I sincerely feel sad for you that the concepts of a broad sense of empathy and deep connections with others who don’t share half your DNA seem like such difficult mental exercises, and that you assume those who choose not to act against their values are somehow less moral or caring about society. I don’t know who failed you, but it was certainly someone important.

You’re accusing others of extremism in the same breath as you make one of the silliest slippery slope arguments I’ve come across. You think those who choose not to have children due to climate concerns are sitting back, over consuming resources, and thinking they’ve done enough? That’s not an extreme assumption?

Be careful, you’re treading awfully close to hypocrisy.

True, but not people they care about. I can only imagine the mental gymnastics it must take to be this apathetic about such drastic increases in maternal mortality and trauma, and yet still sincerely believe you’re a moral and decent person.

Women are dying, being jailed, and forced to carry unwanted pregnancies because this archaic soapbox is getting its long awaited crawl out of the dark ages. It costs zero dollars to mind your own fucking business, and now we’re paying in lives because some people are weirdly obsessed with controlling strangers’ lives.

I’m curious why you assume almost all were willing participants. I’m also concerned with the use of the word “coerced”.

The promise of good money doesn’t ensure willingness, and just because workers are “street level” doesn’t mean they aren’t being exploited.

Mental health is health, and treatment for these conditions are healthcare.

Voter roles are registration are effective. I vote in almost every election, and they can tell my ballot status when I go in. My vote is tied to my address and other factors, so it seems like it would be clear if I wasn’t a legal citizen.

I also have to show a government ID when I vote, but it doesn’t seem like that’s made a big difference in the security of the elections I participate in.

Won’t somebody think of the rapist’s feelings?

I’m sorry to be this person, but that’s an albatross chick. They are struggling to reproduce because of this problem. 😞

One of the freed hostages talked about that in the article. Her husband is still being held. They appear to know.

This isn’t entirely accurate. Unless it’s a repeat offender when it comes to biting or the animal is exhibiting symptoms of illness, the general practice is for the animal to be quarantined for ten days either at home or a veterinary clinic or shelter. The animal must have exams performed by a veterinarian every few days to check for signs of illness. At the end of the ten day period, the animal must have one final exam to be released from quarantine. After each exam a report must be sent to the county humane officer.

This is the protocol in the state of Wisconsin. I’ve worked in shelters and veterinary clinics in the state, so this is something we deal with regularly. Last year we even had a dog bite another person while they were supposed to be quarantining at home. That dog was not euthanized.

What a shame your mother missed her opportunity to experience it

Agreed. On a sad note, when puppies come in to a veterinarian for tail cropping and dewclaw removal procedures they are not anesthetized. While it’s done in a sterile, more safe way, it’s still torture. The puppies scream. I hate being in the building for those appointments. Ear and tail cropping, declawing, de-barking, and all physical modifications for nonmedical reasons should be outlawed everywhere.

I work in veterinary medicine, and it’s alarming how many calls we get like this. Just last night a potential new client called saying their breeder told them Ragdoll cats can’t get the rabies vaccine without later developing cancer. The client point-blank told us the breeder was more knowledgeable than our doctors. What do you even say that wouldn’t get you fired?

As I said, dog bite and behavioral euthanasia reports are murky at best, and rely upon nonexpert information. I’m sorry, but a picture graph with no information on how the information was obtained, what verification was involved, etc. is no better than a Facebook share. That’s my point. Information is hard to qualify, quantify, and assess. Trying to oversimplify such a complicated issue is not going to get to the root of the problem.

It’s really disheartening to see Reddit’s irrational pit bull venom is just as present here. Notice how rarely you see comments from animal industry professionals chiming in with these opinions. It’s not because professionals don’t have their own breed biases, and they don’t typically keep quiet about them, either. It’s that most people with a lot of day-to-day experience with dogs don’t share this opinion. Their experiences don’t match public perception.

Bite statistics and behavioral euthanasias both in private and public spheres are anything but transparent. They also often rely upon witness statement accuracy, which is not reliable nor scientific. There simply isn’t enough accurate information available to support such a vitriolic, knee-jerk reaction to a dog’s breed in and of itself. There are too many variables to consider to accept that mindset as rational.

I encourage anyone who cares about these issues and who loves animals and people to consider volunteering. There are a lot of opportunities out there that you might be surprised are available. It’s not just shelters who need volunteers, either, and you can find opportunities in an array of different settings and ways of helping. You might find that experience will give you a broader understanding of how complex these problems are, and how we can work to solve them.