Award Winning Picture
I will let this picture speak for itself. It is just a great shot.
But more could be said about this picture. Guess which one I am talking about boy or dog:
1. Brain not fully humanized. Can't think critically or reason like an adult human.
2. However has all the parts of the brain that allows it to feel pain, depression, anxiety, happiness, sadness, and hunger just to name a few. FEELS ALL THOSE THINGS JUST AS DEEPLY AS AN ADULT HUMAN.
3. Can't verbally express itself.
4. Relies on adult humans for its needs and welfare.
Am I referring to boy or dog? Your comments appreciated and I will finish my thoughts in 7 days.
posted by EricsDogBlog.com @ Tuesday, August 15, 2006
14 comments
14 Comments:
I'd say that you are talking about the baby. I believe that dogs can reason and think critically, they just usually aren't in a situation where they can/want/need to use those skills.
If you follow stories of working dogs, you come across stories that seem to show reasoning skills. A police dog that ignores a "stay" command to save it's human partner. A bomb-sniffing dog that deliberately trips a landmine and injures itself to save it's partner when the partner ignored it's warnings. Dogs that alert others to their owner's illness and/or injury.
I've come across many other similar tales, and known too many extremely smart dogs to believe otherwise.
Best Friends has now confirmed that it will be taking in the dogs from Beta in Beruit. Best Friends will be taking in at least 150 dogs, freeing up space in the BETA shelter so that more dogs can be rescued.
Best Friends has also agreed to co-ordinate the arrangements to fly the dogs over. If anyone has a contact who could help with arranging the airlift, please contact Best Friends.
Finally, post on the Best Friends web site today stated that before the dogs were moved to safety, BETA members were sleeping in the kennels with the dogs to help keep them calm. The kennels were right in the war zone -- and were later leveled after all the dogs had been moved to safety. True dedication to the animals in their care...
Finally, just because there is a ceasefire doesn't mean that the crisis is over in terms of rescue. BETA still needs funds for food, medicine, and to expand their shelter to accomodate the animals that now need rescuing. Volunteer vets are also needed. Contact Beta at animals@beruit.com
-L
Comments apply equally to both.
After I read an article written by an "expert" who claimed that animals are incapable of "complex reasoning", I wrote to him with the following anecdotal evidence to the contrary. My lab had her own chair. we couldn't convince her to stay off the furniture, so when we bought new stuff we kept one funky old chair for the dog. One friend who works in the woods would sit in the dog's chair. The first time he did this, the dog pushed her head behind him each time he sat forward and tried to physically heave him out of the chair. It didn't work. She whined and barked at him, then ran to the door and scratched as though she wanted to go out. As soon as he got out of the chair to open the door, the dog did an abrupt about face and launched herself into the chair, where she sat smugly. Our friend was somewhat oblivious to having been outwitted by a dog and it got to be fascinating to watch her. She polished her act to where she would politely ask him to open the door without tipping her hand that she wanted the chair, and those of us who knew her MO got endless amusement watching her outsmart each person with the many variations on her little con game. One friend whom I shall call "Kenny" because it is his name, never did figure out the con and the dog would shoot us a look that said "Look, the dogs gonna outsmart Kenny again" before she started her antics.
Some Excerpts below from Best Friends concerning the situation in Lebanon:
Working with BETA, we’ve looked into lots of possible options for these dogs. But there’s so much damage to the country that taking care of them there, finding them new homes in the region, or moving them one at a time to new situations is pretty much impossible.
So we’ve agreed to have Best Friends be the staging area for adoptions in the United States. We
can provide all the health and behavior assessments and home checks, and then the dogs will be
able to go directly to GOOD NEW ADOPTIVE HOMES.
Some people may ask why we’re helping animals abroad when the needs are still great in our
own country. But this important rescue effort won't affect the regular work of Best Friends, and
we see it as a major opportunity to show the value of kindness and caring in a region that’s so
dominated by hatred and violence.
[...]
THE PLAN is to fly all 150 dogs to the United States as soon as possible. Most likely we’ll need
to drive them from Lebanon to Jordan and fly them from there. And once they’re at Best Friends,
we’ll give them further health and behavior checkups, and move them to their new homes as quickly as possible.
