Presentation and Social Media Campaign
Let's talk about Twitter! As a way to conduct research, discover new information, learn about different species, analyze studies, and get to know others, I created a Twitter account where we used the #39canimals tag in order to share what we found and our ideas with one another. It was super interesting navigating the process of using social media as a way to perform research advocacy and enforcing arguments. Check out the Day by Day SMC to see more about the process at:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SjJfujDAOmKiKoX6FVgnttG2us58qYDcgf4R5ctz8xs/edit?usp=sharing
Best Tweets
I chose this tweet as one of my best ones because I thought that this was one of the best articles I found having to do with legislation surrounding dog breed and its affects on their behavior. They talk about how a dog's breed does not directly correlate with the amount of dog bites that occur within communities, so therefore experts all agreed that there should not be breed-specific legislation (BSL).
I really liked this article because it talked about a study that showed only 9% of a dog's breed accounts for its behavior and therefore the fear we have of certain breeds is irrational. I thought this also went hand in hand with the BSL argument made in my other best tweet.
Organization Advocation
The first organization that I have advocated for was The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association 2022 because they look to train and support dogs through a training process that helps communities around them. They are able to give the dogs the human interaction they need.
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The second organization that I was interested in was the Humane Society of the United States who I have mentioned in my best tweets post. They were able to determine that there should not be breed-specific legislation which doesn't allow discrimination across breeds.
Problems Dogs Face
Dogs face many issues, and one of these issues actually arises within the work force. Dogs are put through several scenarios to determine if their behavior is compatible with standards needed to become a guide dog. It is sad to see that if dogs don't meet this desired set of standards, they are dismissed and may find themselves in shelters creating worse living conditions and welfare altogether.
Another issue that arises is when dogs are classified as "high risk" meaning that their behaviors do not match a desired set of behaviors that we deem desirable or not. The study goes to show how undesirable behaviors can be avoided, but it takes all of us.
Solutions
Scientists were able to come up with a better questionnaire to test dog behavior and were able to determine ways in which dog behavior is affected. From this, we can see that there is a need for interaction in order to better develop dog's social skills and social behaviors.
One of the solutions to animal behavior issues that arise in shelters is to provide dogs with more opportunity for human interaction. With domestication, there has become a sense of dependability between dogs and humans, and it is important to develop this relationship. We can better help dogs in shelters by providing more volunteer opportunities and advocating for more dog adoptions over dog breeding.
