(no subject)
I've been watching House. I like House. Momo has season 1 on DVD, and she loaned them to me, so I get to watch LOTS of House. Hee. :D Anyone know any good House fic? Gen, het, slash, whatever. Only, not het between House and that younger girl. 'Cause ew.
Anyway, I just watched one of the earlier episodes with the Jazz musician and the spinal paralysis, and those things always make me think.
Did you know that people who've broken their spines have dampened emotions? They don't tend to sink to the depths of depression like others do (though long-term mild depression is a MAJOR problem, and can lead to feeling suicidal in a, 'things are never going to get better' way rather than a 'things are hugely sucky/I hate my life SO MUCH' way)
Anyway, people with disrupted nerves in the spine don't feel as sad as we do. They also never feel as happy, as silly, as morose, as goofy, giggly, drunk, confused, clear, etc. In a way, this might be a blessing; if they never feel as depressed, they never feel as desolate about not being able to walk as they *could.* Obviously, this wouldn't be *much* help, but . . . The disruption in the spine can be anywhere from the shoulders to the tailbone, and it still affects emotions--even if the legs still work because just the end of the tailbone is paralyzed, or strange things like that.
This often makes me wonder about dogs.
Many breeds crop tails. Poodles, pitbulls, dobermans, rottwielers, most terriers--just to name a few. The tail is an extension of the spinal cord. To test where in teh spine the damage had to occur before emotions were affected, scientists used mice and rats. Even tails being hurt affected emotions.
So. A breeder has the tail cut off a dog, because that's how it's "supposed" to be. The dog spends the rest of its life feeling half the emotion it should, never being really happy or really calm or really upset or really excited. Other than the fact that I think that's a horrible fate in and of itself, I wonder how much of the emotional instability in our dogs is caused by not having proper emotions. How much are they missing? How much healthier could they be? Labs and golden retrievers are known as easy going, relaxed, balanced dogs (overall). Neither have cropped anything. Dobermans, rotts, terriers and pits often suffer from various anxieties--agression, seperation anxiety, phobias. Terriers have more energy than most breeds, but dobies and rotts don't have anymore energy than labs and goldens do. So what's the difference? Breeds? POssibly. How they're seen, and therefore how they're treated? Probably. Emotion? I don't know. But it's a thought.
There's no medical reason for a whole breed to have a tail cropped, by the way. It's a style thing. Way back when, there were reasons--terriers usually went down into holes after their prey, and if they had to be pulled out of the hole, the tail was in the way. It often got broken; it was a kindness to crop a puppy's tail, so that the owners could grab *hips* to pull them out of the hole and NOT snap their tail in two. Today, that isn't the case.
*sighs* I hate it when I see dogs with cropped tails. All I can ever think of is the dull sort of emotional life we've forced them into. I try and send a little love and some healing energy, but it isn't much. :P
I will never, ever have a dog's tail cropped.
J
Anyway, I just watched one of the earlier episodes with the Jazz musician and the spinal paralysis, and those things always make me think.
Did you know that people who've broken their spines have dampened emotions? They don't tend to sink to the depths of depression like others do (though long-term mild depression is a MAJOR problem, and can lead to feeling suicidal in a, 'things are never going to get better' way rather than a 'things are hugely sucky/I hate my life SO MUCH' way)
Anyway, people with disrupted nerves in the spine don't feel as sad as we do. They also never feel as happy, as silly, as morose, as goofy, giggly, drunk, confused, clear, etc. In a way, this might be a blessing; if they never feel as depressed, they never feel as desolate about not being able to walk as they *could.* Obviously, this wouldn't be *much* help, but . . . The disruption in the spine can be anywhere from the shoulders to the tailbone, and it still affects emotions--even if the legs still work because just the end of the tailbone is paralyzed, or strange things like that.
This often makes me wonder about dogs.
Many breeds crop tails. Poodles, pitbulls, dobermans, rottwielers, most terriers--just to name a few. The tail is an extension of the spinal cord. To test where in teh spine the damage had to occur before emotions were affected, scientists used mice and rats. Even tails being hurt affected emotions.
So. A breeder has the tail cut off a dog, because that's how it's "supposed" to be. The dog spends the rest of its life feeling half the emotion it should, never being really happy or really calm or really upset or really excited. Other than the fact that I think that's a horrible fate in and of itself, I wonder how much of the emotional instability in our dogs is caused by not having proper emotions. How much are they missing? How much healthier could they be? Labs and golden retrievers are known as easy going, relaxed, balanced dogs (overall). Neither have cropped anything. Dobermans, rotts, terriers and pits often suffer from various anxieties--agression, seperation anxiety, phobias. Terriers have more energy than most breeds, but dobies and rotts don't have anymore energy than labs and goldens do. So what's the difference? Breeds? POssibly. How they're seen, and therefore how they're treated? Probably. Emotion? I don't know. But it's a thought.
There's no medical reason for a whole breed to have a tail cropped, by the way. It's a style thing. Way back when, there were reasons--terriers usually went down into holes after their prey, and if they had to be pulled out of the hole, the tail was in the way. It often got broken; it was a kindness to crop a puppy's tail, so that the owners could grab *hips* to pull them out of the hole and NOT snap their tail in two. Today, that isn't the case.
*sighs* I hate it when I see dogs with cropped tails. All I can ever think of is the dull sort of emotional life we've forced them into. I try and send a little love and some healing energy, but it isn't much. :P
I will never, ever have a dog's tail cropped.
J