Cardon Man - 9-26-2003 at 08:32 AM
First off, my heart goes out to you Jesse. No one deserves to loose a dog like that. Let's hope karma comes around to screw the a-hole that poisoned
cookie.
I am also a dog lover/owner. My lab/boarder collie has traveled Baja a couple of times with my wife and I. While our dog has always had big fun in
Baja, I must admit I keep a close eye on her. I have noticed a definate lack of respect for dog life in Baja ( and Mexico in general ). I have seen a
car swerve out of the way to strike a dog in Los Barriles, right in front of me as I walked down the sidewalk with my dog... I have seen a man in
Mulege fly into anger and try to kick my dog ( then a puppy ) when she ran up to him sniffing and wagging her tail... and on my last trip, the guy who
drove me from the airport to the East Cape swerved and struck a dog and actually laughed it off. I made the mistake of turning my head and was unlucky
enough to see the poor little guy writhing in agony. What a great way to start your Baja trip huh? Welcome to Mexico...
While reading the thread Jesse started I noticed that others have noted the same brutality toward dogs in Baja. What's behind this dog hatred anyway?
I'm fully aware that street dogs can be a real pain in the ass. But lots of Mexicans have pet dogs too. Whats the deal?
I'm curious to hear any opinions on this subject.
Packoderm - 9-26-2003 at 09:07 AM
Mahatma Gandhi once said something to the effect that you can judge a society by the way they treat their animals.
A society
viajero - 9-26-2003 at 09:44 AM
The saying is "You can judge a society by the way they treat their animals and women". This is not meant to demean women.
JESSE - 9-26-2003 at 02:09 PM
To most Mexicans, dogs are a security tool, specially in the rural areas, only the middle and upper classes have the money and time to enjoy a dog in
the sense that most of us dog lovers do. I have seen first hand how dogs are treated as just another chicken, pig, or cow in rural areas, bot all the
time off course, plenty of people even in poor areas love their dogs just as we do, but theres a good part of the population that has grown up with
the view that dogs are just tools and nothing more.
I don't particulary consider myself an animal lover, and i say this because i do like to fish and hunt, and i apreaciate a good bullfight, but when it
comes to domestic animals like Dogs and Cats things change dramatically for me, i have been known to invite a person who is encouraging two dogs to
fight, to fight me instead if he wants any "action", so i guess that makes me a Dog lover.
Hope this clears things up.
The response from many Mexicans I know...
Stephanie Jackter - 9-26-2003 at 02:17 PM
...is: "You Americans care deeply about your animals. We Mexicans care deeply about out children".
I'm not making excuses for violence toward animals, but I would agree that there's way less violence toward and neglect of children in Mexico.
The way things are done in Mexico is just plain different and we simply have to accept that. Note the number of free dogs in Mexico. Their space is
only limited by the territory of the next dog. Yes, they might get hit by a car or attacked by a more agressive dog, but maybe that trade is worth it
for the freedom they have to be out of a yard and free to interact with other dogs and people. In that way, quality of life is superior.
The flip side of that is probably that more Mexicans have been bitten by stray or unconfined animals or intimately know someone who has. So for that
simple reason, there's probably a lot more fear and even loathing of dogs there.
Having said that, I just saw two reports of animal abuse on the Tucson news last night - one, some idiot who left a cast on a dog's leg for over 6
MONTHS and the dog died, and the second, a man who jumped a fence and STOMPED a toy size dog to death.
You just never know. It seems there are always plenty of freaks to go around......-Stephanie