Dogs can be dangerous, but I blame the owners. Reminds me of a story when my Siamese cat bit the milkman, over 40 years ago. Chan (my Siamese cat) used to sit on the window cill outside the back door and the milkman came and delivered the milk and made the mistake of stroking the cat. He got badly bitten and my poor old mother had to bandage it up and he went to hospital for a jab. Luckily in the old days we didn't have to pay the bill for damages. But beware of Siamese cats, he also bit my ex-husband on the head when I picked him up to say hello, clever cat. He obviously didn't think much of him, but he loved me and my Dad, and used to sit on his shoulder and he would carry him round the garden, although his claws sometimes did dig into him, but he didn't mind. Just the point to make is that dogs and cats can be dangerous, and always say to the grandchildren don't get too close, and mind your eyes and cats can scratch. Dulce my lovely next door cat just bite me and I had to get the TCP on my hand but only because he loves me so much. Animals are animals are just don't understand the recupercions of their actions.
Dangerous owners of Dogs and Cats you mean. You want a dog or cat, then you should be paid a visit by a responsible body to make sure that you have more brain than the dog or the cat, cough up £500.00 yearly for a licence, plus animal health insurance along with comprehensive insurance for your animal, owners to attend animal behaviour classes also about the hole on the animals backend which is for crapping out of and not for putting in a monocle, being good citizens by picking up their dog poo which I walk in coming home from the pub, removing cat poo from neighbours gardens which I have done today, other than that enjoy your puppy or kitten, :)
Guess you are not a pet owner Mr.Smith??
Quote from: Poppy Mole on March 02, 2012, 20:42:09
Guess you are not a pet owner Mr.Smith??
Could not be further from the truth what you have said, up to last few years I have always had working dogs and also poultry, aviary birds which included roller canaries, I'm just concerned at the way animal welfare is going in this country, any thingy can go out and buy a dog, cat, bunny rabbit or whatever they fancy if it does not come under the wild animals act like keeping an alligator in the bath, for years we gave to the PDSA, but not using the charity ourselves we actually used a vet and paid, but we knew people with money that abused this charity, at this moment in time a local ginger tom is pleased as punch because out of the blue we now have a little female cat hanging round with him so that means another litter of moggies for someone to sort out in the near future,
Like both of you I really love dogs, cats etc but I am really concerned by the number of people that take them on irresponsibly. They just make it hard for the rest of us.
I think we probably need some kind of training course for new owners of animals ( and possibly some kind of check-up to ensure they are caring for them properly). But gosh it would cost a lot and make pets impossible for the poorer members of society (who are not necessarily the offenders).
When we decided we wanted to add another dog to our family I made enquiries about Border Terrier puppies with someone I had met at a dog show. He put me in contact with a breeder in north Yorkshire.
We arranged to visit and it was like going for a job interview. The breeder wanted to find out all about our experience with dogs and made it clear that if we were not suitable we would not be going home with a puppy. They told us that they were happy to keep the puppies themselves if the right homes could not be found.
Well we obviously passed the test and have now had Graham for almost 13 happy years.
I bred and showed dogs for most of my life as did my father before me.
Owners were very much vetted by me and if I had any doubt whatsoever they did not get a puppy, which by the way had to be ordered even before the dog was pregnant .. I visited homes, checked fences and contacted references. I also gave out details of dog handling classes . The other requirement was that new owners signed a KC non breeding agreement which was standard for me. I would only cancel it if the dog had been shown and was doing well and then only after any heriditary defects for the breed had been investigated and the dog given an all clear.
It generally took a while to get a puppy from me but folks didn't seem to mind the wait, and puppies never left my home till 16 weeks old and with full shots .
Part of my contract for sale was that if for any reason the new owner could not keep the dog I was to be informed, and I guaranteed to take the dog back if this was the case, It happened to me only twice.
Puppies that were not show quality had to be spayed or neutered.
