26
Aug
Dogs Taking the Moral High Ground Over Humans
- posted at 3:43 PM
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Matt here (before you run off, don’t worry, her highness is back tomorrow!)
Scientists at the University of Vienna have released a study that – according to this article from the Mail - claims “living with humans has taught dogs morals.” The researchers state that the dogs’ sense of fairness is directly related to their contact with humans.
Now I may be as mad as Mad Jack McMad, but I always thought that humans were more well known for their systematic abuse of the world and all its inhabitants, wars, social control, power struggles, dominance – all brought about by yep….us! Not at all how I envisage the canine species, which in my contact with them has been filled with love, caring and loyalty. In my opinion, the latter traits in humans are often well hidden by the former..
This story from Argentina is a good example: A 14-year-old girl abandoned her newborn baby outdoors, in winter, in the middle of the night. When the baby was found, she was being kept safe and warm – not by the human being who left her to die or by any other human but by a dog.
The dog, called China, was keeping the baby girl safe among her own puppies and, perhaps seeing that she was weirdly hairless, had even covered her with a rag! Authorities theorize that China found the baby outdoors and carried her back inside. If not for China, the baby would have died unprotected against the cold outside.
So let’s face up to it – who should learn from whom here?
My dog taught us to slow down when we go for a walk, to stop dashing about, stop pulling him along, take time to think and smell the air. I used to rush him so I could get back indoors but one day it hit me that going outside was a big part of his life and I felt very small. The longer he lives, the more I learn what’s important in life.