island..
posted by thirdring at 9:07 PM on August 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by thirdring at 9:07 PM on August 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
This article specifically discusses the existing rescue that works in that area. I'm sure they're nothing fancy and probably can't respond to calls instantly, but they're preferable to marooning. Those are not newborns, either. I'm not an expert in dog ages, but if they are lab mixes they look to be a couple months old--of weaning age. So someone had time to try to figure out an alternative, and just couldn't be bothered. Even turning them loose on a distant street would've been less cruel.
(Also, if your dogs are vetted at all, they can be spayed or neutered, thus not bringing unwanted litters in the world to have to deal with in the first place...)
This is one of those situations where, yes, you can work out some set of circumstances that will apply to some small proportion of people in that particular context that might excuse this kind of behavior, but, for most people, it's just going to be callousness and irresponsibility.
posted by praemunire at 9:08 PM on August 5, 2018 [19 favorites]
(Also, if your dogs are vetted at all, they can be spayed or neutered, thus not bringing unwanted litters in the world to have to deal with in the first place...)
This is one of those situations where, yes, you can work out some set of circumstances that will apply to some small proportion of people in that particular context that might excuse this kind of behavior, but, for most people, it's just going to be callousness and irresponsibility.
posted by praemunire at 9:08 PM on August 5, 2018 [19 favorites]
Shooting a dog in the head is less cruel than dumping it to die of starvation and exposure. It is typical of assholes who refuse to understand their responsibility to animals in their possession. There is nothing about being poor or rural that makes this cruelty ok.
The worst part is that thanks to this story more assholes will think this is ok and do it again.
posted by emjaybee at 9:16 PM on August 5, 2018 [38 favorites]
The worst part is that thanks to this story more assholes will think this is ok and do it again.
posted by emjaybee at 9:16 PM on August 5, 2018 [38 favorites]
It would be monstrous as well if they had killed the puppies, but in my opinion that would have been a far less cruel option. It seems silly to claim this is just a utilitarian approach by folks who aren’t all mamby-pamby tree huggers. They had a way of transporting the dogs. They left the dogs on an island to starve to death. It was a cruel thing to do and it required effort to do so. I’m glad the pups were rescued and this has certainly gotten a lot of attention so they’ll be fine, but fuck whoever did this.
I’m aware that shelters and rescues are over-taxed and often difficult to work with, as we animal lovers tend to be a prickly bunch and most folks who dedicate their lives to it are pretty bonkers. Especially in rural areas. But my sympathy for those barriers runs out when there’s a deliberate choice made to let seven dogs suffer.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 9:22 PM on August 5, 2018 [18 favorites]
I’m aware that shelters and rescues are over-taxed and often difficult to work with, as we animal lovers tend to be a prickly bunch and most folks who dedicate their lives to it are pretty bonkers. Especially in rural areas. But my sympathy for those barriers runs out when there’s a deliberate choice made to let seven dogs suffer.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 9:22 PM on August 5, 2018 [18 favorites]
JR Cook and his friend, Leon, were boating by the island when they heard what sounded like crying. They weren't sure who – or what – it was, and it was getting too dark to investigate.”
Until I clicked on the link this sounded creepy AF.
posted by JamesBay at 9:27 PM on August 5, 2018 [6 favorites]
Until I clicked on the link this sounded creepy AF.
posted by JamesBay at 9:27 PM on August 5, 2018 [6 favorites]
I wonder if the gender ratios match Gilligan's Island..
I was wondering that myself, but I guess some of the names (e.g. "Ginger" or "Professor") are fairly neutral.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:09 PM on August 5, 2018
I was wondering that myself, but I guess some of the names (e.g. "Ginger" or "Professor") are fairly neutral.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:09 PM on August 5, 2018
praemunire - While the Norway House rescue serves that area, it is still a two and a half hour drive away from Cross Lake. This is why it took several days to coordinate a rescue even after the organization was called.
