Aphra

I could wish that you'd been brain washed into buying some full stops. And really, characterizing your audience as mindless zombies isn't a good method for selling your message. Social media is like every other form of communication; it can be well or poorly used, critical thinking skills are still necessary.

Really like the rewritten profile. Some dogs just take their time. We had one big dog with us for nearly two years. He was a lovely boy, but really big and kind of plain. In the end he found the most brilliant home, but in all of that time he only had one other enquiry.

He's beautiful and in beautiful condition. I tend to agree that possibly your profile would make more sense to someone who was a bit dog savvy - people tend not to understand terms like resource guarding. I suspect there is also an effect where-by you mention it and people wonder why, when it might not have crossed their minds before. This is the kind of profile I'd give him: " I'd also use this kind of photo as his lead image, because we've found that people really respond to the images with the soft mouth and ears. Some people find the closed mouth and intent stare a bit threatening, so we always include a tongue hanging out shot. http://cdn.petrescue.com.au/uploads/pet_photos/217377_8c244_900x900.jpg

A mama cat might accept them if they're very small, if there is no other option.

What a really peculiar perspective. Were they talking about dogs with serious behaviour issues such as severe aggression or obsessive behaviours? Because while some of the dogs we rehome could be said to have behavioural issues, they are mostly related to things such as lack of basic obedience. Teaching a dog to walk reasonably well on a leash, sit quietly, stop jumping and take treats gently are easy enough behaviours to create and tend to stay with the dog once they've got the idea. I'm always bewildered by the idea that pound dogs constitute some "other" category of unmanageable dogs, when the population of a pound pretty much reflects the population of dogs outside the pound. The majority of dogs we rehome could easily go straight from pound to home and manage pretty well.

I absolutely disagree with this perspective. There is really good evidence from Australia and overseas, that making changes at the pound/shelter level will reduce the numbers of animals killed. It makes so much sense that if you concentrate your efforts on the pointy end of the problem you can make changes. If we intend to keep the killing going until those members of the public who are doing the wrong thing start to behave, we might as well just throw up our hands and give up. Public education campaigns are complex, expensive and slow. Look at how long we've been campaigning against smoking and people still do it. No government is going to throw money at a public campaign for responsible ownership (and I would argue that the vast majority of people are responsible owners), but it would cost relatively little to reform our pound management, and save many, many lives really quickly. If you want an easy example look at Broken Hill Pound. A few years ago they had a 90% kill rate. In the last two years they've started working with rescue, operating a foster care network and started a Broken Hill rescue group to rehome animals locally. Up to this point in 2013 their kill rate has reduced to 12%.

I had a play around with the figures last year: http://www.headingforhome.asn.au/pet-over-population-doesnt-add-up/ I'm all for the RSPCA being made more accountable, but the petition is pretty vague and drifts from one thing to another and has no clear outcome. The RSPCA's kill rates are one issue, the RSPCA's role in prosecuting animal cruelty cases is another. I'd like to see each jurisdiction where the RSPCA has a prosecuting role to appoint an animal welfare ombudsman, like the telecommunications ombudsman role in Victoria. The role is to oversee complaints and issues which can be resolved before they hit the courts. Ideally I believe governments should take the policing and prosecution of animal welfare issues back under government control and not out-source to a charity. Since that's unlikely to happen, I think the legislation should clearly define the RSPCA's role, responsibility and level of authority and that part of their work which is conducted on behalf of the government should have clear legislative control by the relevant department and/or minister. I believe this is the case in QLD, but seems not to be the case in Victoria, NSW and SA. I'd also like to see the RSPCA be prevented from taking money from industries (such as pork producers) who are clearly in their ambit for potential investigation. The RSPCA's kill rates are another issue altogether, but I think responsibility for those has to fall back on the councils which contract with the RSPCA and the Lost Dogs Home etc, for pound services. Those contracts actively encourage high kill rates by not providing penalties for killing. It is clearly to the economic benefit of the RSPCA to turn over as many animals as quickly as they can and councils don't include penalties for high kill rates or benefits for rehoming or working with rescue. Councils and their communities need to take responsibility for animal management, which includes making live release rates (either return, rehome or release to rescue) a performance criteria for councils and animal management divisions and staff.

Same old, same old, really.

Nobody is this entire thread has denied that loose dogs, particularly large unsocialised ones are a serious problem. What people are saying is that breed is not the issue, it is lack of responsible management, adequate containment and appropriate socialization on the part of the owner. There is nothing wrong with my comprehension so the bold caps are unnecessary. Your experience with the Neo has clearly frightened you, but had the dog been a St Bernard or a Standard Poodle, the issue would still have been a large, threatening dog not contained.

