Aphra

Please participate and spread the link. Since visual identification can mean life or death for a dog, good research is important. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/breedidentity

I remember Ellie, and I remember how hard you worked to improve things for her. Well done to you and your helpers. Ellie is clearly happy and safe in her new home. What a lovely example she is of the fact that rescue groups know so well; that no matter how hard dogs have had it in their previous lives, it doesn't take long for them to settle safely and happily into new homes, given a little bit of help.

It depends on the council area. I am allowed four dogs without an additional permit because I am zoned rural. Central Goldfields Shire allows 6 without additional permits in rural zones. In other areas its two dogs inside town limits or urban areas. It depends on the shire and the zoning, so each council area is different and the local ranger is the person who will be able to tell you.

Perhaps contact some of the search and rescue groups and agility/tracking clubs? They really like the CCRs in my experience. We had one the year before last and when we advertised her we had more applications than we knew what to do with.

I think the whole issue of accountability for the RSPCA is an important one. Of course individual inspectors will be more or less ethical, which is typical of humans as a whole, but as an organisation I think Lord Acton's maxim applies, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". I know at least one state is rethinking the role of the RSPCA (and no, I can't say which because it was in the course of a private conversation in my professional capacity). At the very least there needs to be an ombudsman as a route for appeal, since most people can't afford to pursue issues with the RSPCA through the courts. You'd hope that the RSPCAs themselves would see that a process for overseeing their decisions would be of benefit to their reputation and mission. Edited to add. I'm sure the continuous foregrounding of the fact that Ms Hollingsworth was once a sex worker is an intentional gambit to create an impression that she must be a shady character and therefore make it more likely that she's an animal abuser. Clearly there's no logic to it at all and I think it's unethical to keep bringing up her past as if it were at all relevant to the present.

There have been a few Pointers turn up in the last couple of years, so great that they are getting some breed-specific help. Love the posters Plan B! There must be others around who want to say hello? :)

It's done the rounds so many times and every time it reappears I get irritated, more so even than the silly letter, the overwrought responses that it attracts. So I thought I'd write a reply, so that every time it shows up, I can post my reply. So here's what I wrote in response: http://www.headingforhome.asn.au/every-letter-deserves-a-reply/

Life changes and moves on for everyone; so although WAR might be no longer, the solid work you've all done has made such a difference. I'm sure some of your foster carers will be able to take their experience to other groups either now or in the future. Thank you for all the work you've done in Wagga and surrounds, there are so many animals who have reason to be grateful. Thank you to Emma and everyone involved with WAR.

We've had intro threads in the past, but I think the one pinned up there is a bit out-of-date and I notice there are lots of new rescue groups on DOL. So in the spirit of Xmas I thought we could have an introduction (or reintroduction!) thread. So to start off ... Heading for Home: Central Victorian Animal Rescue had been running for nearly 3 years now. We're a little group with a handful of foster carers located around Central Victoria. We're an all-breed rescue and have rehomed anything from one of our first dogs who was around 70kgs, to a tiny Pom who was around 2kgs soaking wet. We're on Facebook, have a website (www.headingforhome.asn.au) a blog where we rabbit on about all sorts of rescue related things (our latest blog post: http://www.headingforhome.asn.au/an-agreeable-friend/) and have a Twitter account which we use for more advocacy-style stuff @HfH_CVAR We're always happy to work with other rescue groups and are particularly proud of the terrific relationships we've built up over the last few years with groups in the Riverina area of NSW. This is what rescue means to me. Morgan was a recent rehome for us. He came to us a very timid, anxious little dog and blossomed in his new home. Giving such a deserving dog a second chance is what makes all the hard work and hours of driving worth it.

Our vet uses surgical glue on spay sutures, so she may not have stitches at all. But keep her dry for at least a week anyway, you don't want to compromise healing with a possible infection.

I was interested that no-one quote any of the American case studies because they're very detailed. For example, the common factors in deaths from dog bite tend to be lower socio-economic status, resident as opposed to family dogs, the use of drugs and alcohol and unsupervised children. You could certainly see all of those elements in the very small numbers of dog caused fatalities in Australia. There are always people who believe if something isn't working it's because you're not doing enough of it, rather than it not being efficacious. It's not usually an indication of a person comfortable with thinking as an activity!

Excellent discussion. I'm fascinated by the tension between all of the people on the ground who know BSL doesn't work and the policy makers, community pressure and media on the other looking for a simple answer. "They legislate but put no processes in place to track if that legislation works".

Amen.

A few years ago I had my cattle dog out with me before he was desexed. A guy stopped me and admired him and said he had a female at home and was I interested in breeding them. He clearly intimated that along with the dog romance he was offering a bit of human to human interaction too! It cracked me up, but I politely declined both offers.