I don't condone abandoning animals, but as someone who is from the far north, I can vouch that you really can't bring an urban U.S. understanding of lifestyle and services to what the reality is for the majority of people living up there.
posted by haruspicina at 10:21 PM on August 5, 2018 [9 favorites]
I don't condone abandoning animals, but as someone who is from the far north, I can vouch that you really can't bring an urban U.S. understanding of lifestyle and services to what the reality is for the majority of people living up there.
posted by haruspicina at 10:21 PM on August 5, 2018 [9 favorites]
First. Those puppies are just darling. What's better than six puppies? Well, eight puppies, for sure. I lost my dang sense of smell but one of the most pleasant smells on earth is a puppies breath, plus just puppies in general. And it's a blast to watch a litter develop, to see their personalities emerge. When I was given my red Doberman, Rusty, The Wonder Dog, I took not only her but also five pups from the litter she'd had. I had this gorgeous white cat at the time -- named White Cat, of course -- and here's all these pooches; ol' White Cat flipped right the fuck out! They ended up being best friends, White Cat and Rusty did, but that was a process, not an event...
Second. One of my brothers lives in a semi-rural town, 80 miles west of Chicago. People drive out and dump animals all the time. It's totally heartless, they even do it with older dogs, they figure that magically the dog will learn how to live in the wild. These people are completely irresponsible. I find them reprehensible. Gut up, take the animal to a place that will put them down if you don't have the means or the guts to do so on your own. A bullet is definitely preferable to dumping them, but these ppl just throw them out of their car and drive off. Animals aren't things, they're sentient fellow travelers. I've had to kill a few animals and it's not fun at all but they were going to die, I helped them out the door. If an animal needs my help I will give it. It's only fair.
posted by dancestoblue at 10:40 PM on August 5, 2018 [14 favorites]
Second. One of my brothers lives in a semi-rural town, 80 miles west of Chicago. People drive out and dump animals all the time. It's totally heartless, they even do it with older dogs, they figure that magically the dog will learn how to live in the wild. These people are completely irresponsible. I find them reprehensible. Gut up, take the animal to a place that will put them down if you don't have the means or the guts to do so on your own. A bullet is definitely preferable to dumping them, but these ppl just throw them out of their car and drive off. Animals aren't things, they're sentient fellow travelers. I've had to kill a few animals and it's not fun at all but they were going to die, I helped them out the door. If an animal needs my help I will give it. It's only fair.
posted by dancestoblue at 10:40 PM on August 5, 2018 [14 favorites]
haruspicina: "While the Norway House rescue serves that area, it is still a two and a half hour drive away from Cross Lake. This is why it took several days to coordinate a rescue even after the organization was called."
And yet the asshole who abandoned them took the extra effort to get them out to the island. It wasn't where she or he lived so instead of taking the effort to either get them to a rescue or a person who would humanely put them down, they put that effort into making sure they would die slowly and unpleasantly.
"I don't condone abandoning animals, but as someone who is from the far north, I can vouch that you really can't bring an urban U.S. understanding of lifestyle and services to what the reality is for the majority of people living up there."
That's an excuse for shooting them, maybe. It's not an excuse for abandoning them to die.
posted by tavella at 10:53 PM on August 5, 2018 [17 favorites]
And yet the asshole who abandoned them took the extra effort to get them out to the island. It wasn't where she or he lived so instead of taking the effort to either get them to a rescue or a person who would humanely put them down, they put that effort into making sure they would die slowly and unpleasantly.
"I don't condone abandoning animals, but as someone who is from the far north, I can vouch that you really can't bring an urban U.S. understanding of lifestyle and services to what the reality is for the majority of people living up there."
That's an excuse for shooting them, maybe. It's not an excuse for abandoning them to die.
