Domestic Dog Abuse

Domestic dogs were used throughout history, and are still used for purposes that, if we consider dogs man's best friend, are bizarre, at least. They are very often abused, both physically and mentally. Somewhere they are bred for meat, fur, lab experiments, used as circus attraction or similar types of amusement. Breeds are being created, dog shows turn into business, they are used in sports in which they are mostly abused. Military and police are training them for special tasks, which have nothing to do with dogs' way of life, by abusing the conditional reflex to train them to discover explosive devices or drugs.

Domestic dogs are at some places still used as food. 12 million dogs is being eaten in Asia in one year. Their hair is used to make wool, while skin and fur is used to make clothes. Many purebred and mongrel dogs are used as test animals.

Sending dogs to space was a horrible experience for them – huge stress as well as in lab testings. Siberian dog Laika was the first dog to be sent into space. It happened on the 3rd of November 1957. She was the only member of the crew on Soviet spacecraft "Sputnik 2". At that point, there were no solutions to bring back the spacecraft so the decision to put Laika on the flight was the decision to sacrifice her – in the name of sience.
In war, very often would happen that domestic dogs would be doing difficult tasks and get killed, no matter the fact that the war did not interest them nor was their responsibility.

Circus dogs do what they are told but do not enjoy it. They are conditioned with treats and in that way taught to perform tricks that entertain humans.
Creating breeds, modification of breeds, influence of dog show standards, affect dogs so negatively that they loose their dog functions such as instinct, senses, physical ability, healthy perception and overall health.

Milder form, often not considered as abuse, is leaving a dog in empty building, factories or companies in order to guard the property or keep intruders away. Whether the dog is in closed space or fenced yard – if it does not have enough of walking and most of the time spends on its own – it is denying the dog of its physical and social needs. A dog kept in the yard for whole day is the same as an animal in the zoo whose life in constricted space is nothing more than prison.