QOTW

Shoot the dam things -- it's called ethics and human dignity.

Plus maybe we should shoot the animal fanatics too -- it might be in our DNA for future human survival...

Human dignity and ethics?
As a farmboy I have had the unsavory task of dispatching all manner of animals including cats and dogs in the past. Better a bullet than disease or starvation. These pets did nothing that most of us would not do in the same circumstances. How is any of this unethical?

To paraphrase a cynical old police joke, the owners would have been happy to know their pets didn't go hungry.

I would never eat another human.
I would not associate in any way with a person who ate another human being.
I would not trust an animal that ate a human being.
I refuse to watch the movie "alive"

Put the dogs down, enough is enough.

Human dignity and ethics?

It's not a matter of being an animal fanatic....it is realistically true ethics to not support euthanizing these critters.

Ricardo would execute the victims. Sorta like terminating the survivors of a fox attack in a chicken house because they saw the fox....beyond stupid.

In many instances humans have survived by canibalizing the remains of dead companions.

The former owners, according to the Police were not victims of foul play...including being slain by the dogs. If the dogs were directly reponsible for the human deaths it would be another matter.

Rule # 1----DON'T DIE....
Rule # 2----learn rule # 1....
Rule # 3----there are only 2 rules...

humans can laugh at anything

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evExHXFtNfQ

Jay

That's your call....

It's my call to not associate or trust YOU.

Via Con Dios!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWWg5shNWR4

The correct way to dispose of a corpse.

Are those promoting killing the pets suggesting that the dogs are like man eating tigers? Once they get a taste of human flesh - watch out! Lock up your babies and kids!

These dogs were confined in a place where the only thing they could eat was dead meat.

I don't see how scavenging dead meat is like taking down live meat, killing it and then eating it.

I'm gonna make sure I leave a roast out on the counter at all times after this!

Jay be careful, someone may hold you to your declaration years from now at the site of a plane crash or on a life-raft. No need to pull straws if Jay is not going to eat...

Is a dead human somehow different than any other dead mammal? And how would the dog now our bias to respect our own dead? Did the dogs kill the owners or rather did the dogs just refuse to starve and there was a sack of meat just laying there...

I listened to the interview with Brad Pattison and agree with his assessment of the dogs. They are fine and pose no threat to anyone. The Toronto Star online edition has just reported that they have all been adopted out.

These dogs are animals, just like humans they eat meat. Don't be too quick to judge you do not know what you would do in the same circumstances.

Just ask air crash survivors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/non_fictionreviews/3652636/What-could-we-eat-but-our-dead-friends.html

It's gross, but on the other hand the doggie in the picture is cute. And Jay, that's what the guys in the Franklin expedition thought too.

(Kate will live forever; but I hope somebody checks on her and the schnauzers regularly just in case.)

Too many reporters...the dogs survived by eating their owners. I really hope that should have read, "owner".

Doowleb at July 15, 2011 2:29 PM:
"...How is any of this unethical?"

They interviewed a close friend of the deceased couple on radio the other day. She was beside herself with grief -- there's a lot more to the story. She said the dogs were seriously inbred and were already aggressive.

If it were your mom and dad, would you keep the dogs as pets? I honestly barfed up my breakfast when I heard the radio interview.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Nick Lowe!

"...she was a winner that became a doggy's dinner..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWunemmwJHM

By the way, I'm not squeamish either. I once stayed with a Native family in the mountains of New Mexico that was so poor that one winter they had to put a litter of newborn puppies through the meat grinder in order to survive. I didn't have any problem with that.

But we're talking about the dignity of human remains here. I think humans should be treated different from animals. Animals should be respected, but not overly.

decades ago I made the decision if by some inordinately remote chance, me and a very dear loved one came to be in an 'alive' situation (Im thinking of 2 particular people here), I would blow my brains out so they could extend their chances of survival.

beat that.

These were not people any more - they were carrion. If they had been finished off, the first dog to succumb to starvation would have been next. That's the way species survive. In those circumstances, I'd rather be eaten by my dogs and give them a chance at survival than be eaten by maggots anyway.

I thought all you PETA people were vegans anyway. So what's the problem with shooting human-eating mutts?

mamba

do us a favor and linkt the South Park clip (Peta episode) where the dog was eating the dead owners head. Do you remember? Sorry but I can't from here.

BTW, I hope those dogs come with breath mints.

Personally, I'm dumbfounded that this is even a national discussion.

