BJean

Swiss to vote on animal lawyers SWITZERLAND is going to new extremes in the battle to improve life for its animals. The country will hold a referendum next month on whether domesticated creatures should have the right to be represented by lawyers in court. The alpine state recently changed its constitution to protect the "dignity" of plant life and made a law last year establishing rights for creatures such as canaries and goldfish. If the referendum is approved, every canton in Switzerland will be obliged to appoint a lawyer to act for pets as well as farm animals and defend them from abuse. "Humans can hire a lawyer or get one assigned but animals cannot do that," lawyer Antoine Goetschel said. "Which is where I come in." In 2007, the canton of Zurich appointed him an "animal advocate" in an experiment the success of which has encouraged animal welfare groups to mount a successful campaign for a referendum to create similar officials all over the country. The government is against the idea of animal lawyers, as are farmers associations and pet breeders, who fear stricter regulation if the motion is approved on March 7, and a group of political parties last week established a committee called No to the Useless Animal Lawyers' Initiative. "Animal rights advocates are useless to animals," it said. "They can't prevent animal abuse because they only get involved after it has been perpetrated." Mr Goetschel, a 50-year-old vegetarian, disagrees and hopes that the initiative passes with a big "yes". Unlike the Middle Ages, when locusts and frogs were often summoned to court in Europe to answer for crimes such as infestations, animals are not requested to attend proceedings. In court, Mr Goetschel acts much like a public prosecutor appealing for an appropriate sentence. It is his job to enforce legislation enacted in 2008 under which goldfish, canaries and guinea pigs are considered "social animals", which must never be kept alone. Goldfish tanks cannot be transparent on four sides since fish need shelter. Dog owners must take a four-hour course on pet care before they acquire their canine companion. Mr Goetschel, who runs a regular legal practice, does not get involved in plant life, even if the constitution has been amended to recognise that plants are entitled to dignity, meaning that it is wrong, in the view of a government-appointed ethics panel, to engage in the "decapitation of wildflowers at the roadside without rational reason". The maximum sentence for animal abuse is three years in prison but the usual outcome is a fine. "Pet-keepers think that a so-called love for a guinea pig is enough," the lawyer said. "But this ignores the animal's needs as a species, such as having a companion." http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world...o-1225825224665

Good luck! Would love an Anatolian, but not sure they would like my Flat Coats. Okay SH we will tempt fate If Storm gives has a miracle litter of import semen Anatolian pups I'll send you one we have Anatolians sharing family homes with Cairn Terriers, Chihuahuas, Newfoundlands, Labradors and more so I'm sure Flatcoats will be fine

I think it is just a reminder to DV members, that in some councils, if you own more than 5 dogs you are often required to have a permit - to be registered as a Domestic Animal Business. But DV members can have exmeptions from the requirement to be registered as a DAM. L:)

I've written a 'better idea' to my Canine repesentative, Dogs Victoria. The RSPCA are asking for submissions and "PERHAPS they be willing to listen and help"??? Well we should all be so grateful. No thankyou. I will put my effort to where I believe a difference can be made. btw I dont believe the RSCPA are the only organisational body for animal welfare, and I wont laud them as such.

** is there an RSPCA web link for this discussion paper? ** I need it for my VCA AGM item submission, thankyou L:)

The AGM is on April 7 but all item agendas must be submitted by Jan 31. I have sent you a PM L:)

Thanks, I thought so

No thanks. I no longer trust the RSPCA with anything, let alone to give them more power of a licensing system. They lie and they still dont know what a breed standard is.