posted by tavella at 10:53 PM on August 5, 2018 [17 favorites]
Maybe I should have been clearer: I think killing be puppies would have been the better option rather than dumping them, but it would have been monstrous too because you’d have to confront the fact that you’re killing these beautiful puppies instead of doing the work of taking them to a rescue. It’s not like kill the puppies or abandon them are the only two options. I work in animal rescue. My current pup is a former street dog and I love him so much my heart aches to look at it because he’s an external part of it walking around. But there are too many dogs out there to save them all. I think it’s less cruel to euthanize them humanely but of course it’s so much better to focus on spay/neuter and release, but, well, it takes time for that to work and resources most places don’t have.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 11:25 PM on August 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 11:25 PM on August 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
I can personally recommend http://www.moosoneepuppyrescue.com/
Gonna have to disagree with you on that. I know dozens of Moosonee dogs and they're all great dogs... however, I do know one who ended up in the hands of a negligent owner. When I reported them -- repeatedly -- to the rescue, they pretty much refused to do anything except tell the people that they shouldn't be doing what they were doing (abandoning their dog at the dog park and then going about their own business at the grocery store or work or wherever the hell they were going -- and then coming back several hours later); a more responsible rescue would have confiscated the dog as per the terms of their contract.
My own dog is from a northern Canadian First Nations reserve. She's 8 and still has a bullet (or fragment) inside her from where she was, presumably, shot as a puppy -- I'm told, for "population control".
Best dog I've ever had or met.
posted by dobbs at 11:38 PM on August 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
Gonna have to disagree with you on that. I know dozens of Moosonee dogs and they're all great dogs... however, I do know one who ended up in the hands of a negligent owner. When I reported them -- repeatedly -- to the rescue, they pretty much refused to do anything except tell the people that they shouldn't be doing what they were doing (abandoning their dog at the dog park and then going about their own business at the grocery store or work or wherever the hell they were going -- and then coming back several hours later); a more responsible rescue would have confiscated the dog as per the terms of their contract.
My own dog is from a northern Canadian First Nations reserve. She's 8 and still has a bullet (or fragment) inside her from where she was, presumably, shot as a puppy -- I'm told, for "population control".
Best dog I've ever had or met.
posted by dobbs at 11:38 PM on August 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have a hard time with this. 7 of my 8 pups have all been rescues. I'm deep on that count. (4 of 4 of my cats have been rescues as well).
After watching how these goobs respond to my family, I cannot fathom abandoning them or doing everything necessary to get them care, but I also recognize that I have that luxury as a well paid engineer in a major city area.
I don't know if I could ever gun down puppies that I couldn't care for, but yeah, might have been nicer for any other group than these lucky pups
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:55 PM on August 5, 2018
After watching how these goobs respond to my family, I cannot fathom abandoning them or doing everything necessary to get them care, but I also recognize that I have that luxury as a well paid engineer in a major city area.
I don't know if I could ever gun down puppies that I couldn't care for, but yeah, might have been nicer for any other group than these lucky pups
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:55 PM on August 5, 2018
It took me far too long to see the "tail" in the post title as wrong for the song. Well done.
posted by bryon at 12:44 AM on August 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by bryon at 12:44 AM on August 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
And yet the asshole who abandoned them took the extra effort to get them out to the island.
When I read the article I wondered if this was an attempted drowning gone wrong. In any event I’m glad they are ok and hope they live long happy lives.
posted by TedW at 1:37 AM on August 6, 2018
When I read the article I wondered if this was an attempted drowning gone wrong. In any event I’m glad they are ok and hope they live long happy lives.
posted by TedW at 1:37 AM on August 6, 2018
For the love of God, can we drop the "best way to kill puppies" derail?
posted by schmod at 4:41 AM on August 6, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by schmod at 4:41 AM on August 6, 2018 [11 favorites]
3 girls" Mary-Anne, Ginger, and "the millionaire's wife"
posted by Meatbomb at 5:25 AM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Meatbomb at 5:25 AM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
The millionaire's wife was "Lovey." Works as a pupnomer for me!
posted by taz at 6:03 AM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by taz at 6:03 AM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh! Cool. Looking her (actress Natalie Schafer) up, I find that the millionaire's wife was actually an IRL millionaire on her own, and loved dogs:
posted by taz at 6:11 AM on August 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
Her investments, particularly in real estate, made her a multi-millionaire. Differing sources state that most of this fortune was bequeathed to either her Gilligan's Island co-star Dawn Wells or to care for her dogs.Perfect.
posted by taz at 6:11 AM on August 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
Hey! For once Gilligan didn't mess up the rescue! Who's a good boy?
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:16 AM on August 6, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:16 AM on August 6, 2018 [5 favorites]
I'm glad they were found and rescued. They are cute indeed.
