Anyone got any info on re-wilding animals?

you know, I rarely if ever see unhappy domesticated pet dogs...
jeez they're usually spoiled, lol.
The fact is, domesticated pet dogs exist. They were bred for companionship, etc.
and we can argue about the ethics of keeping pets all you want, but fact is every pet dog I've seen seems genuinely happy to be pet and played with.
why ruin that for them?
Keeping a pet for a companion is not evil, or wrong... they're friends, they're companions.
Try looking at a pet pomeranian and tell me its oppressed, tell me its unhappy.

 

Dogs are domesticated animals. They aren't wild to start with, so they can't be rehabilitated and released, and you are assuming they want to be wild...

I can't think of where you could possible let them go, without screwing up the other animals who already live there. What you want to do is akin to creating a new species. Bad idea.

Imagine if you tried to "rewild" cows and chickens. Dogs wouldn't do any better, just because they are carnivores and have teeth...

 

Agreed! let them be... pets are pets.

 

ruined? says who? have you asked a happy dog or cat if they feel ruined?

pot, kettle - why do you need to control how other people interact with their animal friends?

they didn't evolve to become domesticated, they were bred to become domesticated

if you'd like to try breeding your stolen pets back to wolves, well, good luck . . .

 

dreadful, if you really want to help animals, volunteer at your local humane society

they can always use help

do not tell them about your rewilding dreams, because i'm sure they would consider what you are proposing as animal cruelty

 

OhSoDreadful, you should pay attention to the word...WOLVES.

that's what domesticated, pet dogs were bred from. so a "re-wild" dog, released into the wilderness would have to compete with packs of wolves. it would lose. because a human taught it how to survive.

the different breeds of dogs would not exist in the first place, if it weren't for us breeding them.

so if you want to eliminate this "evil" act of humans, i guess you just have to kill all domesticated animals.

 

Dogs have had certain genes bred right out of them that allow for survival in the wild.
Wolves and coyotes have the complete canine gene pool and would replace dogs in any situation where the two creatures lived side by side.

Only a select few breeds of game chicken can survive in the wild. They have become naturalized in Hawaii on the Island of Kauai, where the tropical climate mimics their homeland in tropical areas of Asia. Most breeds of chicken are hopelessly dependent upon humans.

There is an effort underway to recreate the Aurochs, the wild cow of Europe. For now, most breeds of cattle are unfit to live in the wild. (Texas longhorn, one possible exception).

 

Interesting, I always wondered that about cows. I thought they were all just retarded inbred buffaloes...

 

Wild animals are taught how to live in that environment by their own species, from the time they are born. I don't believe that's something a human can learn, or teach to a domesticated pet. You can do all the research you want, it's not going to change the fact that it would be completely different from the natural process.
If you tried to teach a dog how to hunt, you would have to train it in a similar fashion that, for example, a duck hunter would train their dog. In the end, the animal would still be waiting for your cues, and therefore would still be dependent on humans.

 

Yes, cows are generally much smaller than the aurochs and cows are as you said, stupid docile creatures. That suits us, but they are hapless ninnies grazing in our meadows protected by fences and guard dogs and the occasional cowboy (cowgirl).

I am half-wild myself, becoming a feral human in the warmer months.
I feel kinship with Mowgli and Romulus and Remus.

 

to "re-wild" dogs you'd have to, among other things, teach them to be afraid of humans

how are you going to do that?

without being cruel to them?

 

You can easily rewilder the worms, insects and other animals depending where you live...rats and mice should be ok almost anywhere as well just like your snakes and lezards in some places...

 

OP, I know you are facing a lot of opposition in this thread, and you have every right to be defensive the way some people have handled it, but it really does seem the cards are stacked against your ideal on this one. I do sincerely hope you will see it when the dust has settled.
Domesticated animals are at an extreme disadvantage to those adapted to life out in the wild, and releasing them would mean certain and swift extinction of their species, pretty much negating the point of setting them free (I think it was on that show Life After People that one of the only small dog types that would have a chance at survival is the Corgi, and even that would have little to no chance escaping a wolf attack).
You may think it would be the natural order of things that they would either breed with the dominant species (Evolution is an excruciatingly slow process, full of many literal "dead-ends". They won't evolve overnight, so they will most likely be killed before any evolution takes place) or die out, but honestly, I can't think of anything more senseless than letting a happy pack of domesticated dogs out to be slaughtered by wolves inside of a month. I can't even begin to support that. I'm sorry. I just don't think I can see this your way.
I know this whole "animal liberation" thing gets you all kinds of hostile and hot and bothered, because you think some injustice is being perpetrated, I do get it, but I find it much more cruel to sanction senseless slaughter rather than protection of something we have created to be at a lesser advantage.
That's what it really comes down to in this argument: accountability. We have created these dependents. It is up to us to either breed them back to the wild or protect them as our companions. And I don't see anyone who's in a hurry to breed more wild wolves (except some extremists that actually think we should live amongst them and be afraid to let our children play in the yard past dusk). I'm not saying that you are not trying. I'm saying what you are proposing isn't good enough.
Please remember that it is in no way weak or shameful to change your mind when presented with logical information. Please, reconsider your position on this. For their sake (that's what we all care about here).

Wow. You just sent me on a 20 minute wiki-exploration of all the different subspecies of cows. I am amazed. Thank you for opening this door for me. It's been fascinating.
It is a little weird how much I like cows... I was just talking about them in another thread.

 

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