[...]
What’s the situation regarding animal refugees in Israel?
We’ve asked rescue groups on both sides of the border to keep in touch with us regarding
emergency needs. We haven’t had any emergency requests from the Israeli groups, and you can
see, just from general news reports, that the great majority of the damage and suffering is on the Lebanese side. So that’s where the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and other humanitarian
organizations are focusing their efforts, too.
For example, we’ve heard tremendously sad reports, over the last few days, about what’s
transpiring at the Ghbayri Zoo in Lebanon, and we’re trying to help out on that front, too. The
zoos in Israel, as far as we know, are not in dire straits. Basically, we’re just going wherever the need is greatest.
What’s happening with other species (beyond dogs and cats)?
We’re working directly with BETA to ensure that emergency food can be brought to the animals
at the zoo, and we’re working to have them moved somewhere else. (Bear in mind that they are
the “property” of the owner of the zoo, so this will take some negotiation.) And of course, there
are other domestic animals, like donkeys and horses who are in great need. We have not yet been
able to address that situation.
Can you reunite the pets with their original families?
Very few of them have collars and tags, microchips, or any other ID. So there’s little likelihood of
reunions.
I tried to make a donation, but it didn’t go through.
It should be fine now. We had a couple of reports of donations not going through. If that happens, just wait a few minutes and try again. And thanks for your patience!
[...]
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
* YOUR DONATION, large or small, for this rescue effort is invaluable. To add your support to
the Best Friends Rescue Fund, please go to: https://www.bestfriends.org/donate/NRF.cfm
* DO YOU HAVE CONTACTS IN THE AIR TRAVEL WORLD? We need to evacuate the dogs in just one or a very few large loads. If you can help organize and/or secure the donation of such a flight, this will be a huge help. Please e-mail rebecca@bestfriends.org.
* ADOPTIONS: We already have a lot of adoption applications, and we’ll be taking more. But
right now we need to focus on the evacuation. So we'll let you know more about adoptions later.
* CATS: Yes, cat lovers, there are cats, too! But they don’t yet have health certificates, and
there are some other issues to be sorted out before we can start working on that. Meanwhile, we
have plenty on our hands getting the dogs taken care of. So we’ll have more on the cats after that.
Again, you can get up-to-date news every day at: http://network.bestfriends.org/middleeast
Thanks so much. And please keep this major rescue effort in your thoughts and prayers, too.
Together, we can all play a part in salvaging some truly innocent creatures from the carnage of
war.
Eric -- thanks for letting me post these updates here.
-L
And *Thank You* L for posting the BETA updates here.
I just came from the Best Friends' site, and since I hadn't bookmarked the pages, couldn't find them. But found the new info here!
A dog's brain will never be fully humanized,as your post states, it can only be dog-ized. So you must be talking about the baby. And dogs are better able to fend for themselves than any baby. And reason, also.
I've never liked the reference of people's pets as their "fur babies". Unless one is referring to kittens and puppies, the animals are adults of their species and are not "babies" or "children".
Further update on the situation in Beruit:
Beta has been down to the zoo in Tyre, and all the animals survived thanks to staff that stayed to look after them. Food is in short supply, so BETA has been taking food for the animals. A day's feed for the animals currently costs $660US, but Beta is trying to ensure that the animals receive the food they need regularly.
Beta has tried negotiating with the owner of the zoo, however the owner refuses to give up the animals stating that they are his living, and that they are the only "educational" program for schoolchildren. Beta has offered to arrange for another education program such as documentary movies, however the zoo owner has refused. He has, however, agreed to work with Beta to improve the standards at the zoo.
Beta is now also making recue runs down into southern Lebanon. Many of the normal roads are destroyed, so they are having to go off road to reach their destinations. I believe that gas is also in short supply still, and they have to line up for gas -- at times for as much as 3-4 hours.
They are unable to bring back all the animals that they see, so they are leaving food and water to help the animals survive. They are bringing back some animals, such as those in need of medical attention. At one point they even had a dog between the driver's knees to fit an extra animal in the vehicle.
