Pheebs

See I'm one of those who has never looked particularly favourably upon "rodent control"... if I were to ever consider having our kitties outside (which I never will) - I'd be far too concerned that they would ingest a mouse who in turn had ingested some form of bait itself. I can say this because the last cat my family owned we lost in this exact way. Needless to say I won't be entertaining the idea of having outdoor cats again. To each their own

A title worn with pride :laugh:

How cute!!!

When I'm talking to the dogs, yes. ie. "Daddy's home!" but to others no :laugh:

Authorities can only work with the legislation that they have. If you don't have a lawful reason to seize a domestic animal, taking it is stealing. Tranter has come undone here before, and playing on peoples emotions doesn't make her actions lawful. I'm not disagreeing with you at all... I just find the situation very frustrating in that BSL should be the least of everyones concern in this particular situation. I am also waiting on Facebook to hear how it was that Debra was able to "wrangle" the bitch in question....

Gotta love how they've left the dogs in his "care" but his biggest "crime" so far is having two pitbulls which were seized.

From the age: AN ANIMAL rights advocate courageously intervened last night to save a dog caged in squalor in Melbourne's west, after authorities failed to seize more than 20 dogs from a man whose property was raided on reports that he was slaughtering them for human consumption. Debra Tranter, the founder of Oscar's Law campaign against puppy farms, last night drove to the Rockbank property and managed to wrangle one of the dogs from the owner, Peter Avraam, who has been charged with offences relating to handling stolen goods and drugs. The female dog had been kept in a cage so small she could hardly stand, had a wound on her back and was so starved her spine and ribcage showed clearly through her skin. Advertisement Twenty-three dogs remain at the Leakes Road property, according to RSPCA reports, because even after authorities seized allegedly stolen goods, shotguns, drugs and animal meat on Wednesday, they left most of the animals. No dog meat was found on the premises in the raid. ''[The dogs] were licking my fingers through the wire,'' Ms Tranter said. ''It is the most evil place I have ever been.'' The state government passed laws last year which strengthened the penalties against animal abuse. But Ms Tranter said she had pleaded since March to police, Melton Shire Council, and the RSPCA to investigate, and it was only late last year she found a policewoman who would investigate. Authorities have confirmed that they received reports from multiple and reliable sources that dogs were being illegally slaughtered for meat. One witness told police they had seen a dog butchered and a blowtorch used to remove its hair before its carcass was hung on a hook. The witness said dogs were found through ''free to good home'' advertisements. The RSPCA was told of the allegations last year, but left 24 dogs in Avraam's custody, with about 10 sheep and 100 goats. Two restricted-breed pit bulls were seized by the council. Ms Tranter said she spent yesterday asking the RSPCA to rescue the dogs but to no avail. A source close to the investigation said the number of agencies involved and difficulties in determining the jurisdiction of the allegations had delayed the raids. RSPCA senior inspector Daniel Bode confirmed they had received complaints over the past year ''that we have attended to each time and we have investigated. We have worked with the owner on small little issues but nothing that warrants any offences under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.'' He said after this week's raids, which were attended at the request of police, the RSPCA had issued a directive asking Avraam to improve the dogs' housing conditions and provide clean water. He said the RSPCA was investigating whether charges would now be laid and it was ''possible'' the animals would be seized if Avraam did not comply. ''We are now working with the owner to ensure animal welfare is made number one priority.'' A senior investigator at the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Samantha Moore, said Avraam had no wildlife licence. All wildlife on the property, including 45 exotic animals, had been seized except for one emu. ''We haven't actually seized it yet given that they are not easy to catch,'' she said. More charges are expected to be laid over acquisition of wildlife and unregistered dogs. The chief executive of the state government authority responsible for meat safety, PrimeSafe, Brian Casey, said they found no evidence of dogs being killed on the property. Avraam, 41, of Rockbank, was bailed after being charged with cultivation of cannabis, handling of stolen goods and ammunition offences. He is understood to have told police he was an animal lover.

