No I’m not a fascist (at least I hope not…)
I’m trying to understand why we’ve normalised the idea of eugenics in dogs (e.g. golden retrievers are friendly and smart, chihuahas are aggressive, etc.)¹ but find the idea of racial classification in humans abhorrent.
I can sort of see it from the idea that Nurture (culture and upbringing) would have a greater effect on a human’s characteristics than Nature would.
At the same time, my family tree has many twins and I’ve noticed that the identical ones have similar outcomes in life, whereas the fraternal ones (even the ones that look very similar) don’t really (N=3).
Maybe dog culture is not a thing, and that’s why people are happy to make these sweeping generalizations on dog characterics?
I’m lost a little
1: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/df/74/f7/df74f716c3a70f59aeb468152e4be927.png
I think a lot like you do in this regard, this is a complex topic.
At first I treated my cats like roommates almost. I gave my first kitties freedom and they paid with their lives. Now I don’t let my kitties out at all.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the “sin” was in domesticating and distributing the species in the first place. Now that the domesticated species exists and is some combination of unfit for the environment and invasive, it’s our responsibility to care for them and restrict them when necessary, including their numbers. The alternative for my cats would be a cage.
I’m an anarchist and don’t feel I have any entitlement to control any another regardless of species so this was a difficult conclusion and not necessarily consistent but I don’t like dead kitties.
That’s how I feel as well. We’ve bred multiple species that are capable of loving us and unsuitable for release (cats are killing machines, so unless you live near the Sahara, you’re condemning local wildlife by releasing a cat, and dogs will either not survive, form packs that dangerous for innocent people, or find a new owner as far as I’ve experienced wild dogs, but that might not always be the case).
I think the best way to go forward for me is to keep my current cat and try to be the best owner possible, I just don’t think it’s a choice without harm.