Is this dog cruelty?

This news has been a spectacle in the PAWS Facebook page for some time. I just had to share the link of the news anchor and the Animal Welfare Society.

For those who do not understand what they are talking about, let me just give you a brief explanation of what's currently going on.

This video was uploaded in Youtube. Upon seeing this, the Philippine Animal Welfare Society immediately looked for the owner of the dogs who was pulling the cart explaining to him that "this is a clear violation of the animal welfare act."

The owner says that the dogs are helping him in his daily living, gathering junk to sell to junk shops. The two dogs are helping him pull the cart.

The PAWS volunteer approaches the owner saying that this is wrong and it has to stop. He then gives the owner two cans of dogs food and some doggy vitamins.

Now, for the sake of discussion, do you think this is animal abuse/animal neglect/animal cruelty or not?

Share your opinions.

 

I saw an old man before have his dogs pull his cart full of junks but that old man helps in pulling the cart. I guess you can’t expect a poor guy to give his dog a well-off life but I can imagine that old man sharing his little piece of meal with his dogs. Logically speaking, the dog will live the kind of life his owner is having. Well sometimes better because there are people who only have their dog as family and as source of joy so they make sure they take care or feed them no matter how ill or poor they are. And I know dogs would gladly help his owner in doing some chores, the working dogs you call them, but not to the extent that the dog is doing all the work, and a really hard work for that matter where the dog is also being deprived of other good things in life like playing, grooming and eating enough. Worst if the owner lashes the dog to keep it going or because he’s just plain mad. Obviously that would be cruelty.

 

I agree that it will be cruelty if the dogs are pulling alone and not properly fed and being hit.
His dogs in the video seems to be happy to help him and earning, they can all eat better than nothing. Better if dogs will not pull heavy loads or the owner will really be the one exerting more effort in pulling the cart.

 

If you are pulling your dog along like a old rag then its cruelty. Also if you're not feed him or treating him like a human being then I see it as cruelty also. People say it's a stupid dog but it's not, for me it's family.

 

I understand what you mean, King Browny. Although dogs weren't born to pull loads (except for some breeds like Huskies), less fortunate people who wish to take care of them and make a living would surely consider doing this. And to be honest, I wouldn't mind as long as the dog is being fed and cared for well. I've seen the poor and homeless take better care of their dogs than some middle class ones.

Zararina: That was the point of the question. Some dog lovers have passionately defended the PAWS for their action saying the dogs are so unfortunate, while others have said that the media are sensationalizing this news and the PAWS' action was overrated.

Back to the thread's main point, as I've mentioned before, the man had said that his dogs help him pull the cart because pulling it alone would be too heavy for him. And if you see the dogs, they hardly look famished, panting or even physically battered at what they were doing. Which is why the question was, with all that you've read or have understood about this story, do you think this was animal cruelty?

 

Basing on the wellness of the dog, I mean, in a poor man’s capacity to care for them, I would say No but it’s really hard to answer the question base on one video because we don’t know what’s really going on between the man and his dogs, the kind of relationship they have. They could have asked the neighbors or the clients, where this man hauled junks, if this man is maltreating the dogs other than having them pull the cart, or some passersby tell of this man as abusing his dogs… I don’t know. There are really other factors before you can even weigh up a person. I mean there are owners who battered their dog, throw them somewhere, give or sold them to be eaten. This man keeps his dog and feed them. I mean take the dogs from this man and what’s left of him?

 

Exactly, King Browny! Some people have judged this man immediately and have applauded PAWS' actions when all they did was get out of their van and talk to the owner. They did not go to see the living conditions of the dogs nor did they ask the neighbors or the surrounding people about him. I doubt they even made a physical assessment of the dogs before they considered it animal cruelty.

They could have tried checking the collar area of the dog and see if it had been bruised or had patches of baldness because that will certainly show that the load is too heavy for them to pull, but there hadn't been anything like that.

 

Maybe we should push PAWS to investigate further and see for themselves if they overreacted or not. The concerned ones should be informed.
Like in any crime case, there has to be investigation and hearing before you can say a person is guilty because we could be judging the wrong person and the real offender is on loose. How about sharing this topic on our social network.

 

You would have to investigate more, if the dogs are properly fed, and his little thing he has setup evenly distributes the work load then that with him properly feeding them and not beating them, then I don't see abuse. I see people who get dogs that are meant to be outside either playing or working because it is in their DNA and they are stuck inside on the couch all day and night with a lazy owner. That's abuse to me.

 

Speaking frankly, I think that PAWS volunteer is just being a discomfort in the posterior.

I understand that he may have sincere intentions but somehow I get the feeling that he has no idea at all about how people live with dogs. Maybe he should go and have a look at how, in other countries, dogs are working animals and not just pampered dolls.

At the very least, he can look it up in the internet. I hope he has heard of Google.