Hacker News Reader

To be absolutely honest, I can't imagine that being herded by dogs is any worse than being herded by humans. Especially when you consider that the dogs are unlikely to then flip them over and castrate them, give them injections, etc.

I think you're being downvoted because you're being overly sensitive to an imaginary problem. From reading the article, it sounds like the dogs are more likely to be harmed than the sheep.

View on HN

Thanks, I didn't think about the viewpoint of "the sheep are going to be herded anyway, it might as well be my dog that has a bit of fun doing it".

I don't think the problem is imaginary, though. I still think it's schizophrenic to cause harm (in this case stress) to one kind of animal not out of necessity, but to bring happiness to another kind of animal -- even if the amount of harm is relatively minor compared to what could have been done. I have nothing against empathizing with dogs and trying to bring them happiness. On the contrary, I think it's illogical to restrict this attitude to dogs instead of extending it to all sentient beings, including sheep.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com