Dumping animals, especially helpless baby animals, is pathetic and immoral. There are many better and more humane options (from finding them homes, to contacting a rescue/shelter, to if necessary euthanasia), but people are too lazy or lack moral fiber or something, so they dump them.
We rescued one dog who was dumped as a small puppy outside of town. They ran from the farmer so he called the humane society and they were able to capture the one we later adopted, but they were unable to capture her sibling. I still feel sad thinking about that puppy, hopefully eaten quickly by a coyote rather than starving to death.
Our current dog was abandoned in a suburban area. Apparently, pets are dumped there all the time since it is easy to reach from several highways and conveniently close to the city. It would actually be faster for people to take those animals to the shelters (which in this area are importing dogs from the south, it is not like they are overpopulated and euthanizing every dog in sight) but instead they drive out to where things are greener and shove the dogs and cats out of the car. A fortunate percentage of them are found and taken to shelters to be adopted, but others have unpleasant ends.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:43 AM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Dumping animals, especially helpless baby animals, is pathetic and immoral. There are many better and more humane options (from finding them homes, to contacting a rescue/shelter, to if necessary euthanasia), but people are too lazy or lack moral fiber or something, so they dump them.
We rescued one dog who was dumped as a small puppy outside of town. They ran from the farmer so he called the humane society and they were able to capture the one we later adopted, but they were unable to capture her sibling. I still feel sad thinking about that puppy, hopefully eaten quickly by a coyote rather than starving to death.
Our current dog was abandoned in a suburban area. Apparently, pets are dumped there all the time since it is easy to reach from several highways and conveniently close to the city. It would actually be faster for people to take those animals to the shelters (which in this area are importing dogs from the south, it is not like they are overpopulated and euthanizing every dog in sight) but instead they drive out to where things are greener and shove the dogs and cats out of the car. A fortunate percentage of them are found and taken to shelters to be adopted, but others have unpleasant ends.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:43 AM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't know what the right word is, exactly, but let's pick utilitarian as the closest approximation I can come up with ... utilitarian approach to dogs than people in cities who keep them primarily as companions.
Nope.
People who had a genuinely utilitarian attitude towards these puppies would just have humanely killed them at or shortly after birth. Unless the people of the far north don't have buckets and internal combustion engines, they have the resources to do this.
You take the time to take them out to an island and abandon them to exposure and starvation because you believe that what you are doing is wrong. These are the actions of someone who is ashamed of what they're doing.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:59 AM on August 6, 2018 [12 favorites]
Nope.
People who had a genuinely utilitarian attitude towards these puppies would just have humanely killed them at or shortly after birth. Unless the people of the far north don't have buckets and internal combustion engines, they have the resources to do this.
You take the time to take them out to an island and abandon them to exposure and starvation because you believe that what you are doing is wrong. These are the actions of someone who is ashamed of what they're doing.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:59 AM on August 6, 2018 [12 favorites]
People who abandon pets should be taken to a desert island with no clothes, no weapons, no food. Bonus if the island contains large predators. Then they should be forgotten.
posted by mermayd at 8:11 AM on August 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by mermayd at 8:11 AM on August 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
MetaFilter: "I think killing be puppies would have been the better option rather than dumping them"
posted by JamesBay at 8:38 AM on August 6, 2018
posted by JamesBay at 8:38 AM on August 6, 2018
Yes. If you have an animal, of any kind, that you cannot care for or release, it is a far better thing to kill them quickly and cleanly rather than leave them to starve to death over weeks, with the last perhaps surviving a little longer via consuming their dead siblings. That's really not a complicated moral question. There are multiple other options that are even *more* morally superior, including not breeding the animals in the first place, but if through bad luck or indifference you end up with the last choice, then it is absolutely your duty as a human being to kill them as quickly and kindly as possible. And someone who had the resources to get to an isolated island had the resources for better options.
posted by tavella at 9:13 AM on August 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by tavella at 9:13 AM on August 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
Well, this took a much darker turn than anticipated...
