Yeah, putting down a dog that bites people is sometimes the only option, but the way it was worded sounded more like "it wasn't a golden genius and I didn't like it, so I shot it instead of putting any effort into training it"

[–] InputZero@lemmy.ml 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Someone with one brain cell and a shred of morality would re-home the dog first. At least try too. Growing up near farmers it wasn't uncommon for them to give someone else a dog when that dog was a bad farm dog but could be a family dog. I've known farmers and they don't act like Governor Noem.

[–] SirSamuel@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I have a friend that works with a rescue group in Colorado, almost exclusively for cattle dogs. They rescue and re-home the dogs for a variety of reasons. The most prevalent is the dog can't work anymore and will be put down. That's it. It got too old and is consuming resources without producing.

I'm not saying all farmers and ranchers are like this, but the mentality certainly exists. These people see certain life as a commodity only, and it often extends to cruelty to "lower life". It's even at the root of calling people who aren't in their tribe "lower life", and devaluing them accordingly

[–] InputZero@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Those same farmers I was talking about before have absolutely put down their own animals. They've shot their dogs when they're old and it's time. One family in particular let their cats "rejoin with nature" aka, just leaving it outside until a predator gets it. I think that's crewl but I can accept those cats are farm cats, not house cats and had lived 'in nature' their whole lives. I've even heard about culling day when they plan to shoot the less useful animals. They get the right ammo, carts, make plans for what they will do with the carcass.

What they don't do is shoot a young dog because it's not what they hate it, then follow up with shooting a goat too and are pleased with themselves. That's a bright red flag for anti-social or psychopathic behavior, I can never remember which is which. The farmers I know see culling their livestock as a task or a burden, but I've never heard a farmer tell me they take pleasure from it like Governor Noem did in her book. Unprompted I must add.