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We are and have been for hundreds of years a society/world of slaves. Either you are a slave or a slave master. Many have tried to break free, but in some part or parts of life, that historical connection gets us and changes us from a free people to a people enslaved to each other and to the things which bind us. What is that new word that has entered our vocabulary in a terrifying way, and growing fast, intruding on life in many cities, suburban areas, country towns – human trafficking?
We enslaved Africans. However, long before the enslavement of Africans we enslaved the Hebrews and we can go back to many other peoples and animals who we enslaved. Is there something wrong with the human spirit, that we cannot be whole and a people functioning on their own two feet and even reaching out to help others?
Our history seems to say that we have to destroy and desecrate others so that our needs can be met without our putting forth too much energy and effort in the process. We must make sure those who serve are categorized and marked so that their role in our society is clear and definitely defined as subservient and never even close to being equal! Do our security needs demand such?
Enslavement is a necessity because we need to make sure our needs are never left unfulfilled even for a little while. We need to make sure that whatever – whoever – we have designated and oppressed and labeled to make their purpose and use only the fulfillment of our needs is close by and unable to function except at our bidding. The slave’s food, shelter and even their ability to take another breath depends upon our continuous need for them and our willingness to fulfill their basic needs because their enslavement becomes a part of our identity!
For some time now, it has become more and more noticeable that we have emotionally enslaved dogs. They are a group, which in the wild run in pacts with a pact leader. We have taken advantage of that and become the pact leader to our dogs – even if that is only one dog.
What we demand in return is total unadulterated worship.
We are becoming more and more isolated from one another – almost a reflection of what is happening in space as the planets and all the otherworldly objects are moving further and further away from one another. So to are we as humans doing the same thing.
Because we need to feel a closeness to something or to someone, we have chosen to make that the dog. We don’t have to return to the dog what the dog gives to us. When we make an attempt to respond to what we are given, it doesn’t have to be fully and when we have other things to do, we can go our way and ignore that animal which has been so faithful to us. We have even justified killing the dog when it has outlived its usefulness.
Of course, not everyone reacts in this way, some are the exception. The role of the exception – which is meant to disprove the rule – only proves, to those watching closely enough – that the rule is rigid. Kind of like what is happening at this tail end of racism.
We are moving to formalize this emotional slavery of dogs by naming an increasing number of them “therapy dogs”. Dogs, whose mission it is, in this society, to be to others what normal human beings no longer are capable of being. Our own lives have become so “busy” that we don’t have time anymore to reach out to those in need. We no longer get any satisfaction out of giving to others in need. We are delegating those jobs more and more either to society’s underclass or – even better – we have discovered the “therapy dog.” Society’s underclass were the people to whom we entrusted the care of our elderly, sick, mentally challenged, seriously handicapped. They also served to be there and help the dysfunctional. But, they are getting to be a nuisance, expecting equality, beginning to be unhappy with their lot, being ‘undocumented’ but needing and beginning to demand more; no longer being able to quietly serve the rest of society making do with less than humans need to survive.
That elderly person whose family has left them to be cared for by others will buy them a dog. Or that person, in serious emotional need will find their own dog to replace their human family and friends. Or, someone else buys that “therapy dog” so that deserted person has love and affection and does not have to depend upon another human being and does not have to be beholden or give to another human being in return for any affection given to them. What a new form of “freedom”.
What kind of society is that creating?
Dogs have been trained to pee and shit wherever they feel like taking care of their bodily functions. They can do this with impunity as long it is away from the area where their owners live. On someone else’s property? Around the trees in the city – which can then get sick and infect all of the other trees? Dogs have been trained to leave their bowel movement wherever it falls, which means, wherever they decided to drop it, and if it affects the health of children who come along and come into contact with the dogs feces, the dogs owner walks away doing nothing and with very little to no responsibility for what their dogs have done. The more upscale the area, the more infected with dog feces it becomes. The more upscale the area the more enslaved dogs one finds.