In one case, they came across an injured dog with a badly infected ear, tied around the waist with no food or water. Beta felt that the dog would not survive without medical attention, so they had to negotiate with the owner, and ended up trading $200US worth of food and supplies for the dog. In a place devasted by war, the animals are now being seen as bargaining chips, and I suspect that this will put an additional strain on Beta's resources.
And don't forget the oil spill on the Lebanon coast, which has devasted the local wildlife, and which is also producing a toxic spray containing class 1 carcinogens. The effects of the oil spill will be felt for years to come.
As always, updates are available at http://network.bestfriends.org/middleeast/news/ or http://beta.beirut.com/index.php (among other places). Donations can be made either directly to Beta, or through Best Friends.
-L
A memorial group for the animals of Katrina has been set up at http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=katri
Please take a moment to light a candle in memory of the first aniversary of Katrina.
As a further memorial, please consider making a donation to ARNO at http://www.animalrescueneworleans.com/
They are still feeding and trapping animals on the streets of New Orleans, and they are again running critically short of donations.
While the numbers of animals on the streets have diminished, they still require over 200 bags of food per week for the feeding stations.
Arno needs your help to keep these animals alive, and to resuce them. Please help them help these pets who have endured so much.
Please sign a petition to help bring animals from Beruit to Best Friends in the US.
Cross posted from the Best Friends site:
Petition for the homeless animals in the war zone -- August 25
August 25, 2006 : 12:00 AM
Dear Members & Friends,
The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is quite fragile. And for the animals caught in the war
zone, life is still very precarious. We urgently need your help in evacuating some of them to safety.
Best Friends is working with groups in both Lebanon and Israel. This e-mail is about how we are
organizing an evacuation of about 300 dogs and cats from around Beirut.
The animals are in the care of BETA (Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) –– a truly
dedicated group and Lebanon’s only animal welfare organization.
In the early days of the bombing, when their shelters were being damaged, BETA volunteers
moved all the dogs to a farm in the hills outside Beirut. This looked like a safer situation. But
now local people are complaining about the dogs and are threatening to poison them at night. This creates an increasingly urgent situation.
Hundreds of people in the United States have offered to adopt these displaced pets, and Best
Friends is acting on behalf of BETA to make this possible.
The big challenge is organizing the transport. Several carriers have agreed to bring the animals to
the United States, and at discounted prices. And we have now spoken with the Israeli Embassy
about the possibility of lifting the blockade that is still unofficially in place so that we can get the transport under way.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION: We have set up a respectful petition to the government of the
State of Israel, supporting our request and asking them to lift any blockade that may be in place
and that could prevent the evacuation of these homeless pets. Please view and sign the petition here:
http://network.bestfriends.org/petitions/detail.aspx?pn=3
SPONSOR THE EVACUATION: We’re estimating a further cost of about $200 for each of the 300 cats and dogs who will be brought to the United States. (They’ll be coming to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary for further health and behavior checks, and then on to new homes.) Your donation to this effort, large or small, will be a huge help. Basically, we can’t do this without you. You can make a donation here:
https://www.bestfriends.org/donate/NRF.cfm
This rescue effort is now moving into high gear. We’ll have updates throughout the weekend and
next week on how it’s developing. So please check back at this page regularly.
As always, thank you for caring. And let’s join together in the simple knowledge that kindness to
animals can help us all reach beyond our human conflicts and bring us one small step closer to peace.
Michael Mountain
Best Friends Animal Society
P.S. We’re still gathering information on what the urgent needs are for displaced pets in Israel, and we’ll address this in our next e-mail. But there is only one animal rescue group in the whole of Lebanon, supply routes are blocked and the most critical need right now is to evacuate the
group of dogs and cats in their care to safety. Thank you so much for being part of this.
-L
Animals have no soul, you must be talking about the human baby.
You have one great webpage. I have been following it for a long time. Thank you for all you do Eric.
cenet@csnowire.net
I forgot my user name and password.
Angie L. cenet@csnowire.net
Wow! That is such a cute picture! And I say both:)
P.S. Eric Rocks!
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