I say "put'em down" to error on the side of caution; but, let a lunatic adopt them if they wish, and throw the pet shrink in the pen(haha) if the dog eats someone's kid.

BTW, the movie ‘alive’ left me unsettled for years.

I'd rather adopt the PETA lunatic, put him in a cage, and poke him with a stick every now and then...
;)

sasquatch,
Vaya con dios or bon appetit?

Duffman,
Good luck eating my corpse. I can only hope that CJD is the least of the side effects..

For the record, the notion that a starving animal should somehow respect a human body is ludicrous, as is the concern that these shelties might turn into manhunters as a result of tasting human flesh.

And the idiot "breeder" who stated that they were defective as a result of inbreeding doesn't know very much about inbreeding, thus disqualifying herself as an expert.

Common sense approach: evaluate each dog as an individual and if they meet normal temperament/health standards, adopt 'em out. They may indeed be poorly socialized, that's a different issue than their efforts to survive in extreme circumstances. Poorly socialized dogs can be neurologically flawed and bad prospects as pets - but that's a risk that an adopter of any SPCA dog takes when they bring it home.

Great Kate, then these dogs are forever going to be like a circus side-show for their attention-seeking owners: "Come one, come all and see the human flesh-eating shelties!"

Otherwise, why would the shelter be giving them priority for adoption over other animals? I'm sure there are plenty of other animals available, some of which will be put down before these mutts because the animal rights people are playing to the "human-eaters" porn voyeurism.

Who said they were getting priority? The SPCA has done some silly things in the past, but this case is central to their core mission. Every month they get dogs in with no real information as to their history or temperament. Strays, surrenders, problem dogs of all types. What's so special about these ones, other than they tried to survive when locked in a house without food? Many of the other dogs may be much less suitable than a Sheltie for rehoming - pit bull, rottie crosses, etc. Shelties are small, sensitive herding dogs with a superior record in obedience. If one was going to give any breed the benefit of the doubt, it would be this one!

I can only imagine waking up one night with one of these dogs staring at me and drooling. No, I wouldn't feel creeped out, not in the least.

I would feel more comfortable with Gille Duceppe adopting one of these dogs than my sister adopting one of these dogs. Just saying.

They're dogs. Owner died. They got hungry.

Happens more than you would think.

Ok Kate, to each his own. Guess I'm from a generation that does not see a problem with scaring away racoons with a shovel (or a broom handle or whatever is at hand) either -- without having to face a possible two year sentence for animal abuse!

Don't know if you heard that story from T.O., but in this city you can practically shoot up the neighbourhood at Jane and Finch and not worry about much jail time, but you dare not touch our beloved 'coons!

(pun intended -- sorta)

My head is full of distasteful cracks about "long pig" right now just to shock all the pansys that grew out of the woodwork here.

ALL animals have survival instincts including us.
Period.
I would trust one of these dogs more than many people I've met- predators and parasites to be exact.

Agree with dwright.

It would have taken a lot to bypass training and instinct for those dogs not to eat their owners.

Anyone who says they would never eat human flesh hasn't come close to starving to death yet. Do it first then I'll believe you.

I can't really see why this is such a big deal. Look at how long a road-kill doesn't survive beside a country road. When the owners died the Shelties probably were quite saddened given the death of their masters (pack leaders). They probably moped around for a while and drank from the toilette as dogs are wont to do. As they got really hungry they probably began to notice that something was beginning to smell like something they'd snacked on in a garbage can or two and voila. Bring mother nature into your house and you can expect, well, natural survival urges to kick in.

As for being afraid they've turned into man-eating Shelties, well, don't die and they probably won't look at you as a piece of rancid meat and will probably go back to their preferred food -- kibble and treats.

Sorry Indy, all the South Park clips from that episode seem to be in Spanish.

My cats can eat me if they have to. I don't mind.

an intruder enters your home and threatens death of your luved ones and **blam**, this is OK and it's survival. Fluffy the shelty is starving and eats it's dead "owner" and fluffy the shelty is a sinner????

some people need a dose of reality

Try as I might, I'll be damned if I can find anything negative in killing these dogs. On the other hand, I can think of several legitimate reasons for putting them down. What are our kids supposed to take from this debate? Are they learning there are no consequences for any action, as long as you're furry and cute?

WHAT a tempest in a teapot! (I’d not predicted the anti-dog responses here at all.)

I agree with Kate and all others here, who see these dogs acting like—well—dogs in an extreme, life or death situation.

