XPost: rec.arts.tv, rec.drugs.psychedelic   
   From: fake@fake.fake   
      
   Jack Hollis wrote:   
      
   } Cats are wild animals who tolerate living with   
   } humans.   
      
   Some cats don't just "tolerate" living with humans; some cats practically cling   
   to humans and want to be in your company almost constantly. I know this first   
   hand, and I find it flattering.   
      
   } Dogs are domesticated pack animals that will   
   } (hopefully) accept humans as their pack leader.   
   } Dogs are obedient, subservient and loyal.  Most   
   } problems with dogs result from the failure of   
   } the dog to accept their owner as pack leader.   
   }   
   } Unprovoked attacks by cats are rare and serious   
   } injuries inflicted by a cat are even rarer.   
   }   
   } On the other hand, dogs kill about 25 people a   
   } year in the US and about 350,000 people a year   
   } require emergency room treatment at a hospital   
   } from injuries inflicted by a dog.   
   }   
   } Let's put it this way.  The number of stimuli   
   } that will induce an attack by a dog is a lot   
   } greater than for a cat and a dog is much more   
   } capable of inflicting serious injuries to a   
   } human.   
      
   To be fair, the number of people whose lives are saved by dogs each year is   
   probably far more than those killed by dogs each year. I don't have hard   
   statistics in front of me, but dogs are known to rescue people from fires,   
   alert   
   people to danger, and protect people from intruders or attackers. Seeing-eye   
   dogs help blind people to be both safe and independent.   
      
   Of those 350,000 people a year who require emergency room treatment from dog   
   attacks, not all of them are innocent victims. A certain amount of them   
   provoked   
   the dogs in some way, or they were attacked while trying to rob, rape or   
   assault   
   a dog's owner. I'm not saying this is true in every instance, of course.   
      
   Both dogs and cats do a lot of good overall, despite the occasional exceptions   
   with both species.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)