A lot of people don’t understand that dogs aren’t only pets, some are actually working animals that are expected to do a job and their owners depend on their ability to do that job for their livelihood, and that if they can’t do their job their owners don’t have the resources either time or money to keep them as pets.
This is the reality of rural living, certainly no one who has only lived in the comfort of sheltered urban life could ever understand it.
We were on a distant relative’s ranch and the dog herding the cattle was running funny with its leg dangling.
“Oh - your dog runs well on a hurt leg.”
“Yeah - she broke it years ago.”
“The vet couldn’t fix it?”
“We don’t have time for vets. He figured it out.”
I didn’t say anything, but that (for a city-folk like me) seemed pretty callous. And I would think he’d want to take care of his equipment (the dog) that he uses in his line of work.
He spent plenty of time BS-ing with every neighbor that drove by so he wasn’t all that short on time.
Although the dog did figure it out, so...
“the reality of rural living”
They’re animals, no different then Hare, lamb, calf, etc.
Regardless of how much sense can be made of her killing a dog, it won't fly with the vast majority of dog owners.
We supposedly need some soccer moms to vote for Trump. Soccer moms are not going to vote for a dog-killer.
I had a golden retriever. He was a pet and part of my family. Loved and cared for by us and lived a happy life until he passed away at 14. If he was instead a working dog, let’s say trained to retrieve ducks, and he couldn’t do it, I have no use for the dog. I’m nowhere near an animal shelter and I don’t want a pet so what are my options? The dog has to be fed and walked every day. The dog needs vet visits, shots and other care which I am unwilling to do.
If I am on a working farm, unfortunately I am putting the dog down. Fact of life on a farm.
Well said, and I might add that a properly placed bullet is just as humane for putting down an animal as drugs and probably more so.