Just a quick question as I cant find what I need on the search function: can dogs with cropped ears compete for obedience titles? I know they cant be shown but I *think* they can still compete at obedience and agility events??? thanks

I am trying import semen again, obviously Im a sucker and a sucker for punishment ... but maybe not! hopefully Anatolian puppies will be born March 29

Just wondering if it is normal practise for the guide dogs to seek puppies to photograph via telephone and if so - and a breeder has allowed their puppies to be photographed in the guide dog calendar - did everything go okay etc? ta

okay cool I have sent you a PM L:)

SP I'd like to raise the RSPCA as an item at the upcoming DogsVic AGM - I will forward you my proposal to read maybe you will second it

Does the steward say that for every OB class?

I tried the former but I now believe the latter is the better way to go. I think you can do more for your breed establishing a solid line of excellent dogs rather than establishing diversity and dogs that may not be as good. Breed the best you can from what you think are the best dogs. (genetic diversity in a breed is never static anyway - other breeders may enter and import new line)

With my Anatolians, when I was looking for a female to import I looked for ages as I wanted to import a bitch that would be the same in type as mine but allow diveristy in lineage - eventually I found some female ASDs that I liked as much as mine (kennel blind what's that?! ) so I'm happy to import a female puppy from them, but it is an infusion of another line only, I still intend to linebreed on my dam line. With my Central Asians the female import I chose was a sire and dam combination whom I have followed since they were puppies. Eventhough the CAO gene pool in Australia is very limited, because I really like the sire/dam, I would consider another import from the same dam or sire. On the other hand I imported CAO semen, more at the time for the 'genetic dvisity' of the breed than my own distinct purpose, and well yes I will use it, but I think I can achieve more using the lines I think are the best for what i am trying to do. If you find a bitch that you really like, eventhough she has the same lines as your boy, I would still import her - because if you import a bitch of different lineage, it may eventuate that she isn't the right physical compliment for your boy or any other stud you have access to anyway. If you really like your boy and want to use him in your breeding program, collect his semen and freeze it away for future use. imo with a very rare breed it's more important to get the foundation bitch / dam line right, because at the end of the day you can have access to all the best stud dogs in the world, but that wont matter if you haven't got a good bitch to put them to. Also I think a good bitch will do more for a rare breed that a good male, because they are so much harder to get - by that I mean semen from the best dogs locally and overseas can always be collected/frozen and ready to use at any time. Whereas with a breeding bitch there is a finite time window in which you have to breed, ultimately the genetic diversity / continuation of a rare breed rests with the fertility and soundness of foundation bitches. nb: fwiw I don't think you need the disclaimer

Defence drive: Brasco has spotted something in the next paddock. He is in full gallop (after suddenly leaping up from a lolling drop position from where he observes his territory), hackles are raised and he is totally focussed on getting to what he thinks should not be there so that he can remove it. Note the other dogs in the background have just stopped what they were doing in reaction to brasco's sudden launch forward. They were playing, while Brasco was on lookout.

Here is an example of a dog giving another dog a dominant stare - dog on left is a 2 year old male he is saying: Hey, just kidding it's all okay, easy no worries dog on right is an 11 month old female she is saying: Annoy me one more time, and you'll know about it.

Title: The issue of unwanted animals: Adopting a strategic and practical approach Summary: This is a study on the number of cats/dogs being euthanased in Australian pounds written by the AVA's Centre for Companion Animals in the Community. It exposes the myth of 'pet overpopulation' and rather calls for the need for a holistic approach that address the complexity of the issues at hand. Comments: Discusses the term 'pet overpopulation' and looks at Australian facts and data.

Please take note: The issue of the euthanasia of shelter animals is a highly emotive topic with significant buy in from the public, the media, government, animal rights and animal welfare lobbies, the veterinary community and various other stakeholders. The author believes it is critical that assumptions are not made which will see effort and funding expended on solutions that are ineffective and unsustainable. The ultimate goal should be to reduce companion animal suffering in the long term and of course the horrible waste of canine and feline life through euthanasia. National figures on intake of dogs and cats and euthanasia figures for RSPCA are available on the national website (and represented in Fig 1,2). What is clear from these figures is that there has been significant decline in intake and euthanasia. The number of dogs coming into Australian RSPCA shelters peaked at 80,776 in 1997-1998 and has declined to 60,030 in 2004-2005; this represents a reduction of 25.9%. At the same time the euthanasia rate declined by 42.7%. http://www.ccac.net.au/files/The_issue_of_...UAM06Lawrie.pdf

