Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

Transgenic animals again

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First mice, then beagles, and now marmosets.

These fluorescent transgenic monkeys differ from those developed last year in that they apparently are able to pass on the modified gene to their offspring. According to an article in UK’s Telegraph, having a non-human primate model for disease research could be extremely valuable due to the close genetic relationship of the marmosets with humans.

If, as most of the reporting on this type of research indicates, these animals are able to help us more quickly find cures to currently incurable neurological diseases such as Huntington’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease, then perhaps it makes sense for we humans to play God.

There is still something about genetic modification that bothers me on a gut feeling, can’t say exactly why level.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 31 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 127 of 274)

Dog days

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I enjoy watching almost all sports occasionally, but I’m not a real fan of any Chicago sports teams. I really don’t care for baseball at all. So it’s no surprise that once again I missed the White Sox Dog Days on Wednesday, May 20. I’ve always thought I might like to go once, just so one of my dogs can walk on the field. And I have always had at least one South Side or south suburban born dog, so I suppose they would not have objected too strenuously to being dressed in Sox garb. Well, maybe a bandana or cap at least. Axel was born in the south suburbs and Freya in the northwest suburbs, so there would actually be a cute Sox-Cubs rivalry dress-up thing we could do there if they’d put up with clothing.

Maybe next year!

I want to take a second to look back to another Sox Dog Day, though: the one ten years ago when they almost banned Rottweilers and Pit Bulls from attending. It was one of many times I’ve seen the power of the Internet at work. The listmembers of Rottie-L, a Rottweiler e-mail discussion list, went into action at the urging of one of the Chicago area listmembers. Hundreds of emails and faxes went to the promotions manager of the White Sox. Rottweiler and Pit Bull people were also lucky to have radio host Steve Dale’s support. When he found out that the Sox were planning to discriminate against these breeds, he informed them he would not be participating should they go that route. The Chicago Veterinary Medical Association also pulled their support of the event. Ultimately, the Sox admitted their error, and the event has been open to all breeds ever since. As it should be. It really is the responsibility of dog owners to determine whether their dog, of any breed, is well trained and of suitable temperament to attend and enjoy a large group event like Dog Days.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 22 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 118 of 274)

Not-so-good news of the dog

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Wow. I wrote on Monday about two separate incidents in Chicago where a pet dog went into Lake Michigan, followed by its owner, followed by emergency workers and a successful rescue:

These stories won’t be cute little human interest pieces any longer once they result in serious injury or death of any of the involved parties, or what to me would be even worse, injury or death to a police officer, firefighter or emergency medical personnel who was involved in rescuing someone from an incident probably of their own making.

When I wrote that, I hadn’t yet seen a story from the UK in which the parents of a seven-month-old baby girl drowned while attempting to save their two dogs from an undertow in the River Garnock. Very sad and very possibly preventable, as were the incidents in Chicago.

I think we dog owners, especially city dog owners, get caught up in wanting our dogs to be able to run free now and then, and lose sight of what could happen, not only to them but to us.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 13 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 109 of 274)

My dogs love me. But for sure they don’t like…

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Eric Zorn. Or Jon Katz.

Let me backtrack. On Tuesday, Jess Craigie jumped into Lake Michigan to rescue her 2-year-old mixed breed dog, Moxie, who had gone off the pier chasing seagulls at North Avenue beach in Chicago. Both were rescued by the everyday heroes of the Chicago Police Department and Chicago Fire Department, and everyone is going to be fine.

Arguably, Moxie should not have been off-leash, which basically is what started the entire chain of events. And it would certainly be a much different story if Ms. Craigie or a CPD or CFD rescuer had been injured or killed in the process.

Since everyone is alive and well, though, what exactly is the point in an entire column about why our dogs don’t love us? And worse yet, using Jon Katz as the “expert” to “prove” this? A Good Dog is right up, or should that be down, there with Marley and Me as a dog story that brought me to tears, but not for the usual reasons. More like tears of frustration about these dogs’ lives.

My dogs love me. And your dogs (probably) love you. Yes, they are opportunistic little bastards. The way they scheme and scam makes me smile, because it shows me how they think and solve problems. But I am still absolutely sure they love me and my husband. Whether or not we have food or toys or any other thing that dogs supposedly want on us, they still shower us with love (and since they are Rottweilers, vast quantities of spit).

I have never been a fan of Eric Zorn, and his blog post did nothing to change that. Not that he, or maybe any of you, would care.

But my dogs still love me!

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 7 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 103 of 274)

Send in the clones

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Canine cloning experiments have both fascinated and repelled me since the start of the Missyplicity Project in 1998. I am not a very religious person, but the element of playing God just does not sit right with me. Everyone wishes their beloved pet could live forever, but cloning will never be the way to get there. Genetics is important, but so is environment. There is no way to duplicate all of the external events that helped to shape any creature’s life.

Genetic modification smacks even further of playing God. This week’s announcement of the cloned fluorescent beagles left me with a whole gamut of conflicting feelings. The thought of planting disease-related genes in these dogs makes me very uncomfortable. But the thought that these techniques will be used to find cures for human genetic disease intrigues me and gives me hope. Then my feelings go in the opposite direction when I wonder what would happen if someone with a lot of money, no brains and no ethics wanted to buy one of these fluorescent dogs as a novelty item or status symbol. Notice I do not say “pet.”

Back in 2001 during a visit to Honolulu’s Bishop Museum, I saw the fluorescent mice from an earlier cloning experiment. They left me with this same vaguely uneasy feeling. Again, the technology and science angle was fascinating. The ethical implications, fascinating in a very different way.

I would be so much more able to accept all of this if there was some more public and visible evidence that progress was being made, and to see that we are in fact approaching a cure to any one of the genetic diseases that affect so many human lives. I guess all we can do is wait and see.

(NaBloPoMo | May ’09: 1 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 97 of 274)