Re: The Truth About Dogs and Cats
Domesticated dogs and cats are different from wild dogs and cats.
I would be offended to see a wild animal being kept, and treated, as a pet.
But domesticated animals would not exist if we did not keep and care for them.
It strikes me about organizations like PETA that the people involved seem to know very little about animals, and their outrage comes from assuming animals are like humans. I have thought for a long time PETA is not really an organization for animal lovers, but for misanthropists. People who enjoy judging, hating, and offending other people.
Though you seem to be making a similar objection as I make in the above paragraph, you actually seem to be doing the same thing. It's one thing to be offended by a dog being beaten, or being left chained out back, neglected, underfed; another to be offended by people playing with their pets in ways that cause a mild degree of annoyance to the pet.
I have watched my fair share of dog (and cat) videos on YouTube. I don't have a pet right now and just watching animals makes me smile. Which I often need at the end of a long, tiring week. And I've seen countless times, people making similar comments as you. Someone will post a cute, light-hearted video of their dog or cat, an animal that is obviously well taken care of and loved, with bright eyes, lively energy, and a shiny coat, doing something funny. And inevitably, someone will post in the comments, "You should be ashamed of abusing your animal like that!" The reasoning being something as obscure as what you just came up with--"They're yawning, so they're clearly anxious--" It's ridiculous on so many levels.
People in American culture practically worship their pets, pamper them and give them every luxury. And yet it's not enough for some--perhaps they should be massaged daily, and have "pet therapists" to help them work through the "anxiety" their owners make them feel by talking to and playing with them in ways that hurt their self-esteem? Come on. Dogs are resilient. Even horribly abused and neglected dogs can heal and regain trust when put in the care of loving humans. Unlike us, with our precious egos and the ways we nurse grudges, animals just move right on into the next moment.
I am floored by the number of people who are passionate about "animal rights" who seem to know nothing about animals. PETA's propaganda requires a vast amount of ignorance about animals to be able to subscribe to it, and a willingness to anthropomorphize dramatically and with total faith in one's projections. Being offended or upset by videos such as the above requires a certain amount of projection and a total discomfort witnessing even the slightest discomfort. The world is a tough place, and in order to get through it, you have to at some point put on your big boy (or girl) pants and not expect all human (and human-animal) interaction to involve holding hands and singing "Kumbaya." If you can't take seeing a dog yawn in anxiety while its owner "talks" to it, good God, you might as well seal yourself away in a bunker, because life is going to throw a lot more intense things at you than that.
There's a reason the "set up" for Joshu's famous MU koan works so well. It's because the layers of abstraction, projection, and investment in thinking that are required to ponder about the Buddha-nature of dogs is so intense it's a clear demonstration of "You're doing it wrong" when it comes to waking up to Reality. Throw all that junk away! Do you want to get to know your dog? Then drop out of your "Speciesism: How to Free Our Oppressed Animal Brethren!" class at University of Colorado, Boulder, and plant a big ol' kiss on your dog's nose! Is he anxious? Is he a Buddha? Does he have a soul? Or Buddha-nature? What does he think about the Republican Party? Does he approve of the work Defenders of Wildlife is doing?
WOOF!
er,
MU!
Domesticated dogs and cats are different from wild dogs and cats.
I would be offended to see a wild animal being kept, and treated, as a pet.
But domesticated animals would not exist if we did not keep and care for them.
It strikes me about organizations like PETA that the people involved seem to know very little about animals, and their outrage comes from assuming animals are like humans. I have thought for a long time PETA is not really an organization for animal lovers, but for misanthropists. People who enjoy judging, hating, and offending other people.
Though you seem to be making a similar objection as I make in the above paragraph, you actually seem to be doing the same thing. It's one thing to be offended by a dog being beaten, or being left chained out back, neglected, underfed; another to be offended by people playing with their pets in ways that cause a mild degree of annoyance to the pet.
I have watched my fair share of dog (and cat) videos on YouTube. I don't have a pet right now and just watching animals makes me smile. Which I often need at the end of a long, tiring week. And I've seen countless times, people making similar comments as you. Someone will post a cute, light-hearted video of their dog or cat, an animal that is obviously well taken care of and loved, with bright eyes, lively energy, and a shiny coat, doing something funny. And inevitably, someone will post in the comments, "You should be ashamed of abusing your animal like that!" The reasoning being something as obscure as what you just came up with--"They're yawning, so they're clearly anxious--" It's ridiculous on so many levels.
People in American culture practically worship their pets, pamper them and give them every luxury. And yet it's not enough for some--perhaps they should be massaged daily, and have "pet therapists" to help them work through the "anxiety" their owners make them feel by talking to and playing with them in ways that hurt their self-esteem? Come on. Dogs are resilient. Even horribly abused and neglected dogs can heal and regain trust when put in the care of loving humans. Unlike us, with our precious egos and the ways we nurse grudges, animals just move right on into the next moment.
I am floored by the number of people who are passionate about "animal rights" who seem to know nothing about animals. PETA's propaganda requires a vast amount of ignorance about animals to be able to subscribe to it, and a willingness to anthropomorphize dramatically and with total faith in one's projections. Being offended or upset by videos such as the above requires a certain amount of projection and a total discomfort witnessing even the slightest discomfort. The world is a tough place, and in order to get through it, you have to at some point put on your big boy (or girl) pants and not expect all human (and human-animal) interaction to involve holding hands and singing "Kumbaya." If you can't take seeing a dog yawn in anxiety while its owner "talks" to it, good God, you might as well seal yourself away in a bunker, because life is going to throw a lot more intense things at you than that.
There's a reason the "set up" for Joshu's famous MU koan works so well. It's because the layers of abstraction, projection, and investment in thinking that are required to ponder about the Buddha-nature of dogs is so intense it's a clear demonstration of "You're doing it wrong" when it comes to waking up to Reality. Throw all that junk away! Do you want to get to know your dog? Then drop out of your "Speciesism: How to Free Our Oppressed Animal Brethren!" class at University of Colorado, Boulder, and plant a big ol' kiss on your dog's nose! Is he anxious? Is he a Buddha? Does he have a soul? Or Buddha-nature? What does he think about the Republican Party? Does he approve of the work Defenders of Wildlife is doing?
WOOF!
er,
MU!
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