Another Day in the Dog Park

Nervous Dog

Dear Pearl - My two-year-old Spoodle, Donna, was rescued from a puppy farm. Suffering from anxiety, she wears a ‘nervous dog’ vest for our daily walks. Recently, I was accused of ‘dog racism’ by the owner of an unleashed, aggressive looking dog that approached her as we walked through Burrows Park. I understand that the area is off-leash, but using the term ‘racism’ is a bit beyond the pale. Can you assist by weighing in on this issue?

Julia Bronte

Breedism Is Not Racism

Dear Julia - Dog ownership is a highly emotive issue in the Eastern Suburbs, with an inordinate amount of print space devoted to canine quandaries. As such,

Pearl is more than happy to contribute to a topic that keeps on giving, particularly when your issue is a novel one.

From Pearl’s understanding, ‘dog racism’ (also known as ‘dog breedism’) is a term emanating from the United States and Britain in reaction to breed-specific legislation impacting owners of dogs deemed as dangerous by the authorities, such as dobermans, rottweilers and pit bulls. Just as humans recognise unfair prejudices based on race, owners of these ‘dangerous’ breeds believe similar prejudices exist in the dog world; that people’s fear of these breeds is irrational and hurtful and is really a form of discrimination based solely on a dog’s appearance rather than its behaviour.

Being a cat owner, dog racism was not on Pearl’s radar until recently, when I encountered a nasty exchange between a chihuahua owner and a pit bull owner on a Facebook page devoted to peace, love and kombis. On investigation, it appears that the anti-dog breedist lobby is a passionate one (despite evolutionary scientists proving that dog racism is not scientifically based and hence does not exist), and one can purchase “Breedism is racism” t-shirts adorned with a pit bull photo or join Citizens Against Breedism. As a Persian cat owner, I am dismayed to be missing out on such excitement and angst.

Unfortunately, the term ‘dog racism’ has been broadened to include dog size and breed ‘biases’ (discriminating against tiny dachshunds or disliking poodles, for example), and US veterinarians have been warned against preconceived ideas about specific breeds (assuming all chihuahuas are yappy, for example), lest they also be accused of dog racism. One’s dog can also be labelled ‘racist’ if they sidle up to labradors and flee from border collies, and I can clearly see how your pup’s yellow ‘nervous dog’ vest could be perceived as an act of breedism (or even elitism) by a dog owner not comfortable with personal boundary setting.

Drawing an analogy between a person’s personal preference for a dog breed and the act of racism is a terrible insult to those millions of people on the receiving end of real racism and shows the lengths people will go to in order to justify their actions in an increasingly individualistic world.

Leave the leash-free areas to the marauding mobs and be happy in the knowledge you have provided Donna with a safe space and a life free from suffering.

Pearl Clovelly