If you understand the way broadly, you will see it in all things.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
Kat Green wrote:
A breeder does not keep his animals in cages. The animals are integrated into the household. He shows his animals at dog and cat shows and breeds only the winners and uses his knowledge of genetic lineage to match parents for the best outcome. He is a professional. Therefore, if you want a dog like your last dog, go to the professional.
Pecan Media: food forestry and forest garden ebooks
Now available: The Native Persimmon (centennial edition)
Works at a residential alternative high school in the Himalayas SECMOL.org . "Back home" is Cape Cod, E Coast USA.
Works at a residential alternative high school in the Himalayas SECMOL.org . "Back home" is Cape Cod, E Coast USA.
Come join me at www.peacockorchard.com
Kat Green wrote:YES, YES, YES!!! I live in a rural area and there is an overpopulation of pets and working dogs too. If you are rural and don't have enough just ask. Animal Control here will be glad to fly some to you. Desexing does not reduce their drive and does reduce health risks which any vet will confirm. I had a spayed dog who walked through fire to save my life. She was a pound puppy. A spayed or neutered animal can focus on the job without distraction of other dogs. As for saving the gene pool...I have worked for breeders and if they are very lucky, they may get 2 dogs out of every 15 produced that will have the desired characteristics. The rest of the litter just adds to the overpopulation by taking places in homes that could have been for a rescued pet. Unfortunately, puppy mills do exist an are horrific but the individuals who have one or two dogs are adding even more to the overpopulation than the puppy mills. They breed their dog to a neighbors of the same breed to make $ without knowing what genes are being combined. In my many years of experience, this has led to the current "most popular breed"'s demise. I have encountered vicious Saint Bernards, blind Mastiffs, timid Retrievers, neurotic poodles, Chihuahua with severe joint issues and currently, the pit bulls who are adding their bad side to the mix breed gene pool. Did you know that one cat can produce 10,000 kittens and grand kittens in her life time? Sustainability?? Mr Jefferies, do you really think you can just say no? The dogs and cats don't understand you. They only understand natures call to reproduce. If you have an unsprayed female, the boys will come to call. Some of you macho types think it is wrong to neuter your male but I have seen that they can still do it if a girl is handy. They wont go wandering (hit by cars, shot, lost, or "quickly dispatched " per Jay Green's post) to find it. For those of you who want to let your female have the experience of having a litter (i.e. raped, have her body torn apart 5 or more times in sequence to deliver, love her babies only to have them disappear at the hands of the owners she trusted, sicken your children by having them watch and desensitize them to suffering) think about the 9.000 pets destroyed per day in shelters in the U.S. If you haven't guessed, I am a spay and neuter activist and if I see a dog or cat that is not "fixed" wandering around, I WILL take it, spay or neuter it, and find it a new home. It might be a purebred but if you don't value it enough to treat it responsibly, you shouldn't have a pet.
Come join me at www.peacockorchard.com
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Just me and my kids, off griddin' it - follow along our shenanigans at our YouTube Uncle Dutch Farms.
Chris Kott wrote:I disagree with neutering/spaying in a permacultural context, because in my opinion if you need to spay/neuter in your system to maintain balance, you need to reevaluate your system. I think it's a practice that demands constant inputs and indicates inappropriate design choices.
I just think that the whole spay/neuter campaign thing is insufficient, as bourne out by the fact that the same message has been repeated for decades, and the situation hasn't gotten any better. Maybe we need better trade relations with North Korea (I'm sorry, I just couldn't end without a dog eating joke).
-CK
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Nic Foro wrote:The vast majority of people that follow spay and neuter religiously tend to be the same people who will not, or can not think for themselves.
Works at a residential alternative high school in the Himalayas SECMOL.org . "Back home" is Cape Cod, E Coast USA.
It's never too late to start! I retired to homestead on the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano. I relate snippets of my endeavor on my blog : www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com
There is no more Flipper. Call me "Darth Fin" from now on. Or face the wrath of this tiny ad:
permaculture and gardener gifts (stocking stuffers?)
https://permies.com/wiki/permaculture-gifts-stocking-stuffers
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