# unfortunate events we seem unable to eliminate **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 2, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911 "2018-11-02T21:43:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/21 "2018-11-03T00:38:45Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Well gee that’s dashedly unfortunate - but wait, you just criticized them adopting the dogs out to others too! So what do you expect, then - that the shelters perform a nationwide manhunt for the original owner of every stray they find, presumably completely lacking contact information for said possibly-nonexistent owner? > > Yeah, that’s totally reasonable.And exactly equivalently I’m a mass murderer for failing to distribute bandaids to people who might, eventually, need one. > > Oh, wait, no, that’s stupid. So no, I’m not “killing humans too”. > > And at the risk of making you sound insane, we’re still talking about _unclaimed dogs_. These are dogs without owners to die for lack of their presence. ‘Oh, but they might have been adopted and thus granted an owner immortality!’ Except what happens if a person goes looking for a dog, and Dog A has been euthanized? They get dog B instead! To the best of my knowledge there’s not a massive dog shortage preventing people from getting all the dogs they want. Which means that the only people who don’t have dogs are the people who don’t want dogs. > > Are you proposing forcing unwanted dogs on people in an attempt to increase people’s lifespans? I’d say “good luck with that”, except that might mean you’d give one to **me** , which would be a hellish experience for as long as it took for animal control to come claim it, or whoever I could get to come take away the nightmare beast scratching at the door I’d locked myself behind. > So argue for better euthanasia methods. Contrary to your wild imaginings about me, I haven’t said anything about hunting every single dog on the planet down and torturing them to death. I’m saying that if there’s an animal that nobody wants, I’m okay with humanely turning out its lights. You still aren’t getting it. Your dog runs away dude to some fireworks, without breed specific hate you typically have 5 days to dig through every shelter or hope that they finally get the microchip reader to work, if it is one of these “evil pit bulls” they don’t adopt out the dog, after 48 hours it is **destroyed**. They don’t try to adopt it out, because of people like you. Even if it isn’t one of these “pit bulls” misidentification [is the rule and not the exception.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S109002331500310X) And when someone on a fixed income or low income gets kicked out of their apartment the myth that “pit bulls” are somehow more dangerous often means that they can’t find housing and have to give up their pet to a shelter…which often just destroys without trying to re-home them due to this irrational breed bias. It doesn’t matter how friendly the dog is or even if it is a “pit bull” they are just destroyed due to irrational non-empirical hysterics. I’ll let you have the last say because yes looking over the other thread this is going to be like arguing with birthers and flat earthers. But note that this is the general expert consensus too. > **[Why breed-specific legislation is not the answer](https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/dog-bite-prevention/why-breed-specific-legislation-not-answer)** > > Breed-specific legislation may look good on the surface, but it’s not a reliable or effective solution for dog bite prevention. The only person trying to force anything on anybody is you and the OP, who want to destroy dogs purely based on appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/22 "2018-11-03T00:47:06Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Most are important goals, one was an oddly specific statement made out of ignorance. (although I would rather just have moral Republicans vs eliminate them) No, go right ahead, carry on with derailing the thread. (Not that it was ever on the rails to begin with.) Lucky he didn’t mention declawing cats in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/23 "2018-11-03T00:51:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > No, go right ahead, carry on with derailing the thread. (Not that it was ever on the rails to begin with.) > > Lucky he didn’t mention declawing cats in the OP. I’ll stop…seeing as I can’t really argue with trying to cure cancer or eliminate domestic violence. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/24 "2018-11-03T00:58:34Z")
Drippy ice cream cones! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/25 "2018-11-03T01:15:19Z")
_Hillary Clinton running for President_ should be on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/26 "2018-11-03T01:19:42Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > Dogs killing kids and old people, especially pit bull dogs > People driving drunk and killing people, including themself. > People driving inattentively, hitting kids at bus stops. > Men beating their wives and/or kids > Murder suicide > Drug killings > Love Triangle killings > ‘If I can’t have her, nobody can’ killings > Date rape > e coli contamination of fresh greens > Cancer > MS > CP > Senility of various kinds > Addiction > Votes for Republicans We could eliminate all these things. All it takes is an Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator. ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Innuendo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@Textual\_Innuendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Innuendo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/27 "2018-11-03T01:22:30Z")
**Traffic!** - Nobody drives in New York, because there’s too many cars there! And outside of New York, not a single big city has done any better, given that in a lot of them “nobody driving” / using mass transit is affirmatively not an option. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/28 "2018-11-03T01:37:13Z")
I think choking on some random chunk of food or inhaling a guitar pick that I placed between my lips will probably be my end. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/29 "2018-11-03T02:09:59Z")
Kidney stones. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/30 "2018-11-03T02:25:12Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > If you’re hoping to have me join you in outrage over the treatment of pit-bull-looking dogs, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed, because I have a massive phobia and hate _all_ dogs. “Irrational fears” or not, as far as I’m concerned if they’re euthanized without undue suffering I’m cool with it. You… you… you _Republican_! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/31 "2018-11-03T02:38:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I find it :dubious: that of all the horrible things mentioned in the OP, the thing that sparks the most outrage is the unjust accusation about dogs. Maybe if **crucible** wasn’t an attention-seeking dog-hater. