Job Discussion Forums

[Sashadroogie]

And with regard to sadism, who knows how many sadists work in abattoirs, just to get access to defenceless animals...

[spiral78]

In my experience, cows and sheep and etc are difficult to house-train; this is probably the main reason that dogs and cats get special status.

[Sashadroogie]

So, because of their utility and house-trainability, that means we shouldn't slaughter those animals. Is that it? What about feral cats and dogs? What purpose to they serve?

And for that matter, if utility is the key, does this mean we should liquidate the useless school administrators who plague us much, much more than mosquitoes do? If only because they are always in season?

[spiral78]

I already said the feral dogs should be deported to the tundras; they've essentially reverted almost back to wild anyway. Feral cats are less of a public threat, so long as their numbers stay relatively low.

In an earlier year, natural selection would have taken care of the useless administrators; perhaps one way to clear up the population now would be to ban traffic lights and speed limits. Then the fools driving cars (a significant percentage of today's fools, IMO) can naturally select themselves out of existence.

[Sashadroogie]

To go to the trouble, and risk, or rounding them up, only to deport them to the tundra, would surely not be cost-effective?

Cats do pose a health-risk - mainly as carriers of infection and disease. Lots of yucky things, urrrgghh. And they don't even kill many rats, as they are too busy stuffing themselves on urban waste food.

Traffic lights? Speed limits? You've been to Moscow, have you not? Pray, where did you see any of the Darwin-awards candidates ever pay any attention to them? They need not, safely ensconced in their jeeps.

No, so sorry to say this, but the only way forward is to physically destroy all the dangerous doggies in the city, however much that makes other posters cry. The deciding factor for me is the medical need to abstain from alcohol when taking anti-rabies shots. Can you imagine the agony!

[Sashadroogie]

Just so as we all know what we are talking about here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIEvqRmH0E0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9-MrPQV_ho&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=v_pdTLZOOvM&NR=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmtxCi7riAI&feature=related

[spiral78]

[Sashadroogie]

The problem with tranquilizers is that the beasts reawaken. Need to be put down permanently. A free train-ride to the tundra really isn't going to happen.

[spiral78]

Can we ship the bad administrators off to the tundra, then??

[Sashadroogie]

That's been done before...

...somehow they all came back. And set up shop in EFL schools...

[spiral78]

I can picture them crawling back as revenants, chewed at the edges by the feral dogs and cats that populate the tundra, eyes smoked-out holes with nothing behind them. I mean, dress that guy up in a white shirt and tie, and he'd fit right into a DOS position

[Sashadroogie]

...ssshhhh, Spiral! That's a description of the foreign teachers we get here who came to Russia for a 'gig' via the eastern countries and decided to do a 'culture class' with Moscow students...

Ain't pretty...

[artemisia]

Dogs are an interesting case. They, like cats, are frequently babied and treated by humans as �family� (many live inside), which I completely understand. Yet, no matter how domesticated they have become, they always retain their canine (pack mentality) instincts. Dogs that are family pets do sometimes attack small children. Part of the problem is that adults don�t see any potential danger in their family pet and allow unsupervised contact to happen.

I�ve read a little about training dogs and one trainer said that people need to understand that they must be �top dog�. An example of this would be out walking with a dog; it should follow along with you. You don�t allow it to stop and sniff and do all those doggy things it likes doing because it�s sending a message to the dog that it�s �top dog�. (The trainer mentioned that lots of people immediately object to this notion and say it�s unfair to the dog).

I�d not like to live somewhere where feral dogs run freely in packs; they�re truly fearsome creatures. Some dogs are specifically bred to be vicious (pitbulls come to mind, and other types of hunting dogs), and I think they should be banned from communities. As always, this is easier said than done. Some may object to the level of training this dog underwent but it definitely has the ��aw� factor! (And it looks like it�s having a good time). I doubt you could train a sheep, pig or cow to do this (!), so it's also dogs' responsiveness, affectionate natures and individual recognition of 'you' that make them have personal value to people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDySAqR7HQA

[artemisia]

On the other hand, this seemingly playful calf may also have the �aw� factor. Still, you couldn�t expect it to come running up to you to �welcome� you home after a hard day/ week of bringing the joy of English to the masses.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/cow-stops-play-football-match-151723493.html

[jaffa]

Animals are also useful language tools, eg: couldn't hit a cow's ass with a banjo, holy cow, pig's ear, dog's dinner, dog tired, cat nap, camel toe, sheep shagger, as mad as a bucket of frogs, cold fish (is it an animal?) ... I could go on, but I won't.