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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Police Kill Celebrity Chimp Who Attacked Woman |
| 2009-02-17 |
| Posted by:Ebbaviper Ulomogum3166 |
| #8 Baby rattlesnakes are adorable. Not that I'd have one in the vicinity, given a choice. Baby insects are generally unattractive, excepting certain caterpillars... but I believe larval mosquitoes are mighty hunters of even more noxious tiny creatures swimming in their water. ;-) I rather imagine the first impulse toward domesticating both dogs and cats was the emotional responsiveness of puppies and kittens, their usefulness becoming apparent only as they grew up. I mean, who would think adding a wolf to the camp site would be beneficial with children around? lotp will confirm (or not!) based on her expertise, but don't adult dogs act pretty much like wolf puppies? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-17 23:47 |
| #7 no mo uro, I partially agree with you. I'm a dog owner and occasional breeder (show dogs who can hunt quite nicely, thank you). I'm always leery of those who regard dogs as furry children. They're not. They're interesting, social and highly able creatures in their own right but their abilities, mentality and motivations are not the same as ours. That said, you miss several practical purposes for dogs today. In addition to detering breakins and theft, dogs also provide a documented health benefit. Stroking an amenable dog or cat measurably reduces blood pressure and improves cognition, coordination and other physiological capabilities in the elderly or those recovering from major injuries. This is the basis for training dogs and taking them to nursing homes as therapy animals. They have a similar impact on owners with whom they've bonded. So it's not quite correct to say that dogs who aren't hunting are doing 'nothing' for their owners. They may in fact be contributing in several valuable ways. Does not in the least excuse poor judgement on the part of dog owners, nor neurotic and superficial emotionalism. OTOH you'll pry my dogs from etc. etc. Except maybe for one who right now is being extremely annoying. ;-) |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-02-17 22:10 |
| #6 Dr. White wins the thread! :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-02-17 18:52 |
| #5 Strong, intelligent, and no morals or governors on behavior other than desire. Oh, enough about Elliott Spitzer! |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-02-17 18:37 |
| #4 "Every creature is cute when it's small." Ticks? Mosquitoes? Rattlesnakes? But seriously.......... Keeping an ape casually as a pet without the proper means is insanity. Strong, intelligent, and no morals or governors on behavior other than desire. A deadly combination. People originally kept animals as a food source (sheep, cattle, chickens, etc), or to help them get food or protect themsleves (dogs, horses, cats). The companionship thing was very much a fringe benefit. I know a couple (college educated, FWIW) who have three horses, two of which are too old to ride, two neutered male goats, five cats (which I suppose keep the rodents down), and two dogs (neither of which hunt). They also have three children. They are barely making ends meet, and are saving nothing for their retirement or their kids schooling. This is near-criminal insanity. If you have the wherewithal to live your life in a fiscally responsible way and afford the luxury of a pet which does nothing, it's your money, go for it. If your like this family, or the chimp's owner, you're as irresponsible as someone who spends the money on gambling or booze. It's a sign of inability to handle affluence when we take and keep animals like chimps for pets, or spend the money and effort as a society, generally speaking, that we do on pets who perform no task other than companionship. /rant off |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2009-02-17 17:23 |
| #3 mom's "why are people stupid about pets?" rant, version 5280: The other day, a landlord in Beloit discovered that a noxious tenant left a 3 foot alligator behind when he skipped out. As the humane society spokesman observed, "We advise against keeping alligators as pets. They will get big enough to think of you as dinner." Every creature is cute when it's small. Trouble is, people don't do their homework about animal care, and don't think about when the animal gets big. That's why our family has two rescued rabbits who originally had anxiety disorders from bad housing; one rescued turtle whose owner had bought him illegally small and kept him in a tiny, tiny bowl (he lives in a horse trough now, and is 7 inches long, on his way to becoming the size of a dinner plate), and a rescued corn snake whose original owner didn't have the sense to provide him with a heat source. When we got one rabbit, she was 10 weeks old and her digestive tract was in trouble because of the noise and ill-care in her previous home. She could have died from those conditions. I carried her in my sweatshirt pocket for three days, and she calmed down. She is now the perfect kindergarten visitor; she will let 15 kids handle her without fussing. THINK, PEOPLE, before you get any animal. If you know somebody who's waxing enthusiastic about getting any animal, ordinary or exotic, shake some sense into them and make them do their homework. |
| Posted by: mom 2009-02-17 15:04 |
| #2 he just had once bitten of a lady's finger when she tried to pet him. Chimps. Why do they ate us? Goodness, anonymous5089. Did you have to? ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-17 14:50 |
| #1 Apes are scary, dangerous creatures. I'm always a bit perplexed at the notion people find chimps cute or amusing; they're wild animals, yet with a "pre-sentient" level of intelligence (chimps are actually superior to humans in several cognitive area like short term memory, and as for "intelligence", I think they're now believed to have the abstract reasoning capacities of an 8 years old)... meaning they actually have all the dangerousness potential of both an human, and an animal - remember that story here about the old geezer who had a foot, his testicles, and most of his face ripped off by two "buddies" of his couple's pet chimp? They threw a party for their anthropomorphized chimp, and when the "buddies" didn't get a slice of cake as the chimp pecking order would have wanted it, they went berserk. And chimps and apes in general are very strong, and very fierce... and incidentally, a while earlier in 2008, there was a follow up to that one, as their own chimp had escaped into the wild, and they were calling people to be kind to him while police looked around, since he was "harmless" (well, he just had once bitten of a lady's finger when she tried to pet him). Chimps. Why do they ate us? All I can say is... "left turn, Clyde". |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2009-02-17 13:47 |