My youngest sister was for part of her life a crack cocaine addict
with most of the troubles that go along with that situation [[though
some of the silver linings as well).
When she was very young, less than ten years old, she had an
intense fear of a neighbors' dog. This particular dog was a beagle.
She was elderly, arthritic, loved to meet and greet visitors, would
love to rest her face in your hand, and lived fenced in their backyard.
I was a teenager and found this to be hilarious and shared the
situation with anyone who cared to find out what I thought
was so funny.
The grain of truth here is that all of us, though perhaps some
more than others, are built from ancient genes that helped with
our ancestors' survival. Those of us with addictions have ancient
genes that helped tie us to the land. It could very well be that
the genetic fear of dogs co-occurs with addiction genes. So it
is probably practical, in those areas with a meaningful population
of addicts, to have the scariest looking dog to deter petty theft
and the like.
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