I'm sure you got a fright, but one Neo causing trouble doesn't mean they're all like that. In fact had Homer got out without me, he'd have been every bit as friendly as he wad with his cats Which is irrelevant really, because the plural of anecdote is not data. In a decade or so of rescuing I've handled hundreds of rescue dogs of all breeds and sizes, the only one I truly believed was going to bite me was a Labrador.

The Lagotto sent a shudder up my spine. And man, are those Neos ever scary ...

Beagle Rescue Victoria - I know they do save from interstate at times. http://www.beaglerescuevic.org/aboutus.html

I think of it as buyer's remorse. You get something you really, really want, and when you get it, after all the excitement wears off, you discover that all your routines are upset, you have to think about everything differently, instead of doing your own thing, you have to keep thinking about managing your new dog, and that's all a bit tiring. Even when you get the thing you wanted most, there's also a bit of resentment because you've been bumped out of your usual, comfortable rut. :D My advice to new adopters who get cold feet is to just stay with it for a week. By then things will have settled down a bit, you'll have new routines with dog included so things won't be quite so difficult and you'll be having so much fun with your new dog that you'll wonder what all the upset was for. Every time I've added a new dog I've had 48 hours of "what did I do that for? After that things settled down and it was all good.

Sometimes they do surprise us, particularly when they've not had good maternal nutrition ... I remember a litter we labelled Whippet Xs who grew and grew and grew ... But this little guy is 8 months old and the mastiff X in the photo weighed more than he does at 8 weeks. :laugh:

I picked up a young dog from a pound yesterday. He was listed a "mastiff X puppy". I've learned to take pound descriptions with a fair degree of skepticism, but sometimes you have to wonder who teaches them dog identification. The dog I picked up is about 8 months old and probably doesn't weigh much more than 6 kilos, if that. So dear Pound Staff, this is a mastiff X. He weighed 50 kilos at 8 months and topped out at 68 as an adult. This little guy is the one I picked up yesterday, he's probably a Jack Russell crossed with maybe a Staffy? He's only little and will be lucky to top 8 kilos as an adult. I know that it's really hard to tell breed from just looking at a dog, but sometimes you look at the descriptors and go WTF?

The RSPCA is a major voice on Victoria's Animal Welfare Committee which advises on new legislation - I suspect a review of the RSPCA's role and mandate might meet considerable resistance. I believe that the inspectorate function should be a part of government and outsourced, but that is unlikely to happen, although I think there has been some conversation in WA about the possibility. Well, it'd not only be animal welfare decisions that citizens might want to have reviewed ... so it seems odd that those states don't have any processes for internal and especially external review of decisions made by any governmental body... or one partly funded by government (like a state's RSPCA).

In Victoria, NSW, I believe SA and Tasmania, there is no review or appeals process in the legislation. Basically the RSPCA can do what it wants, and the only recourse people have is through the courts.

Michael Linke's Pit Dahlia has her own Twitter account. :laugh: @DahliaLinke Quite right. Canberra's RSPCA has a good reputation. And I saw the CEO at the 'Ban Live Export' march on Sunday, walking his pretty pit bull girl. Now that cheers my heart.

All of the state and territory RSPCAs operate differently, in fact each individual RSPCA within states and territories can be quite different. Victoria, for example, has much better save rates than NSW overall, but there are some lovely examples of how corporate profit making overtake their mission statement (http://www.bendigoweekly.com/news/ducking-the-real-issue). This same RSPCA manager regularly kills adoptable pets with minor issues because "I want quality, not quantity, in my shelter". My major issue with the RSPCA and the reason why I refuse to support it, is the complete lack of accountability - no-one has oversight of the RSPCA's actions and decisions, except through the courts. There is no process for appeal or review. And I think their willingness to take money from the pork industry, the poultry industry and in NSW the PIAA is a terrible example of conflict of interest. To be making money out of groups you might need to investigates casts doubt over all of the RSPCA's actions, in my opinion.

Take photograps of impounded animals and put them on the Internet somewhere. Find a shelter that doesn't do this and make it happen. An incredibly useful volunteer activity, even if all you use is your phone camera.

The 3% figure is a bit disingenuous. That's what the State Govt gives them for the investigation and prosecution activities. But they get a big income stream from local governments by providing pound services. The Vic. RDPCA has to pay for their shiny, new building at Burwood.

The Popster has landed. ;-)

I'm gobsmacked at the idea of a rescue group with enough money to make embezzlement worthwhile. They must have had a fair income stream for 100,000 to go missing and no-one notice for 4 years.

Well done Janie and BFPR. This girl is finally in safe hands.

Well done Janie and BFPR. This girl is finally in safe hands.