Have you heard of Dog Island?

I came across this website today and I'm not sure what to make of it. Have you heard of this place?
http://www.thedogisland.com/index.html

The website claims that they have a series of islands so dogs can be free. People bring their dogs to dog island but they can never have them back. I see that as dumping their dogs. The dogs are let loose to be free of "bondage" and "slavery" as they website likens it to. They are not fed. They must hunt on their own. As far as I can see, they don't interact with people. They claim to have a couple of thousand dogs.

They do vacations, too. You and your dog can stay at one of the islands. This you have to pay for. The release program is free.

What do you think of it? Is it real? If it is real, what do you think of this whole concept that somehow we have enslaved dogs and that they would be better off if we let them go free?

 

What!?

Okay, I understand the idea of having a place to go on vacation with your dog. To just release dogs that were already known as pets? Yeah, that's dumping. That's not "freeing" them at all. It's forcing them out of cozy home and into the wild after they've never had to hunt before.

 

Jessi, when I read the directives on the website, I was a bit shocked. Dogs that are pets are not wild animals. They may have survival instincts, but they do not have the hunting skills necessary to survive out in the wild. They are used to food coming from a bowl.

I would argue that owning a dog is not the same as slavery. Dogs enjoy being a part of our families unless they are in a bad situation. Even then, they will show more loyalty to an abusive owner than they deserve. I don't buy this concept that they need to be freed.

 

I thought straight away that this was a sham. I googled up this.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/dogisland.asp

 

It is my first time to know about that dog island and I would not agree that dogs should be left there. Hard for those dogs to feed themselves and they are different from wolves that hunts for their foods.
I also do not thing that owning and caring for dogs is slavery for them as dogs actually love companions, love and care.

 

Argon, thank you for looking it up on snopes. I thought the whole idea seemed too bizarre. When I tried to find more information about it, the answers seemed vague.

The snopes articles states there is a real Dog Island run by the Nature Conservancy. I wonder if whoever created the hoax website has done it as a jibe at the Nature Conservancy, maybe to confuse people. The real Dog Island is not a home for wayward dogs:
http://www.thepelicaninn.com/aboutdogisland.html

There are some people who do feel it's wrong to own dogs as pets. I disagree with them wholeheartedly!

 

I haven't heard of these dog islands before...I hope it's a hoax! In my opinion its an awful idea. I would never leave Homer like this, I'm sure that he would be lonely and he would probably miss me...I consider dogs our friends. You can't abandon your friend, it's unfair. It would break my heart if Homer had to fight for food