
Man's Best Fiend - Thevet
http://www.historytoday.com/tyler-d-parry/man’s-best-fiend
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anigbrowl
Having two German Shepherds and living in a mixed neighborhood, I've become
very conscious of this. Some black people are very fearful of Shepherds, some
love them (often from having worked with dogs in the army). I feel a special
responsibility to be on the lookout for people's reactions and adjust my
behavior to accommodate their needs when I'm out and about. As I used to
intensely dislike dogs myself until I rescued one it's not hard for me to
relate to people who view them with anxiety.

Sad to say, there are also some people who get shepherds precisely because of
this history, knowing and intending to have an intimidating effect on black
people. Some of the German Shepherd Groups on facebook attract clusters of
racists who delight in posting 'takedown videos' put out by police departments
showing criminal suspects being caught or even mauled by dogs. Pointing out
the wild statistical improbability of some people's posting patterns as an
example of bias has resulted in me being kicked out of groups because my
comments were 'making people uncomfortable.' It's a sad fact that some people
teach dogs to aggress specifically on people of color, which is an awful thing
to do not only to the people around them but to the dogs themselves. Dogs are
emotionally intelligent creatures to begin with and Shepherds are among the
most intelligent breeds. They think a lot and they dream a good deal; k9
police officers can't sleep with their dogs because the dogs are liable to
bite in their sleep. Those who project and perpetuate their prejudice by
training an animal to express it strike me as particularly loathsome people.

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xutopia
It hurts me to read this. History just shows how horrible humans can be to one
another.

