I do not own a dog...

[hfojvt]

84. yeah, welcome to DU

I am so good that I have been here six years longer than you have.

Oh, but I have heard that before. Some people think progressives march in lock-step and anybody who deviates - is really just a troll.

Here's the thing though. I have had now six dogs of my own, not including the 14 puppies and not including the three dogs of my childhood, or Penny, the neighbor dog who used to play fetch with me and ran free in the neighborhood when I was under 10. Mitzi, her son Blake, Vida, Dot, Jack, and their daughters Jett, (and briefly) Annie. Wow, seven, and I forgot Happy who I had for about three days until I determined that she had parvo and, on the advice of a vet, gave her back to the pound.

In my experience, not that that is universal, but generally when you get ready to go somewhere, the dog does not run away and hide, and beg with his/her eyes "please, please do not make me get in that car. Anything but that. Please, just let me stay home." No, rather, the dog does a happy dance, jumping around, virtually screaming "oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, let's go for a car ride!!!"

I would think that anybody who really owned a dog would know that. So when the cop said "why don't you just leave them at home?" Sounded a lot to me, like "why don't you just beat the crap out of them?" or "why don't you just deprive them of the thing they love the most in order to be absolutely sure that they will be safe because Big Brother knows best?"

Well, excuse me, but I am an adult. Almost 50 years old, and I will do what I can to bring joy into my dog's lives and have generally done a good job looking after their safety too. So as far as I am concerned, Big Brother can go fuck himself.