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Dammit, while I was crawling up mountains, I missed a good ol' argument.

Let's have a look at what T'Pol tells us about domesticated Sehlats:

ARCHER: How long before it starts to lose interest in us?
T'POL: Days, at least. They're very persistent creatures. When I was a child, I had one as a pet.
ARCHER: You had one of those?
T'POL: Domesticated. They were smaller, slightly.
ARCHER: How slightly?
T'POL: You have Porthos.
ARCHER: Porthos doesn't try and eat me when I'm late with his dinner.
T'POL: Vulcan children are never late with their sehlat's dinner.
ARCHER: I can believe that.

So we have domesticated Sehlats, who are smaller than their wild cousins. I would consider the two variants the same as Wolves and Dogs. Domestication doesn't happen over a generation. An animal can be tamed, but that's not the same as domestication. Many humans have dogs, yet dogs are still predators and therefore somewhat dangerous, but not so if their master knows, what he/she is doing. I think the same goes for the pet sehlats. They are sehlats, but the wild component and several predatory insincts have been bred out, just as it happened, when wolves became dogs.

Game. Set. Match.

Well, Sigfried and Roy had "Tame" White tigers. Look what happened.

Clyde Beaty had "Tamed" his Lions and Tigers but he slipped and almost got killed by a "Tame" Tiger.

Even after thousands of years of domestication a Dog will still revert to the wild. Look at some cities where loose Dogs have formed very dangerous packs. they have reverted to the wild. They are a danger to the citizenery.

I love Dogs (being male) I trust them but am aware how close to the wild they still can be.

I am a Cat magnet. Cats love me. In India I could walk up and pick up the most feral cat around. Pet it ad put it down. No one else could do hat. Wouldn't want to try that with a tiger though. We got our Daughter Cats and they ignored her and came to me.It was a problem because my Daughter wanted a Cat all her own. Even so, the Cats would scratch me on occasion as a form of discipline. Those Federal Cats in India had once been house Cats.

I believe that even the small Domesticated Sehlats would revert to the wild. If circumstances were the same as has happened here on Earth.

SB

I'm sure that's true of any animal, domesticated, tame or otherwise - including vulcans and humans. It doesn't mean they don't make good pets, friends, protectors etc under the right circumstances.

Based on your anecdotes you might be tempted to look at any animal on Earth or Vulcan and think "Who in their right mind would give a child a monster like that as a playmate?". And yet plenty of people do grow up with pets who are loving and loved members of the family, and that could be true on Vulcan as easily as it is on Earth. There are some animals which are untrustworthy, but that doesn't mean they'll all untrustworthy.

The worst and most devious animals, those on which you should not totally rely on, are the Humans. I pity the breed that would like to adopt them as cute pets.

I am not saying you should not keep a Dog as a trusted ember of your family. What I am saying is that under the right circumstances itcan go wild. I guesss tha tis true of any aimalcometo that. I know that Cats were a problem in some cities. House Cats hat were abandoned turned feral.

Sehlats would certainly qualify .

The guy whose Python crushed him to death thought that Pythons made great pets. The guy who kept Kokomo Dragons in his Apartment thought the same way.

There have been cases of Bulls raised from calves and thought to be tame who crushed thier master to death.

I still would have a dog or even a Cat as a pet if my wife would stop claiming she was alergic to them and forbids me from getting one. Given the condition of my feet and legs today it would have to be a Cat.

SB

SB if you agree dogs can turn on their masters, (and I've seen it happen with experts) why are sehlats so much worse in your opinion? That's what I don't understand about your position.

From the Series they were monsters. T'Pol said she had one as a pet when she was young. But that didn't mean that unless Fed they couldn't be dangerous.

I am told that Golden Retrievers are the friendliest Dog and best around children. But any dog that can stand on its hind legs, put its paws on my shoulders and look me in the eye gets my attention.

Personaly I have always loved Golden English Cocker Spanials. They have long noses in stead of the short noses of American Cocker Spanials. Also unlike American Spanials their ears don't smell.

SB

SB From the series wild Sehlats were "monsters", (although I wouldn't use that word)... Have you ever seen a half starved pitbull on the streets? I have, let me tell you I'd rather face down a wolf pack. I'd be less likely to be attacked by a wild wolf, than a stray pitbull. Your objections make absolutely no sense.

I'm glad this exchange seems to be over, but I'd like to make a few comments. I've been watching this thread, wondering whether I'd need to step in. I came close, but decided to see what would happen. Thank you, everyone, for not allowing this to escalate any more than it did. I appreciate everyone's self control in ending the shouting match.

Everyone's entitled to an opinion on this board, even if that opinion doesn't happen to make sense to someone else. It only has to make sense to the individual holding the opinion for it to be valid. That's IDIC, guys. It's enough to say "I believe thus and so", and the rest of us should respect that statement. Discussing exactly why an individual holds an opinion does make for some interesting discussions, but please keep things calm and civil. We're all mature adults here. We can do this. This thread is an example, even though it did get a bit too hot for my comfort for a little while.

To clarify further, please refrain from virtual shouting (in case you aren't aware, virtual shouting LOOKS LIKE THIS and it's impolite.) Also, once a person has made a statement you disagree with and you've politely expressed your counter opinion, please drop the debate after you've made your point. Please do not continue to return to the discussion to repeat yourself over and over again. Unless you have a new point to add in a calm and civil manner, I'd recommend that you just drop it and move on. You'll never change someone's opinion by repeating yourself, you'll just annoy them. And if they've already made up their minds you probably won't be able to change their opinion even with an excellent argument. So say your piece and move on. Try to find something else to say about the topic to find common ground with your fellow fans. After all, the fact that we're all still here probably means that we're much more alike than we are different. [/rant]