Nevertheless: PUPPIES!!!
posted by darkstar at 10:09 AM on August 6, 2018
Nevertheless: PUPPIES!!!
posted by darkstar at 10:09 AM on August 6, 2018
I think people who are cruel to animals lack a fundamental level of empathy that means I'm OK with calling them monsters. Some people are OK with killing animals, and I can sort of understand that because most people do eat animals, and sometimes you have animals you don't need any more and the sensible thing is to get rid of them as painlessly as possible. That's a utilitarian approach.
Abandoning animals, especially on an island? That's just cruel. There's no excuse for that. It's not utilitarian, it just means you either don't understand that animals feel pain (and you'd have to be dumb as a bag of rocks for that) or you just don't care, at all, about whether they suffer. And the latter to me is just unforgivable, I'm not giving anyone a pass on that just because they have a 'different perspective.'
posted by stillnocturnal at 12:41 PM on August 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
Abandoning animals, especially on an island? That's just cruel. There's no excuse for that. It's not utilitarian, it just means you either don't understand that animals feel pain (and you'd have to be dumb as a bag of rocks for that) or you just don't care, at all, about whether they suffer. And the latter to me is just unforgivable, I'm not giving anyone a pass on that just because they have a 'different perspective.'
posted by stillnocturnal at 12:41 PM on August 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
I would just like to drop into this thread about killing puppies and say that the correct solution is obviously for me to move to remote puppy island and fuck all you humans.
Let's see what's 7*14? 98/10.
posted by The Bellman at 12:48 PM on August 6, 2018 [5 favorites]
Let's see what's 7*14? 98/10.
posted by The Bellman at 12:48 PM on August 6, 2018 [5 favorites]
the correct solution is obviously for me to move to remote puppy island
It's not an island, but...
posted by stillnocturnal at 12:52 PM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's not an island, but...
posted by stillnocturnal at 12:52 PM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
(I'm sure there's an actual island of dogs somewhere that I've seen, just like there's an island of cats and an island of rabbits, but that Wes Anderson film has made it seemingly impossible to google)
posted by stillnocturnal at 12:54 PM on August 6, 2018
posted by stillnocturnal at 12:54 PM on August 6, 2018
I think the dark turn this took is because a lot of us have gotten tired of "happy!" stories that are posted online that are basically attempts to find the sunny sides of terrible systemic problems.
1. Little kid raises money for his sibling's cancer treatments. Aww! How sweet! Let's not think about a system that would let his sibling die because he can't afford cancer treatments.
2. Guy walks 20 miles to first day of work because he doesn't have a car, so boss gives him a car. Aww! Let's not think about a system where there is no transit and people have to do desperate things to survive like walk 20 fucking miles to a low-wage job.
3. Puppy Island! Adorable! Let's not think about the reasons they got there/what could have happened to them.
Actual upbeat stories nowadays are: Court rules an injustice is unjust, at least till another court says otherwise! Black guy is arrested and survives! Nazi gets punched!
That's just where we're at right now.
posted by emjaybee at 3:13 PM on August 6, 2018 [15 favorites]
1. Little kid raises money for his sibling's cancer treatments. Aww! How sweet! Let's not think about a system that would let his sibling die because he can't afford cancer treatments.
2. Guy walks 20 miles to first day of work because he doesn't have a car, so boss gives him a car. Aww! Let's not think about a system where there is no transit and people have to do desperate things to survive like walk 20 fucking miles to a low-wage job.
3. Puppy Island! Adorable! Let's not think about the reasons they got there/what could have happened to them.
Actual upbeat stories nowadays are: Court rules an injustice is unjust, at least till another court says otherwise! Black guy is arrested and survives! Nazi gets punched!
That's just where we're at right now.
posted by emjaybee at 3:13 PM on August 6, 2018 [15 favorites]
Oh hell no.
My current cat is a rescue which was found on the side of a major throughfare on a very cold November morning with her (presumed) sister. Just out of kittenhood. "Petrified," the rescue said, "frozen in fear." Both black cats, obviously not ferals since they wouldn't even move.
Abandoned when they stopped being cute kittens.
More than a year of safety and affection, and she's still an anxious little ball sometimes when the door opens. She cries piteously all the way to the vet, every time. Once I attempted to take her out with a halter and leash: she struggled until I turned back indoors, then dashed inside away from the open door as if my empty, fenced backyard was a kennel of hellhounds.
