Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > On topic - Pet chat, opinions, feelings and rants

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #1  
Old July 5th, 2005, 09:15 PM
raingirl's Avatar
raingirl raingirl is offline
<-----nut ball
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,804
cultural impressions of dogs/animals

I was talking with a few friends of mine about this. I have quite a few friends who are muslim. They have explained to me on several occasions how certains "sects" of the muslim faith teach bad things about dogs, and teach their kids to fear dogs. I could only take their word for it, but it has also made me more aware of people around my dog. I live in a culterally diverse apartment building, and I beleive that it is proper to respect someones fear of a dog. If they are afraid, and want to wait for the next elavator, fine. If they were there first and back away from the dog, I will wait. Makese sense. I always just assumed it was just a fear of the dog, not something taught. It somehow boggles my mind though. And it's not just certain muslim sects. Having an Anthropology degree, I have studied so many cultures around the world (from an anthropological view) and fears/abuse of animals can be a common occurance. Not so much now though, as animal rights has come a long way in the last few 100 years.

I know any given person has a right to practise what they want, and you can't always necessarily choose what you get taught (as a child) and sometimes it's hard to change as an adult. But sometimes I wonder that in this day/age with all the globalization and generalization of culture, why don't some things change?

For instance, a former co-worker of mine is REALLY afraid of dogs. It is because her mother taught her to be afraid of them. She explained it all to me once. She is of african heritage (I forget but I think she came from Botswana?). She explained that you have to accept what you mother teaches you, and the area she came from, dogs are not kept as pets, they are sacrificed in rituals, as they are beleived to be vessels for the devil. She has learned a lot here in Canada, but still has these views. She explained that it's not so much religious but tradition/cultural. She would never do it here, but she teaches her children what she has learned herself. I asked her why she would not teach them to love animals and understand them, but she was not sure she could after being ingrained with the thought of them as the devil.

The reason i was thinking of this today, is because a group of kids freaked out at my dog, calling it a pit bull, and practically trashing my car (they tried kicking it). Part of me wants to be objective and think maybe they are just taught in their culture not to like dogs and really have no choice. Nature or Nurture?? I hate to stereotype, but what if they came from the same area as the woman I knew? (they were also of african heritage) what if they were taught to hate dogs as well? Then I could feel better because maybe they don't know better. But what if they are just being stupid and uneducated? What if they know better and are just being stupid teenagers?

This is what erks me. When do you decide it's cultural and acceptable, or ignorant and stupid. When do you respect someone's fear of a dog because they don't know better, or loathe someone for putting you down just because they don't like your dog? Do you generalize based on a person's appearance? Again, I hate stereotyping, but I am starting to fear certain "gangs" of kids near my area where I live because they appear to hate all dogs, and have on occasions hurt people/their dogs either out of what they have been taught, or just plain stupidity.

There is one kid in our building who is afraid the dog will go near him. They recently came here from Somalia, she explained they don't really have dogs there, but he is learning in school about them. He will run away from the dog if it moves (he is still 5 feet away) but he is still at least curious about it and will say "hi doggy" and "bye doggy" when he sees him (from hiding behind his mother).

I'm not really sure what I'm saying here...just ranting mostly. I just feel for all the people who have been falsely accused of having pitts, and I also feel sorry for all the persecution for those who do. It's uncalled for. I just don't want to have to fear further persecution if I stand up for what I beleive in, I don't want to be called a racist if I tell someone that my dog is not a pit bull (it happened before already...I didn't say anything and they person called me a racist and the only reason I was saying anything about it not being a pit was because he was black... I totally didn't get that! All I said was I'm sorry, it's actually not a pit bull, it's an english bulldog and he freaked out).

Sorry..long day. I need to get some sleep.
__________________
Prevent a litter
Fix your critter
 

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:47 AM.