Actually, I never thought about it. Did you? Like ever?
If you’re fond of having dogs around your house, perhaps, your answer is no.
But let’s indulge the thought for a moment, should we?
From The posthuman dog:
What dogs have to gain from human disappearance:
- Freedom of physical movement (no human constraints, such as collars, leashes, fences, cages)
- No more intensive captivity, such as in puppy mills, laboratories or dog-meat farms
- No more experimentation
- No more forced breeding
- No more artificial selection for maladaptive traits
- Ability to act independently and make free choices
- Freedom to socialise with other dogs
- Freedom to mate with whom they choose and when they choose
- No fear of or stress from human punishments, violence, confinement, unpredictability and inconsistency
- Ability to engage their full range of natural species-specific behaviours
- Lower levels of obesity
- Potentially better nutrition
- Greater range of sensory experiences (eg, can more fully use olfactory sense)
- Natural level of hormones and development
- Physical activity budgets would be chosen by dogs themselves, not by humans
- No desexing
- No surgical mutilations, such as tail docking, debarking and ear cropping
- Reduction in breed-specific genetic disorders
What dogs have to lose from human disappearance:
- No veterinary care
- No pain management (medicines, massage, acupuncture, palliative care, pain medications, etc)
- No vaccinations
- No human-provided control of parasites
- Potential exposure to diseases
- Loss of physical comfort
- No regular meals
- Potential for nutritional deficiencies
- Greater exposure to predation
- Greater exposure to the elements
- No human-provided safe zones
- No human food resources
Wow! What a list, right?
The list could be an eye-opener for both of us to make our relationships better with our dogs and make them as beneficial for the dogs as possible.