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/32 "2018-11-03T04:44:09Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Your stance is selfish. While I don’t have a “pit bull” I will do my best to have a leashed dog and to keep them from escaping, but I won’t suggest that millions of animals are destroyed to comfort my own fears. Still, your position is ambiguous. Note that I am not even implying that you might be among the likes of my (late) uncle or my next door neighbor, who get a dog and put it on a chain in the back yard, apparently to serve as a burglar alarm. They take food out to it and sometimes move it to another part of the yard, but that is basically all the interaction they have with it. The dog whines, and barks at the neighbors (like me) and barks at butterflies, and its usefulness as intended is lost. It is a thing to own, like an ATV or a picnic table. Really, fuck those assholes sideways with an ocotillo. If you want to have an animal, have some sort of actual pet that you get involved with, not a thing to have because reasons. It enrages me to the point that someday I may forget to leave the Louisville Slugger at home. Really, a lot of people suck much worse than a whole lot of dogs. Except chows. Fuck those evil, unpredictable bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/33 "2018-11-03T04:55:29Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Maybe if **crucible** wasn’t an attention-seeking dog-hater. Yes, that is truly dreadful. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/34 "2018-11-03T08:35:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yes, that is truly dreadful. Seriously, just click on the rolleyes. That is some rabid willful ignorance on display by the OP of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/35 "2018-11-03T11:40:18Z")
Actually, everything I have said about pit bulls has been true. Every unbiased study ever performed shows pit bulls are the ‘breed’ most likely to kill and maim. Are there worse societal problems? Yes. Guns of all kinds should be drastically restricted. Over time, literally millions of lives will not be shortened. Many more millions will not be maimed. No argument for allowing anyone to have a gun justifies the millions of deaths caused by the misuse of guns. Misuse caused, in part, by unnecessary ease of obtaining them. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/36 "2018-11-03T11:43:24Z")
I had rather hoped people would add more mundane things to the list, as some did. Things like being unable to keep squirrels from chewing through screenwire to get at birdseed ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/37 "2018-11-03T13:05:49Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > Actually, everything I have said about pit bulls has been true. Every unbiased study ever performed shows pit bulls are the ‘breed’ most likely to kill and maim. > > Are there worse societal problems? Yes. Guns of all kinds should be drastically restricted. Over time, literally millions of lives will not be shortened. Many more millions will not be maimed. No argument for allowing anyone to have a gun justifies the millions of deaths caused by the misuse of guns. Misuse caused, in part, by unnecessary ease of obtaining them. Those of you who love what we call pit bulls should be the first to call for removing all the badly trained, stray and demonstrated to be dangerous dogs of that type from the world. They were bred to be vicious killers in the dog pit. To save them, you have to choose only the best behaved of their ilk to survive and, without emotion, destroy the rest. No different that my step father’s breeding of fox hounds not to chase either rabbits or chickens by taking those with those tendencies as a young dog over the hill behind the barn. Still, since they were so intent on fox, when I was tasked with carrying a dead fox home in my hunting jacket to use it for a drag track, they broke down the fence of their run and nearly caught me before I could escape into the haymow. Slept there and washed in tomato juice while he reinforced the run. I think many breeds of dogs are wonderful companions and useful workers. The pit bull ‘breed’ was bred to be everything dogs should not be. Most, today, are pretty docile, sure, but the switch in their brains sometimes clicks and they, for example, attack a kid getting off a bus and bite them 50 times, nearly to death (recent in NC) ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/38 "2018-11-03T13:17:17Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > That’s a positive note! > > And it’s better than that–the 1982 number is based on a population of 231M. Today that same 21K fatalities would scale to almost 30K if it were proportional to the US population, so unless I bungled the math, the scaled number of fatalities is about 1/3 of what it used to be. yes, there are things we can effect, and things we can’t. on a per mile basis, transportation in general is probably thousands of percent safer today than, say, 1925, mostly because of engineering of all sorts. and, of course, some folks have to stay sober in order to rush their relatives and friends to the emergency room when they O.D. Way more opioid deaths per year now than transportation deaths. When all is said and done, though, climate change will probably kill billions of people, esp. if some drastic change is triggered, like the ocean currents breaking down. Could happen almost any time. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/39 "2018-11-03T13:48:34Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > and the problem is the people who have them and not the breed. The crappy owners will just switch to Rottweilers or Dobermans or what ever breed that they think is “bad ass”. > > As a breed american staffordshire terriers are very friendly if people don’t result to BS alpha roles and other bullshit. Double on this … I used to have this evil dream, imagine a swarm of about 10 cute poodles, with ribbons and fluffy haircuts trained to attack … but you could just as easily have an attack swarm of chihuahuias… And pitties used to be called ‘nanny dogs’ prior to WW1, and were recommended over German Shepherds if you had kids. German shepherds can be over territorial and get bitey around ‘prey sized’ critters like smaller dogs, cats and small children. Rotties, dobies and pitties are wonderful dogs when trained and treated well. You couldn’t get me to own one of hte hyper tiny yappy dogs, larger dogs are frequently very mellow [as adults, all puppies go through the bouncy yappy phase until properly trained.] ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911/40 "2018-11-03T14:27:02Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > yes, there are things we can effect, and things we can’t. Reading through the list in the OP, I don’t see one item that we can’t change for the better. It takes will and resources, but there are solutions to every one of those problems, and with enough effort we can make progress. That doesn’t mean that problems can be eliminated entirely, but they can certainly be reduced or contained. That’s why I like to share the drunk driving statistics. So many people think of it as an unsolvable problem, but it’s actually one of the greatest social engineering successes. Another one: From 1983 - 2012, infant deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) were reduced 71% because of the back sleeping campaign. Social engineering is more complex than passing laws, but it’s the best way to make real, positive change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-events-we-seem-unable-to-eliminate/823911.md?page=3)