http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/westview/story/4026871p-4638305c.html

A dog's life can be ugly

Thu Aug 23 2007

Peter Vincent
Last week I drove past a dog lying by the side of the road, motionless. I drove past, not wanting to think the worst, not wanting to get embroiled in the drama of having to deal with a wounded or dead dog. I turned up the music and adjusted my sunglasses.

Halfway to town, I U-turned, ashamed of myself. What if the dog was hurt or worse yet, dying, lying on the side of the road, its last moments on Earth in agony, with no comfort, no one to bear witness?

I often turn up the music, adjust my sunglasses, avoiding the responsibility of being a witness to catastrophe or inhumanity. Miners die in Utah, a black death 1,600 below the surface. Minneapolis commuters plummet into the Mississippi River as a bridge collapses beneath their vehicles. Dogs die every day.

Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback has pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges. Why would Vick get involved with such a gutter sport? It's not like he needs the money. It must be the thrill of watching two dogs tear each other to pieces.

This debacle could ruin Vick's lucrative football career -- and will likely mean 12 to 18 months in prison.

To many, that's just not good enough. Of the 7,200 respondents to a recent poll on DogCatRadio.com, 72 per cent felt that, if convicted, Vick should get the death penalty. Tit for tat.

Dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states, illegal in Canada, illegal in the civilized world. That doesn't mean it doesn't go on, day in, day out. In a recent edition of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, I saw unspeakable horrors to the point where I had to turn away. A dog with its jaw duct-taped shut is thrown into a pit with another dog, to train the other dog how to kill. Defenceless. There was footage of dogs with 50 pound chains around their necks to strengthen them standing in six inches of mud and feces. How can humans act so alien? How can the rest of us simply switch channels to The Simpsons when our viewing pleasure is not so pleasurable? How can we simply turn up the music and adjust our sunglasses?

Incidents like the Vick story happen regularly in North America. A dog is dragged behind a pickup. A puppy farm is discovered in despicable condition. In Toronto, a Humane Society worker smashed a window in an SUV to rescue a Rotweiller allegedly suffocating from the heat. He then handcuffed the owner to his vehicle while he got the dog medical attention. An angry mob conducted some serious vigilante justice on the offender.

The humane society worker has been suspended, precipitating an avalanche of protests demanding his reinstatement. We take our dogs seriously in North America.

Individual tales like a dog left in a hot car are disturbing, but pale in comparison to what is going on in China. This month, the Chinese government slaughtered 50,000 dogs -- pets -- because of three rabies deaths. Teams would enter villages at night, make a lot of noise, causing the dogs to bark behind closed doors, a simple but effective locating device. They would drag the dogs out into the street and club them to death, often with the tearful owners looking on.

In pre-capitalist China, pet ownership was considered bourgeois, an evil western affectation. Still, today, there are strict limits on the size of a pet. Licences are very expensive.

The Chinese government hasn't quite come up to speed with public opinion. The outcry for this 50,000 dog atrocity, both internationally and internally, has created a major bureaucratic tsunami. There have been cries to boycott the upcoming Beijing Olympics and all Chinese products. PETA, the international organization for animal rights and welfare is spearheading the boycott, canceling a $300,000 order for Chinese merchandise.

But again, this pales to other made-in-China inhumanities. Dog meat is still on the menus of most restaurants off the tourist grid. Chinese men eat it to increase their virility. What century are we living in?

Oh, and then there is the small matter of the estimated two million dogs slaughtered every year in China for their fur. It is still perfectly legal to import and sell dog and cat fur in Canada. Next time you buy a nice pair of fur lined gloves or a parka with a fur trim, take a moment to remember the dog hanging on a hook, still alive, being bled out through a severed artery in its hind leg.
The U.S. has banned the importation of dog and cat fur. Australia has banned it. Italy, France, Denmark, Greece, Belgium, Switzerland -- they have all banned pet fur. Canada still welcomes the trade.

You need to put that parka with the fur trim back on the rack. It may cost you a little more for a "Not-made-in-China" coat. It may cost you a little more to buy toothpaste that isn't tainted with antifreeze, or toys that aren't coated in lead paint, or dog food that won't cause kidney failure. These are all individual choices that will define what kind of a society we want to live in. Integrity has a price.

That dog lying beside the road? I stopped beside it and rolled down my window. The old black lab, all frosted grey around the face, lifted his head and gave me a wag -- soaking up the sun. I tossed him a biscuit and got on with my day.

Peter Vincent is a writer who lives on Salt Spring Island