Well I posted our herding videos online and got a lovely email from someone who told me how horrible it was that I allowed my dogs to torture those poor sheep (to shortly put it).


.......

While I'm not going to respond to this email... I was just in shock. There was no blood... there was no hurting of the sheep... they rotated said sheep so none were stuck in the ring with dogs for too long...

I just.. wanted to see what others thought of this accusation. Do you think herding is evil? Are the sheep being tortured?

Yes accidents happen but none did that day.

I feel this person just saw a video and shouted out their first thought without looking information up or what herding actually is.

Should I even reply to this or leave them be? It sounds like someone who wanted to argue just for the sake of arguing.

Views: 345

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

That is a good way to think of it. They're working for their food by running away lol.

I had my own dad ask me why I would own dogs. Now being a dog owner himself he was just curious to see what his daughter would reply. Such is my family.

So I told him they work for their food by bringing us enjoyment. A home to come to that's not empty and a large number of activities to do with just one animal that we wouldn't think of doing ourselves. Even simple things like going for a walk outdoors everyday.

He seemed to like that answer.
I don't know about you but I can't ever just let things go. If I were to reply to them, it would be with facts and reasons as to why you herd. I cannot stand when people jump to conclusions. Where was the video you posted? I don't think herding is evil. I think it is intelligent and useful. Ask those people if they had a flock of sheep, if they would want to do all that work by themselves. It wouldn't even be possible. I wouldn't worry about it.
No after all the replies I decided its not worth my time to reply. I posted the videos on youtube and blog. I figured it just comes with the territory of putting stuff like this out there. You can't make everyone happy and everyone angry has to try to start a mob rally lol.
I wouldn't respond either! It just might make them all the madder and you would be wasting time. Sometimes letting go of something like this for me is hard but I find it the best solution! My Wynn herds my chickens so would this be worse than sheep?
The sheep where Jordan went herding weren't afraid of Jordan in the least he was scared of them!! One even turned around and advanced on Jordan stamping one leg...... So I'd say expereinced sheep aren't in the least negativly impacted by being moved by dogs.
Wow the movie Babe must have really ticked those kind of people off LOL
At the end of the day if whoever emailed you feels that the enimals are being hurt, frightened unnecessarily or put in situations thats are aviodable (such as herding for fun/sport) they are not going to change their mind regardless what you say. Someone also mentioned the website petakills.org but I dont know why we would assume this came from someone who supports PETA. I believe strongly in animal rights and not a strong advocate of PETA. I practice a vegan lifestyle and do what I can to help out in the world :) That being said, I have not made my mind up about herding especially because I have not seen enough of it to make a judgement.
I certainly love that my dogs have this instinct to herd (you should see the two of them with each other, going low, moving in, running) and I even believe that I am going to let Mickey give it a go at herding this summer and see if he enjoys it but not before going and observing the conditions of the animals and if I think it is pushing the line, if I feel there is any abuse at all then no way. "These people" who emailed you are only concerned about animal welfare and that is not something we can get mad at, regardless if we believe it is justifable or not. Its a complicated subject which is not just black and white.

RSS

Rescue Store

Stay Connected

 

FDA Recall

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Recall

We support...

Badge

Loading…

© 2024   Created by Sam Tsang.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report a boo boo  |  Terms of Service