CANINE GENETICS

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FIGHTING IS IN OUR GENES

Barbara J. Andrews, Publisher, SAAB Member

As an animal lover and dog owner, you know about genetics and that your genetics, coupled with your environment and friends, affect human behavior as much as in our animals.

Moving into a new year fraught with political and social strife, think about how important our mostly European genes are and how powerful they are today.

All living creatures, from prairie dogs and coyotes to bats and buffalo, fight for breeding rights and territory but we humans fight for the fun of it! A mass grave containing the remains of 30 humans was recently found in Talheim, Germany. It dated back to 5000 BC and anthropologists determined it is evidence of organized fighting.

So, we didn’t just fight for breeding rights or territory, we humans were drawn to participating in contests of strength and thus fighting became a sport.

If you are over 70 with European genes and beliefs (largely derived from Saturday afternoon westerns when a movie ticket was 14 cents) here is “the way it was” when America was young.

In a land so large we couldn’t conceive of its vastness (over 3,119,884 square miles), we “fought injuns” who tried to kill us for invading their territory which included sacred lands and burial grounds. As any student of human nature would avow, we fought them because the Calvary needed something to do and conquering, i.e. dominating other humans is in our genes.

Likewise, on school play yards of the past, a favorite game was “cowboys and Indians.” Are you old enough to remember that?

So let's fact it, fighting is indeed in our genes but so is kindness and empathy for all living creatures. Think about this. Animals are the pretty much the same but we are getting soft. Only a half-century ago young men lined up to enlist. Call it testosterone or call it the instinct to protect. Today humans are getting a bit soft.

We seem to be splitting into the “Haves” and the “Have Nots.” Where once we had to hunt and kill for meat and our lifespan was only half of today's expectancy, we are getting soft. Shelter, medicine and food comes easy. Our leaders make sure of that so that they can remain as leaders…

The farthest we have to go for supplies is the corner store so we no longer spend time in nature. Nor do we know about healing herbs. Medicine comes from “somewhere else” and is handed to us in plastic bottles. Humans still fight but now we risk life and limbs for intangible things we don’t need or that our soldiers don’t even understand.

Personally, I wish we were more “Fighting Irish” and less malleable than my Cherokee-Seminole grandparents who welcomed government hand-outs and modern conveniences. Have our genes failed us? Have we become pampered people who may crumple if tested or threatened?

We have challenged nature by creating new species such as Ligers (male lion bred to female tiger), Beefalo (Buffalo and cow cross), featherless chickens and of course, the mule (a jenny bred to a horse). We are constantly meddling with human genetics to allow ourselves to live longer by transplanting animal organs such as genetically modified pig hearts.

Protecting territory is natural in all species but fighting for reasons we don’t even understand is not in the human gene bank. Are humans evolving or devolving? What other species fights to the death for reasons it does not understand? What pack leader leaves its offspring unprotected? It must be something in our genes…

Will we fight legislation that would deprive us of our pets or our right to keep a goat for grandpa who can't chew and loves goat's milk... Are we losing our "rights" or our spirit. Only YOU can decide but we hope this has given you a slightly new perspective. We must fight for our rights and our heritage. City Executive or Dairyman or Dog Breeder, we must fight for our right to own animals.

TheDogPlace.org EST 1998 © Feb. 2023 https://www.thedogplace.org/Genetics/Fighting-is-in-our-genes-b23A022.asp

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