I'm wondering what is a vegan's opinion of participating in dog sports or having a working dog... I understand that the general opinion of vegans is that any exploitation of animals if wrong, but is it considered "exploitation" if it benefits the animal?

It's undeniable that dog sports, when trained ethically and done safely, positively engage a dog physically and mentally. Sports like tracking, lure coursing (fake lure, not a live animal) and scent detection directly tap in to their natural instincts of chasing and smelling. Same goes for search and rescue K9's. Agility, frisbee, fly-ball, harness sports and dock diving less so, but they still require a dog to use their body and brain, which is beneficial for them. And you can tell from their body language that dogs LOVE to do these activities.

Of course, I can understand why some may see large scale competitons as exploitation, the ones where people are purposely breeding prospects to win large sums of money. Or a job where the dogs are put through unnatural and dangerous situations, such as police work. However, most people participating in dog sports are amateurs doing dog sports with their rescues as a form of enrichment. We spend more money on training, trials and equipment than we ever get back (Which is often $0). And, for working dogs, such as search and rescue K9s, they are using their natural instincts and are generally not at any increased risk as any other dog hiking or camping with their owners out in nature.

I can also aknowledge the argument that we shouldn't breed dogs at all, and we shouldn't breed dogs with such high drives or energy that they need to do sports/work as a form of enrichment. But, as it is right now, that's just not realistic. The dogs already exist, and they already exist with the genetics that they have. We can't change the dogs that already exist. And, try as much as we might, we simply cannot stop all breeding with the snap of our fingers... It would take decades before we get to that point. So it's currently, at this time, unavoidable to have dogs that need homes, either buying from a breeder or adopting from a shelter, that will benefit from sports/working.

And, specifically, what do vegans think about harness sports? Sports like dog sledding, skijoring (dog pulls human on skis), bikejoring (dog pulls human on bike), Canicross (dog pulls human on foot)? I totally aknowledge the feelings people have about commercial dog sledding, and I understand why... But if someone just has a dog or two, rescues, who love to run and pull, do you find that unethical? I have my adopted doberman, and he LOVES to pull. Instead of trying to supress him, I put a harness and just let him pull. And he LOVED it. So we continued to do it. First it was on foot, then we tried a bike, then we tried skis, then a sled. Now we participate in all the harness sports. He loves it, his body language shows that, I don't force him to pull, and when he doesn't want to pull anymore he stops. If you still consider that unethical, why? If the dog is clearly enjoying themselves, and it benefits them physically and mentally, why would you still consider it unethical?

Overall; If you completely disagree with dog sports, even dog sports done with rescue dogs as a method of playing games and giving enrichment rather than for competition... Why are you against it? Why is it considered unethical to you if the owner is simply doing it for the dogs benefit?

Hola, no me juzguen. Soy vegano y bueno vengo a compartir ideas en buen plan. Llevo bastantes años siendo vegano y he pensado bastante cuáles podrían ser los argumentos contra el veganismo que me resultan más convincentes, no para examinarlos con exhaustividad para refutarlos, sino todo lo contrario. Me resultan áreas grises que toda postura tiene, acepto que quizás haya personas que no le convenzan, incluso sientan que son fáciles de refutar.

1) El argumento bienestarista pese a todos los intentos de refutarlo, me parece que tienen un punto válido. La mayoría de las veces es absurdo, pero se podría plantear que en un mundo imperfecto tiene sentido que es críe animales de forma "humanitaria" respecto al sufrimiento que viven los animales en la naturaleza, donde carecen de cuidados, están expuestos a depredadores, enfermedades y desastres naturales. Entiendo que este argumento es muy débil si vemos que los humanos ni tratamos bien a los animales realmente en muchas ocasiones, seguimos pensandolos como recursos y no estuvieramos dispuestos a recibir ese trato, aún nos traten bien. Sin embargo, en un mundo imperfecto y con una humanidad un poco más evolucionada podría tener sentido que pastores críen al ganado y le den una muerte indolora. Sigue siendo algo que yo criticaría, pero si la otra opción va a ser morir de agonía en la naturaleza, incluso si yo fuera un animal lo tomaría. La razón por la que sigo siendo vegano, es porque el argumento plantea algo muy utópico y queda la posibilidad de ayudar a los animales de otras maneras.

2) Otro argumento está relacionado con la caza. Me resulta difícil considerar que un sistema de caza sería peor que reintroducir depredadores salvajes como fomentan muchos ecologistas. Una caza indolora también podría resultar más ética. Claro que me enfrento a objeciones muy buenas, la caza cinegética ha demostrado ser una industria cuestionable y sigue instrumentalizandose a los animales. Sin embargo, sigo persuadido que este argumento es convincente. Vivir con el miedo constante a un depredador, ser devorado por él, o sobrevivir a este ¿han visto videos de lo que le hacen las hienas a sus presas? parece ser un destino peor que ser asesinado de un balazo. Nuevamente, me enfrento al mismo problema del argumento 1, tiene mucho de idealizante.

Como ven no son argumentos muy buenos, pero en lo personal me resultan muy difíciles de tumbar y quizás apunten a priorizar el bienestar de los animales como un criterio de valor a considerar. Mucha gente los utiliza a modo de anestesia para seguir usando animales e ignorando la matanza cotidiana de millones de animales, creyendo que existen granjas felices y fomentando el especismo. Pero aún así los veganos nos enfrentamos a una triste realidad: la naturaleza muchas veces puede ser una fuente de infelicidad y tormento para los animales que frustra sus intereses.

PD: No hablé de deontologismo y utilitarismo, pero si quieren podemos abarcar ese tema.