This story in yesterday's New York Times seems to us to be the epitome of humans' thoughtless behavior toward fellow living creatures under the guise of what most consider a typical business transaction. What intrigues us is this: No matter how loudly we claim to love our companion animals these days (which of course, most of us do), they're still treated like they were hundreds, even thousands of years ago-as property with very little, if any, rights under the law.
Here's the short version of what happened to Emmi, a five year old German shepherd: a company in Washington state called Kraftwerk K9, breeds, trains and sells German shepherds. A man in Long Island, we'll call him "Clueless", buys Emmi over the Internet for $7,500, ostensibly as a family pet, and the professionally trained dog (according to Kraftwerk K9) makes her first cross country journey. Six days later, Clueless takes Emmi back to the airport and ships her back to Washington because she just didn't work out. He described her as "an aggressive dog who posed a great danger to my family." (So a supposedly trained, intelligent, powerful breed dog is supposed to fit in with an untrained family in six days?)
Here's the kicker: Kraftwerk K9 refused to take back the dog because it was past their 72 hour return policy-so no one was there to pick up Emmi, who then spent the night in a local shelter. The next day, the company's owner, who accused Clueless of abandonment, reluctantly picked up Emmi, but refused to return his $7500. Fighting over payment of the dog continues.
We have so many beefs with this scenario, but will start with this question: there is so much information available to humans these days on the proper choosing, care and training of dogs-and we all know how many great dogs are available from shelters and rescues, pretty much for free. So why would a person not avail themselves of any of that information and just pay the big bucks to have an "already trained dog" shipped across country to them? And then not seem to have even the most basic empathy for the dog's situation: flying across country, new home, new people, little time to adjust. And don't get us started on the company, which seemed not to care if the prospective owner was able to handle such a trained dog, as long as they made their exorbitant fee.
Now that you've heard our take, we'd love to know what you think about this story. Have at it!
Photo of Emmi, courtesy of the New York Times
Here's the kicker: Kraftwerk K9 refused to take back the dog because it was past their 72 hour return policy-so no one was there to pick up Emmi, who then spent the night in a local shelter. The next day, the company's owner, who accused Clueless of abandonment, reluctantly picked up Emmi, but refused to return his $7500. Fighting over payment of the dog continues.
We have so many beefs with this scenario, but will start with this question: there is so much information available to humans these days on the proper choosing, care and training of dogs-and we all know how many great dogs are available from shelters and rescues, pretty much for free. So why would a person not avail themselves of any of that information and just pay the big bucks to have an "already trained dog" shipped across country to them? And then not seem to have even the most basic empathy for the dog's situation: flying across country, new home, new people, little time to adjust. And don't get us started on the company, which seemed not to care if the prospective owner was able to handle such a trained dog, as long as they made their exorbitant fee.
Now that you've heard our take, we'd love to know what you think about this story. Have at it!