Dogs don’t think like people: that these poor creatures should be “criticized” for “desecrating” dead human bodies, when the dogs had nothing to eat, is beyond stupid: this is anthropomorphising at its most ludicrous!

This brought back memories of soccor players eating people while starving in the
Andes. These Dogs are not rabid killers. They did what they did to survive.

A real, live "Alive" survivor relates his Andes ordeal
By Buzz McClain

http://wesclark.com/rrr/alive2.html

I agree with the posters here who give the Shelties a life line. The woman in the clip said that the owners had killed themselves - or that maybe the wife had died and her lovelorn husband had killed himself in grief. The owners obviously did not care very much about their pets; if they had they would have killed the dogs first (before themselves) or let them out of the house prior to their own demise. According to the woman it was a sort of Romeo/Juliette scenario with the killer being disease in the case of this Juliette.

Maybe the dogs were not treated very well in this house. Shelties are very intelligent little animals (as Kate has said above). Something in this story is not quite right in my mind, considering what I know about the nature of Shelties (I have known quite a few Shelties).

I think that there is more to this story; I would like to know why a husband caring for his terminally ill wife had so many dogs in the house.

Jay & Ricardo:

What's with all the animosity to these dogs?
What bee do you both have in your bonnets?
Or better yet, what are you really afraid of?
Surely not a Sheltie that was trapped with no food except a couple of dead bodies?
I'm with Kate, Brad Pattison and the Sask Humane Society - check them out and act accordingly.

Sheesh...

Both owners died at approximate same time, police say no foul play? Dogs had to wait till hunger drove them to eat, several days I would think. Didn't people not notice the couple not around and check up on them?

it's a non issue. if the dogs were vicious enough to kill and eat their owners, they likely would have done it before they were bloated rotting corpses.

If I was a beating man....I'm not but speculate with confidence, that neither Ricardo nor Jay nor coach have any pets or livestock....or should have....

I have no use for neither man nor boy, who has not had a relationship with a pup......
Samuel Clemins (Mark Twain)

I just came back from a little holiday trip from deep in southwest Alberta, and stopped by at the Frank Slide visitor center where I learned about Charley the survivor horse.

One final 'survivor' was one of the mine horses, Charlie. On May 30, a month after the slide, workers had successfully opened the mine. Inside, they found Charlie who had somehow managed to survive by drinking seepage water and chewing on the wooden coal cars and timbers. Charlie was unable to survive the welcome of his rescuers, however, and died shortly after being found from an overdose of oats and brandy.

There are many recent stories too about pets surviving long journeys when they inadvertently go somewhere where they should not by eating and drinking whatever is available around them.

I can only imagine waking up one night with one of these dogs staring at me and drooling.
~Jay

Happens all the time to me with my 8 month olde english bulldogge.
He hasn't had an human flesh yet though...

So much confusion. Dogs have survived all these centuries because of an unwritten trust that they will not turn on their masters. Face it, almost any dog over 50 lbs could kill an adult man, if it really wanted to. We have a trust factor that almost equals that of our fellow man. I've heard several accounts of dogs lying down beside the body if their dead master, and dying of cold or dehydration. These are the stories we use to justify owning a dog. My dad's dog died within a week of his passing. He just stopped eating.

The dogs in this story were not family pets, they were kennel prisoners. They never had the opportunity to form a bond with humans. After this event, I doubt they'll ever be capable of forming such a bond. They'll never view a human being with the proper respect.

Dogs, like humans, rarely practice cannibalism. It's not something to be taken lightly. Human cannibals, such as Martin Hartwell, will forever be pariahs. They cannot return to their former place in society. They may have done what it took to survive, but they will pay a price, forever. We have no obligation to make a special effort to save these dogs. Snuff them immediately.

If the dogs didn't kill their owners, they had to eat something when there was no one around to feed them.

They're dogs. They're not making fine distinctions about what to eat or what not to eat when they're starving; even when human beings are able to make these fine distinctions, as others have pointed out, they will eat other humans if that is the only sustenance available to them, albeit reluctantly.

I'm glad these dogs have found new homes. They don't deserve to die because, as dogs, they don't have human sensibilities about what food is "acceptable" and what food isn't.

WTF is wrong with you people? Now I understand the Casey Anthony verdict. If this is the jury pool, anything goes. I hope I never, by some strange coicidence, ever meet any of you. For a "conservative" blog, this site seems to be populated with people who have no conservative values, whatsoever.