And it took her the better part of eight months not to run away like that whenever she saw me pick up one of those large black garbage bags, which told me her story as well as she could have with words, and which fills me with such helpless rage still.
I'm with everyone else: I hope I could at least being myself to a clean kill under those circumstances. Don't do that to helpless animals that we ourselves made helpless. Ferals could have taken care of themselves.
posted by seyirci at 10:09 PM on August 6, 2018 [6 favorites]
My current cat is a rescue which was found on the side of a major throughfare on a very cold November morning with her (presumed) sister. Just out of kittenhood. "Petrified," the rescue said, "frozen in fear." Both black cats, obviously not ferals since they wouldn't even move.
Abandoned when they stopped being cute kittens.
More than a year of safety and affection, and she's still an anxious little ball sometimes when the door opens. She cries piteously all the way to the vet, every time. Once I attempted to take her out with a halter and leash: she struggled until I turned back indoors, then dashed inside away from the open door as if my empty, fenced backyard was a kennel of hellhounds.
And it took her the better part of eight months not to run away like that whenever she saw me pick up one of those large black garbage bags, which told me her story as well as she could have with words, and which fills me with such helpless rage still.
I'm with everyone else: I hope I could at least being myself to a clean kill under those circumstances. Don't do that to helpless animals that we ourselves made helpless. Ferals could have taken care of themselves.
posted by seyirci at 10:09 PM on August 6, 2018 [6 favorites]
They're Good Dogs, Brent
posted by ambulocetus at 7:29 AM on August 8, 2018
posted by ambulocetus at 7:29 AM on August 8, 2018
A followup, with video of puppies being adorable in the rescue shelter.
posted by tavella at 9:52 AM on August 8, 2018
posted by tavella at 9:52 AM on August 8, 2018
I lived on Cross Lake Reserve for just over two years, from age 4-6, and we had a dog. The dog had been rescued from off of a small island where he and four other pups had been left alone for a couple of weeks. As they could be heard crying from shore, some of the teachers couldn't stand to hear them howling, so they rescued them by boat and brought them back to shore. I was told that the pups had been put in a isolated location to fend for themselves with the idea being that those who survived would make good sled dogs. At that time, many people on the reserve depended heavily upon sled dogs to maintain their trap lines.
I agree that many of the commenters here might not understand how remote of a region we're talking about and how different the norms of dog ownership, stewardship, and even canine existence are in such a community. There is no vet, no animal rescue organization, and no sentimentality towards these animals. Many if not most dogs live in small packs, unowned and unspoken for, scavenging and hunting for their food. They are not, for the most part, pets as we think of pets.
Also at that time in Cross Lake, because the rez dogs roamed freely around the area in packs they could be dangerous at times. I was once attacked by a pack of dogs on my way to school. Two of the dogs in the group that attacked me were pups from the same island where we'd gotten our dog. Coincidentally, I had been working on a short story about this very incident when the linked story hit the news. *Spoiler* I was rescued and did not die.
posted by alltomorrowsparties at 12:23 AM on August 10, 2018
I agree that many of the commenters here might not understand how remote of a region we're talking about and how different the norms of dog ownership, stewardship, and even canine existence are in such a community. There is no vet, no animal rescue organization, and no sentimentality towards these animals. Many if not most dogs live in small packs, unowned and unspoken for, scavenging and hunting for their food. They are not, for the most part, pets as we think of pets.
Also at that time in Cross Lake, because the rez dogs roamed freely around the area in packs they could be dangerous at times. I was once attacked by a pack of dogs on my way to school. Two of the dogs in the group that attacked me were pups from the same island where we'd gotten our dog. Coincidentally, I had been working on a short story about this very incident when the linked story hit the news. *Spoiler* I was rescued and did not die.
posted by alltomorrowsparties at 12:23 AM on August 10, 2018
And they lived puppily ever after.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:17 PM on August 10, 2018
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:17 PM on August 10, 2018
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posted by tzikeh at 7:27 PM on August 5, 2018 [26 favorites]