A few years ago, I learned that dogs do not feel pain—at
least according to the person with whom I was speaking. Pain, this person
insisted, does not affect a dog, they feel nothing. This was an “educated”
person. A person who should know. A person who has a lot of experience with
dogs. Still, I think I’ll have to disagree.
While dogs may not show it in the same way humans do, and
while they may not complain much, I’m quite certain dogs feel pain. I realize
sometimes it can be difficult to know if a dog is in pain and if so, how much,
and I know they are quite resilient creatures, but it doesn’t take a genius to
figure out that canines are not insentient to pain.
Recently, I’ve been reminded of the conversation with the
above-mentioned person. My wife and I have an aging collie that is beginning to
have trouble getting around. Going up and down steps is becoming more difficult
for her, as is simply standing up. The problem is we’re not really sure if
she’s in pain or not. She doesn’t really give any indication of pain, no
yelping or anything, so perhaps it’s just her joints are a little stiff.
Unfortunately, we can’t simply ask her. Well, we can—and do—but she doesn’t
really answer. If the problem continues to get worse, we may have to consider
medication, I suppose. We certainly don’t want the dog to suffer; i.e.,
experience pain.
Incidentally, pain is defined as a physical hurting
sensation caused by an injury (or illness) to the body; it is not unique to the
human race, as anyone who has ever owned a dog knows. Common sense should be
enough to settle any debate. Even a complete imbecile should be able to figure
out that dogs do indeed feel pain. So, obviously, the person who told me dogs
are immune to pain took a crash course in junk science. Which is odd being that
the person was a veterinarian.
On a related note, we no longer use that particular vet. ~
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