My advice to potential new puppy owners is to expect this from responsible breeders, in fact I would go firther and say if dog breeders are not doing the above then be very cautious buying from them.
Sounds very tough but I would not have done it any other way.
Way to go Squash, well done
XX Jeannine
Sorry if I offended you Mr.Smith, I see I got it wrong.
If you take on a cat from the RSPCA or the CPL they check you out before letting you have a cat/kitten also my own vet had "vetted" me before putting me in touch with someone needing a home for a new kitten.
Unfortunately it's almost impossible to prevent a cat from using a handy piece of freshly dug soil. Unless you are prepared to wait around with a handy water spray or hosepipe then after a fairly short while they will get the message that they are not welcome, it also helps if the owner keeps a small patch for their use.
I'm just concerned at the way animal welfare is going in this country, any thingy can go out and buy a dog, cat, bunny rabbit or whatever they fancy
Indeed and there is not much that can be done with it. Even if all 'proper' breeders are vetting their potential puppy owners..it is just drop in the ocean as animals are being bred everywhere.
I think teaching for responsible ownership with animals should start in school and get kids involved more with looking after animals from early on. Now you have people who just 'fancy' a pet without knowing anything about them. At least if they would have something basic already 'seeded' in the brains from early on,,there could be bigger chance that something is still there when they are getting older and perharps they would be equipped looking after their animals bit better.
Taxing and licensing is not going to work as prevention..it just lead people getting animals and keeping them in secrecy, maybe even worst conditions.
My neighbour who had rabbit last year..she never let rabbit out of its hut..its living area was far too small for being permanently in there..it was never played with and its only form of 'entertainment' or practicing natural behavior was just eating, sleeping and kicking bedding out...luckily she got rid of it in few months..I think she got bored.. ::)
Last autumn my neighbour decided to have a puppy instead.. ::)..that puppy, alhought it has good nature and it behaves..it has never been on walk outside her house..it gets into small garden through cat flap to do its 'business' and have little run around. Rest of the time its is inside..now what kind of life is that for a dog?
Quote from: goodlife on March 03, 2012, 09:26:57
I'm just concerned at the way animal welfare is going in this country, any thingy can go out and buy a dog, cat, bunny rabbit or whatever they fancy
Indeed and there is not much that can be done with it. Even if all 'proper' breeders are vetting their potential puppy owners..it is just drop in the ocean as animals are being bred everywhere.
I think teaching for responsible ownership with animals should start in school and get kids involved more with looking after animals from early on. Now you have people who just 'fancy' a pet without knowing anything about them. At least if they would have something basic already 'seeded' in the brains from early on,,there could be bigger chance that something is still there when they are getting older and perharps they would be equipped looking after their animals bit better.
Taxing and licensing is not going to work as prevention..it just lead people getting animals and keeping them in secrecy, maybe even worst conditions.
My neighbour who had rabbit last year..she never let rabbit out of its hut..its living area was far too small for being permanently in there..it was never played with and its only form of 'entertainment' or practicing natural behavior was just eating, sleeping and kicking bedding out...luckily she got rid of it in few months..I think she got bored.. ::)
Last autumn my neighbour decided to have a puppy instead.. ::)..that puppy, alhought it has good nature and it behaves..it has never been on walk outside her house..it gets into small garden through cat flap to do its 'business' and have little run around. Rest of the time its is inside..now what kind of life is that for a dog?
I'm not the biggest fan of today's school teachers because the ones I see most days go about dressed like a bag of nuts, I can't remember the last time I saw a teacher escorting a class of kids through the streets of our town dressed smartly, if my lad was til at a school today I hope he would be telling his teacher what soap is for,
Well I have to disagree with the teacher thing, it is only three years since I stopped working in school but we had a very good dress code, no jeans, no low cleavage tops etc, most of our teachers wore dress pants and blouses or swaeters..and all of us in senior management wore suits.
Our head was very strict about this, the kids were not allowed to wear jeans so she insisted the staff did the same.
XX Jeannine