At the end of winter and the snow melts, one sees enormous amounts of dog feces on the ground, where the dog owners have allowed their dogs to drop their “business” and walk away leaving it. The snow covers everything so why not? The small gardens all over a lovely area with flowers and others kinds of growth where the dog is encouraged to hop in, do their ‘business’ and hop out with the owners walking away leaving the dog feces to infect whoever and whatever comes along – including other dogs when the feces is diarrhea feces and another dog sniffs, eats or otherwise interacts with that diarrhea laden feces. Many dogs are infected with disease in this way. One dropping of diarrhea feces – given a couple days – generates many more droppings of diarrhea feces from other dogs who inhabit the area. When the leaves fall, the same phenomena happens and just before the snow falls to continue the process.
Parks, which once belonged to children, who could run, jump, fall down, now belong to dogs who run, jump, drop their feces and play with their owners since this is their one time of ‘freedom’ during the day. The other part of the day they are locked in a room; kept in a basement; confined to a dog cage; or etc. The more privileged dogs are kept behind a fence in a small yard.
Slavery of any kind breaks down a society in the most desperate ways and this emotional slavery of dogs is no exception. The most dangerous part of this slavery is our refusal to see and/or name it for what it is. We call them “pets”. Animals were not made to be the “pets” of humans. They have their own lives and go their own ways except when they are kept enslaved and begin to understand their well being – their food supply – their shelter are all dependent upon that human slave owner who demands that they wag their tails vigorously when that human owner approaches, who demands that they jump for ‘joy’ all over the human to show excitement that they have not been abandoned to a cruel and unresponsive world that treats dogs without owners viciously. Need I describe more…………………?
And here come the denials!
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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.
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Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net
A Response to “Dogs = Emotional Slavery”
November 8th, 2015Thank you for your blog on dogs. I didn’t think anyone would have the guts to say what many of us are thinking and afraid to say because all around us are people who are so totally into their dogs it is pathetic, while the rest of the world just shakes its head in disbelief.
My pet peeve is the filth that dogs bring. We are afraid of rats and talk about the diseases they bring. It takes over 500 rats to make the kind of ‘shit’ that dogs make with one bowel movement and the smell is awful. Does the real difference in the way we think about these mammals comes from the fact that we control dogs, but can’t control rats? It is clearly not cleanliness or the spread of disease. Dogs are, hands down, able to spread disease much faster and more lethally than can rats.
I’ve also noticed how dogs walk all over the place and when they get home they walk into the house bringing whatever is on their feet and the first thing they do is to shake themselves to get rid of all the ‘stuff’ their hair has collected during their walk. Dogs themselves aren’t so filthy, they know what to do to keep themselves clean, it is their interaction with owners who either don’t know or don’t care about the negative reaction of their dogs with the rest of society. What comes off when they shake is amazing. Check it out and see if some of your diseases haven’t come from your home collecting all of this stuff.
I am so tired to taking other people’s dog shit out of my garden that I would like to outlaw dogs in my neighborhood.
What is most amazing to me is the fact that dog owners take their dogs for a ‘walk’ twice a day – at least. Actually, they are taking their dogs to the bathroom to pee and shit in another area – at least several blocks away from their own homes and gardens because they don’t want that mess, germs, bacteria and smell close to them.
I’ve seen dog owners take their dogs to other peoples gardens and hold the dogs to pee on the flowers and recent plantings that others have paid for and are taking care of to beautify their homes and neighborhoods. Why do the dog owners do this? So they don’t have to pick up the filthy shit. I’ve seen people walking their dogs with bags in their hands to pick up the dog excrement. Do they use the bags? Many don’t. It is mostly for show. If the dogs have a bowel movement in your garden, the owners can walk away from it and leave it there. The same thing with the small garden areas around trees, especially if there are plantings around the trees which cover the dogs shit so it isn’t found until they have moved away from what they have turned from a lovely garden into a dog toilet which does not flush.
It is time for this to stop.
I love dogs – but the dog owners are making life impossible. I read your blog when I had just come in from picking up dog shit off my lawn.
How do we get this to stop? It is time to stop romanticizing dogs and look at the reality of their lives amongst us. Particularly, their owners need to be trained and to understand this is not playtime or snuggle time, but reality time. The reality here is its not the dogs who are the problem, but their owners.
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Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!
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_____________________________________________
Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.
Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.
Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.
Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net
Tags: bed & breakfast, Bettina Homes, Bettina Network's Lifestyle Community, dogs, Guest Comments, health
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