What exactly possesses people…
October 11, 2009, 11:55 PM
What exactly possesses people to bring their dogs to political demonstrations? Seriously, take a look…
The dog on the left is at the teabagger march from last month, and the dog on the right is at the gay rights march that happened earlier today (full report on that later, by the way). So this appears to be a bipartisan matter. Both sides of the political fence are equally guilty here.
The way I see it, if you’re going to take someone in your care to a political demonstration, take your kids – not your dog. Or if you don’t have kids, take your spouse, significant other, or friends. At least those people can vote, or will one day be able to vote. Taking your children to political demonstrations gives the kids great exposure to how the First Amendment works, and teaches them to get involved.
But your dog? Seriously. Dogs have no interest in human politics. Dogs will never be able to vote, and dogs also really don’t care if your taxes go up or not. And besides that, protests just aren’t great places for dogs, particularly small ones. In a crowded protest scene, dogs can get their feet stepped on, and since most are below waist level (with the exception of a Great Dane, maybe), it’s easy to miss seeing them and then trip over them. Plus what if a protest suddenly turns ugly, as occasionally happens? The dog is going to be scared out of its mind, or think it’s being attacked or something when all of a sudden a situation starts to fall apart. There are times at a protest when one must be prepared to run like hell for one’s own safety, and are you really going to be able to do that with a dog, and ensure both of your safety? Additionally, some of these protest marches can be tiring on the humans, especially on a hot day. What about the dog?
So my advice to all those thinking about taking their dog to a demonstration: DON’T. Seriously, leave your dog at home. It’s being really irresponsible as a pet owner, because too many bad things could happen to an animal at a protest march. People know what’s going on and take necessary precautions. Dogs, as domesticated animals, are very much dependent on you to keep them safe, and with so much going on at these things, don’t do it.
Besides, I can almost guarantee that the dog doesn’t care about the issue, and would be more than happy to just sit at home and lick its own crotch while you go out and exercise your First Amendment rights.
Song: Kittens riding a Roomba
Quote: Meanwhile, speaking of politics, when Greta was still with us, Mom once told me on the phone that Greta was a Lyndon LaRouche supporter. Greta then started barking for some unknown reason, and Mom was like, "See, she gets very excited whenever you start talking about Lyndon LaRouche." It was highly amusing, since first of all, Lyndon LaRouche has even less of a chance at ever becoming president than Ralph Nader, plus, of course, dogs have no interest in human politics.
Categories: Activism