I've only ever had one non-human name and that was Pip (Pipsqueak). The rest have been Gabby, Tess, Lucy, Hugo, Jemima, Maggie & Harry :) Lucy gets "Lucille" and Maggie gets "Marguerite" anyway :rolleyes:

I'll leave the behavioural advice to the experts, but wanted to wish you all the best. Is it possible that you scared the living cr*p out of Ziggy during said "fit" hence the bite?

I feel sick

Oh she's just beautiful - you've done such a great job. My OH has been bugging me (what a role reversal!) about her, and we'd welcome her with open arms in a heartbeat but I've run three bitches together before and it's not something I'd be prepared to go through again..... such a pity as she appears to be such a gorgeous girl. I'm sure she'll be a perfect addition to a perfect family

I think it's fairly safe to say that those who attend puppy classes at the vets are clients of the vet, and therefore the grand majority of pups would be vaccinated.

I wrapped Lucy (Dane) up for as long as I could in a towel so she was more easily "tucked" away under my arm/on my hip, but it became near impossible after a while

Maggie was a beautiful girl indeed. My sympathies for your loss

If you truly believe that then perhaps you need to reacquaint yourself with the ethos of this forum

From memory I had our female great dane spayed for around $180? I'm now thinking that's incredibly reasonable

No licking anywhere. At any time. That said we've taught the girls if they want to give us 'kisses' they just press their nose to ours

I find it far easier to bond with dogs. That said, I am now proudly owned by two rescue kitties and wouldn't have it any other way! That said, I find moggies quite difficult to warm to. I've met some that are sweet, but none that have 'converted' me into wanting one. I find purebred cats are my preference as like dogs, there is an element of predictability in breed characteristics. I am on a one way ticket to hell for saying this. I love my girls so very much, but had I known how much easier maintenance the kitties were... I can't honestly say I would go through having three large breeds dogs again. Tess was my heart dog, and we got Lucy for companionship for her and to ease the transition for us when the inevitable happened - but Tess died just over a year later and much earlier than we had anticipated. I now have a very high energy giant breed who is all kinds of demanding (and loud) and we now consequently have Maggie as a companion to Lucy. It's hard work Isn't that an awful thing to say ETA: This is all based upon our current living situation. If we had our way and had a small acreage (which isn't out of the realm of possibility in the next ~2 years), then it would be a different story altogether

Exact same scenario here, except I was running 3 bitches together (which in hindsight was incredibly foolish ) I wouldn't give up hope yet

Hi Sherel I was just popping back into the thread to update that her coat is getting back to it's lovely glossy stage - must have just been a transitional thing! Her ears are much less 'gunky' and she's not running as 'hot' as she had on previous brands. She's still on the lean-side which I suspect will always be the case but she is holding her weight nicely I'm also over the moon that we appear to need to feed much less of it than other brands we've tried thus far so that can only be a good thing for the wallet! I'm nearly at the end of the first bag (I purchased the Puppy due to the fat content so will probably look at putting her on the Adult) which we purchased from Sunshine - was hoping that I might be able to source some from you locally if that's at all convenient?

God I wish you hadn't pointed that out

Interesting - Lucy does beautifully on the Giant RC too but it's just a price issue for us, hence the change to Black Hawk

Thank you Hi Sherel She's 2.5 years so not really a puppy but still a crazy loon :D She's been on the Black Hawk a bit over 3 weeks now - I've already noticed positive changes in her weight and stools, it's just the coat that's problematic. No treats as such, just the usual chicken mince & beef mince which we've always given her so apart from the Black Hawk no other changes. ETA Sorry Sherel forgot to add she's been spayed since the age of 6mths

Just really dull, totally lacking in sheen and she's more dandruffy than usual. As much as I was unsure about the Albers her coat was looking really nice on it. I'd be quite happy to continue feeding the Black Hawk as she's obviously maintaining weight which is great - anything I can add to her diet to bring the gloss back? (She gets sardines in oil once a week).

I'd be interested to hear the answer too, James - as I have a Great Dane on it and want to ensure that joints are well catered for. Lucy is maintaining weight beautifully on the Black Hawk (which was my main reason for putting her on it) but I must admit the condition of her coat has deteriorated . No idea why as Uncle Albers which she was on previously is hardly a premium diet.... Edit for Spelling & Grammar