I just find this weird. I work full time, I have my own dogs, I run a rescue group and I foster. All of the dogs cope; in fact I think it's a really important life skill for dogs to learn to cope without constant interaction or company. We don't have any blanket rules, it's horses for courses, an anxious dog might not cope with people who work all day, but a calm, confident dog will happily amuse itself alone, as thousands of dogs all over the country already do. If you refuse dogs to people who work full time you pretty much exclude a big group of people who can afford to care for a dog. We've had people adopt from us who were on the verge of giving up on rescue; good homes and caring people, but just found the whole process so difficult and unpleasant. It seems really wrong to me that people who are actually ;trying to do a good thing are treated with such suspicion and cynicism. By all means investigate and place dogs carefully, but don't make the process so intrusive and uncomfortable that people give up on rescue altogether. Getting a dog or cat should be a really happy, joyous occasion, and shouldn't make you feel horrible. Ask people to demonstrate their fabulousness as pet owners, not prove they're not serial killers. The reality is that only a very small percentage of the total dog population of Australia end up in pounds, which suggests than many more people than not are doing the right thing. if you're so suspicious of people and so untrusting you probably shouldn't be doing rescue.

I'm not convinced that rescue groups are in competition with each other, it's not as if dogs needing new homes are a scarce commodity. I think diversity is a good thing; as long as the basics are being well done, individual groups will be able to offer different things. Small groups can offer geographic convenience, flexibility and personal service that larger groups constrained by size and strict policy sometimes can't do. I started out fostering for a much larger organisation, but decided that I wanted to be able to make my own policies and decisions, so started my own group; I don't think we're taking resources away from other groups, but offering another option for adopters. It sounds like the proposed new group has lots of good experience to bring to the rescue scene, which can only be a good thing for Greyhounds.

I missed this the first time through, but have some questions. Will this draft best practice code only cover the ten groups who participated? Or will it extend to all rescue groups working in Victoria? If it all groups working in Victoria are expected to abide by the code, will there be some consultation with groups other than that ten at some stage? I'd assume that if all councils get copies of the code, then they will assume that all rescue groups will abide by it, so it would be helpful if other groups could at least see it.

The whole super sentimental tone and "doggy" thing grates on me, but in some ways this is a totally awesome idea. Making fostering seem like fun, then the option to adopt a foster dog further down the track if they are working out is a great idea. None of the research suggests that animals adopted for free (such as the RSPCA's free cat adoption events), or animals bought on impulse are any worse off in terms of care and commitment than animals obtained in any other way. The idea that free animals or impulse-obtained animals are less well cared for than any others is a persistent myth in rescue. (http://www.savingpets.com.au/2012/11/yet-another-study-showing-free-adoptions-are-good-for-pets/). As long as a dog is appropriately placed in a foster care home, I really can't see why impulse fostering is a bad idea. Lots of people are seized with a burst of altruism around Xmas, it's clever marketing to harness that sense of goodwill to men (and dogs) to help out rescue animals. I also love the idea of making fostering seem like a really fun, rewarding thing to do. As I was putting together our foster care application I read lots of foster care forms from all over the web, and the emphasis was heavily punitive. You'd have thought people were applying to be prison guards rather than putting up their hands to look after kittens. I have lots of reservations about Pound Rounds and what seems to be their sentimental to the point of dishonest approach to temperament assessment so I suppose I'm a bit dubious about how much responsibility they will take for placing fosters in appropriate homes and taking them back if they don't work out. So how it works out in practice will depend heavily on the ethics and care Pound Rounds are willing to expend, which is probably the big question mark in my mind. If they care enough to get it right then I'm all for it as an idea. I don't believe that the community are self-evidently foolish, irresponsible or untrustworthy, in fact quite the opposite. If that good will can be matched with clever marketing and ethical rescue practice (which is not necessarily inflexible or un-trusting practice), then everybody, including the animals, benefit. In my own area of work we struggle with persistent myths about human behaviour which have proved untrue over and over again, which are disproved by research and by experience, but which still heavily influence organisational decision-making to the detriment of everybody. I believe that like any other field of endeavour, rescue needs to be open to rethinking accepted paradigms if better evidence comes along. But "doggy" still makes me stabby. :laugh:

Things get better after Xmas. Having been doing this for a few years now we can see a distinct seasonal pattern. People hold off adopting in Nov/Dec because they are either concentrating in getting ready for Xmas and all the end of year stuff and/or planning on going away for holidays. Since adoptions slow down, pounds fill up. If you can grit your teeth, squeeze in a few extra animals and wait a few weeks, the dam bursts early Jan when people have a bit of time on their hands to settle in a new pet.

I came across this and thought it made a lot of really pertinent points. It's US-centric, but useful all the same. "Great animal rescue or great scam." http://petadvocatesnetwork.org/wordpress/2012/11/04/great-animal-rescue-or-great-scam-a-complete-guide-by-alison-hector/

I'm not questioning your own experience but in the pounds I deal with only a tiny percentage vaccinate upon arrival and I've never had a pound deflea, worm or wash a dog.

I'm looking for someone who could hold the little scruffy xbreed from Wagga pound. Until next Friday would be great, but until tomorrow afternoon would be really helpful. Friendly with other dogs. If you could, please PM me.

My cattle dog sleeps under the bed when there are storms. I call it his man cave and figure the enclosure aspect makes him feel a bit more secure.

Yep. Pretty much. As long as you and your foster carers comply with council regulations for the council area in which the animals reside, and the requirements of an 84Y if you hold one, that's about it. Happy to have a longer conversation if you want to PM me for a phone number.

A shelter comes under the code of practice for a domestic animal business shelter or pound. All the Codes are on the DPI website. A pound is a council impounding facility, pretty much everything else with a fixed facility which isn't a breeding establishment, boarding establishment or pet shop is a shelter.