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Title: MANDATORY DESEXING IN THE ACT - HAS IT WORKED? Summary: This is a study on Mandatory Desexing in ACT written by the AVA's Centre for Companion Animals in the Community. and how/why it did not work. Comments: the report also offers insight into the notion of 'overpopulation' wrt the numbers of cats/dogs euthanased in Australia each year.

Selective breeding is how most of them came about, NOT cross breeding. This is a misconception most people have. Purebreds did not start out being different breeds that were crossed with each other to make different purebreds. They started out as purebreds who were selectively bred to set desirable traits which were then carried on down the generations. Here is the origin of one of today's purebreds (From the GR Club of America website): Golden Retriever: Dudley Marjoribanks, (later known as Lord Tweedmouth) mated a yellow Wavy-Coated retriever with a Tweed Water Spaniel (a breed now extinct) between 1868-1871. This resulted in several yellow pups that became the foundation for a distinctive line of yellow retrievers. Descendants of this mating were combined with wavy and flat-coated retrievers, another Tweed Water Spaniel, and a red setter. The breed was officially recognized by The Kennel Club in 1911 as "Retriever- Yellow or Golden" and finally, "Retriever- Golden" in 1920. To me, this definitely sounds like cross breeding, not just selective breeding within a breed. why?

Its all about 'Building better dogs', yet Mcgreevy specialises in animal behaviour and Pauline Bennet in Human behaviour. an odd tag team to head a seminar on telling the world how to 'build better dogs', sounds like a bunch of crazy scientists to me, trying to work their Frankenstein ... why dont you attend Harry? I will send you a PM/email L:)

No at all, it's a great topic for discussion and it's also very relevant given the thread title. Being that I own both purebred, pedigree dogs and cats it's something I'm interested in discussing. At one time, I entertained the idea of showing a cat, but after attending a few cat shows as a spectator, I decided that I couldn't cope with spending Sundays cooped up in a hall that stunk strongly of cat piss by 10am. But I love pedigree cats and love the story of the Australian Mist. Do you think this doesn't go on now? It definitely does. But no one talks about it. Some breeds that have become rare or extinct due to war, famine or whatever reason have been recreated by people with a vision, but having a clear idea in mind of what you want to create and having the commitment, drive and balls to actually do it is hugely different to making Maltipoopenschnoodledoodles. Actually, come to think of it, breeders of doodles do have a fairly clear vision. They want to make money. Lots of it. Of course it still goes on, but not nearly as often as it could or should IMO. I feel for those who are genuinely attempting to create a new breed because they have to send so many of the 'failures' out into the population and thus reduce homes for that type reducing the number of pups they can breed to create a stead line. I am no way endorsing oodle breeders but I have seen a handful of seemingly genuine 'breeders' who sell the pups for a very modest sum ($400-500) and they provide lifetime support, clipping lessons or discounted grooming, health guarantees and so on. Not all oodlers are evil or money hungry... I have been researching bringing a new breed into Australia, but the hoops I would have to jump through and the time and effort I would have to spend to have the breed ANKC recognised, I honestly don't think I'm upto it. And this is an established dog that has been FCI & UK recognised and is currently on the rare breeds AKC register. My point is- maybe some people just want to enjoy their dogs and breeding without all the crap that comes with being part of an organisation. Just because someone doesn't want to be regulated doesn't automatically mean they are irresponsible. That;s true. I know someone who has imported two Sivas Kangals (different to the Australian ANKC Kangal) they cannot get ANKC registration but this person will breed their dogs very 'responsibly'. Registration isn't the one and only yardstick.