I've been looking at different sites for ideas if or when this whole thing goes pear shaped.
I see a lot of different scenarios, but most gloss over the whole *what do you do with your pet* thing.
We have two cats and two dogs. One dog tries to be a dog, but the other is just a fur footrest.
I could see living with them if we had enough food and water and we stayed in one place, but the dilemma is when we might have to move on foot. One cat is savvy enough that she'd be able to keep up and out of trouble- the other one is a house Tribble.
I'd be tempted to throw down a steak for the dogs and end it for them while they're doing their favorite thing.
On the other hand, should we force them to get lost (maybe) and live through the starving times in the hope that something better will come along? I don't think any of them except the cat could catch their own food, or stay out of trouble if walking free.
Any ideas, or just something for you to think about later....
The dogs might be worth their keep as alarm systems if they would do that, cats historically have earned their keep as rodent control devices(a major long term TEOTWAWKI problem).
ReplyDeleteIn the future it is worth considering the "working" ability of new pets. Pointers or hounds to help hunt as well as watch functions and non-fancy domestic short hair or Siamese queen cats who are ferocious hunters.
The key to making it work will be a combination of adaptation on the part of both man and beast. In a permanent change situation having things like they are now will be the rare exception. Animals will have to earn their keep and what is considered normal pet food will have to change. To expect otherwise is unrealistic and dangerous. Early warning systems, herd/guard duties, hunters, and pack animals are all ways dogs can pay their way.
ReplyDeleteIn truly hard times hard decisions have to be made. It would break my heart but if I couldn't justify the outlay of resources there's no doubt how I would pick between a pet and a human family member.
If you stay put, and if you have food for them, you can keep pets alive. Dogs in particular provide very useful early warning of intruders.
ReplyDeleteIf you have to bug out, you can only keep your pets as long as you can carry enough food for them, and only if they're well enough trained that you can trust them to stay with you and obey commands. If they won't do that, they're liabilities, not assets. Furthermore, many shelters won't accept pets, and you may see yours shot at the roadside or taken away in vans, never to be seen again.
Under the circumstances, you'd better be prepared to do the merciful thing for your pets yourself. It'll still suck great big rocks, but it may be the only alternative.
in TEOTWAWKI, there is a critical assumption that nothing is going to be like it was for anyone. Thus, former assumptions about what is humane and what is not also go out the window. Would you kill your children and other family members if you could not feed them either? Probably not. you would just take each day one step at a time and continue to search for resources. And share what you have with your pets as well as you are able. At some point, they become food. If you turn them loose, they become someone else's food instead of yours.
ReplyDeleteIf you had to get rid of the dogs, you would be doing the world a favor by putting them down yourself.
ReplyDeleteIn a truly horrific scenario, packs of roaming feral dogs are going to be found and they will be smart, dangerous and lethal.
These feral packs will self form when owners who couldn't keep them and couldn't bear to put them down, let them go.