KJS

Tango

Yes, it was very stressful Aussie lover, my partner was pregnant and we were in the midlle of moving so it couldn't have come at a worse time. They had her for a month while I lodged freedom of information forms, tracked down the breeder and geared up for the challenge. Fortunately they saw the writing on the wall and allowed me to pick her up. Not before trying to make me relocate her out of their area though. BSL is bad enough but when you couple it with animal control officers on power trips it really gets crazy. I had friends in other areas of the council and the word of what was happening spread quickly. I know the situation didn't do much for the opinions of the ACO's in the eyes of their colleagues within the council. On the day that I picked my dog up I rang the A/H council number (it had to be done after hours) to arrange it and the lady I got knew all about my situation and was very supportive. She gave me her opinion of the ACO's involved and told me of how others had viewed their actions. Not favourably I can tell you. Their little power trip had turned around and bit them on the ar$e! They have a stupid law to enforce but one has to question the mentality of someone (who should have the best interests of dogs at heart) when they would want to try to destroy a dog that is good natured, well cared for, microchipped, desexed and obviously well loved. Oh yeah, and most importantly not a Pitbull! I hope the clowns at the Toowoomba City Council get to read this. I will never forget and will continue to remind people of your incompetence and callousness. Ok, end of rant, time for some happy thoughts.

Hi all, I'm glad to see there are others that like biking with dogs, I have been doing this for quite a few years now and don't want to blow my own trumpet but would say I am relatively experience at it. I have an Amstaff and a JRT. The Amstaff just flies but the JRT needs a few breaks and has become very good at balancing on the top rail and handle bars so gets to cruise up there for a lot of the ride. I have a sled dog harness for the Amstaff that I got from Windchill and the JRT has a standard harness also from Winchill, both are great products. I think proper harnesses are a must and it shouldn't be done on collar. I recommend the sled dog harness as it helps keep the dog going straight out in front because of where the lead attaches (above the tail). I wouldn't recommend it for small dogs though. Also it pays to have a lead with some built in flexibility to reduce shock on the dogs. Windchill also sells these but I make my own with 25mm nylon tube tape and 6mm bungy cord. Tie 2 knots in the end of the bungy feed it into the tube tape, zip tie one knot in place from the outside then bunch the tube tape up and zip tie the other end. Works great and lasts for years. It's not without danger particularly for small dogs, It would be possible to break a dogs back or legs if you were to ride over him/her. Other things to keep in mind are: Loose dogs - stick to open places where possible. Concrete footpaths - try to stick to grass as it's easier on the dogs paws and legs. It's also better exercise for the humans. Keep the lead well away from the tyres, if the tyre grabs the lead it will pull the dog in towards the tyre, it happens quickly and you only have a moment to react. I prefer to tie the dogs directly to the center of the handle bars giving me two hands for control and braking. It increases the risk of having the front tyre grab the lead but is safer than holding the lead in your hand IMO. Also make sure you stop for a drink/swim and rest if going on a long ride, because they love it so much mine will just keep going and I am very careful not to overexert them. As for the legalities, well I have passed the police countless times without incident, I think you would have to be unlucky. I have tried to upload a a pic of my setup but it's too big I think.Any suggestions how to do this?? I can email it to anyone interested, just PM me. I hope this helps. Be safe and have fun!

In light of recent posts I thought the same RnB. I hope I'm wrong. Thanks Jed for your explanation, I didn't realise the CCCQ was so heavily involved at the start. And to the OP, it is absolute hell to have your dog seized and threatened with destruction. I know this first hand. If it wasn't for the preceding court challenges and the help I received from people on this forum my dog wouldn't be snoozing happily beside me right now.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept that "Pet-friendly hotels stopped being pet-friendly because dogs destroyed things and messed up the place so naturally sneaking dogs in once they stopped being pet-friendly is also a reason they stopped being pet-friendly". :rolleyes: I don't get it.. they'd ban pets regardless of people sneaking them in or not.. I agree Dju. I think there is two separate isues here. 1. Screwing up pet friendly accomodation with irresponsibilty. It's a real shame when this has happened and I feel for the owners who are left with a mess to clean up. Can't blame them for banning dogs in that instance. But it is different to: 2. Sneaking a dog into accommodation thats already not dog freindly. PROVIDED you are responsible and leave no trace I don't really see it as a big issue. Ok so your dog may get the squirts or vomit, but seriously what are the chances of that? you are not a responsible dog owner if you break the rules and take your dog into a motel room that does not permit them. I am a responsible dog owner but you are entitled to your own opinion.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept that "Pet-friendly hotels stopped being pet-friendly because dogs destroyed things and messed up the place so naturally sneaking dogs in once they stopped being pet-friendly is also a reason they stopped being pet-friendly". :rolleyes: I don't get it.. they'd ban pets regardless of people sneaking them in or not.. I agree Dju. I think there is two separate isues here. 1. Screwing up pet friendly accomodation with irresponsibilty. It's a real shame when this has happened and I feel for the owners who are left with a mess to clean up. Can't blame them for banning dogs in that instance. But it is different to: 2. Sneaking a dog into accommodation thats already not dog freindly. PROVIDED you are responsible and leave no trace I don't really see it as a big issue. Ok so your dog may get the squirts or vomit, but seriously what are the chances of that? I'll admit to having have done this while on a long trip. I had planned to make it to a dog freindly motel but felt I would have been pushing myself to keep driving. Better that than falling asleep at the wheel and potentially taking someone else out. IMO.

Thats a shame about your pup mackenzie. It's also a shame that the aggression was automatically attributed to Pitbull ancestry. It is impossible to tell if a mixed breed dog would have Pitbull in it, especially if it could pass as Foxy x JRT as a pup. Identifying a Pitbull is not easy, have a look in the BSL forum and you will see what I mean. I own an Amstaff that was identified as a Pitbull by a local council and it lead to all sorts of strife for me. Some will argue Pitbulls are Amstaffs and others say the gap between them is now too wide. Either way they are closely related. My dog is very stable and has never shown signs of aggression, I have also met a few great natured Pitbulls. It can be a hot topic on this forum sometimes as you will probably see. I personally do not accept that Pitbull = Aggressive and feel compelled to defend the breed when this is notion is implied. Off topic I know. Sorry.

I bought an unpapered Amstaff from a BYB, big mistake in Queensland with the BSL laws. After 9 years I've had no health issues, the only issue I have had has been saving her from death row at the hands of the fools at Toowoomba City Council. It was a month of hell while I tracked down the breeder and gathered enough evidence to force the council into returning her. The good thing that came out of it was that I found DOL while looking for help. Fortunately I found help and have learnt a lot since then from this site. My second dog is a papered JRT from a pet shop (pre DOL), He's in in for future hip problems according to my vet but is otherwise healthy and happy. Hopefully it will be a number of years before I buy my next dog (another Amstaff) and a lot more research will be done before then.

Perhaps they should start thinking about ways to recover some of the costs they will incurr from the inevitable compensation claims. I suggest selling tickets to this "meeting the middle of next week". I'd like a front row one please. I'll bring a bag of popcorn, my Ipod and speakers so I could set some nice background music. The Benny Hill Show theme song would be appropriate I think. ;)

What are they going to do now? My guess is that they will continue trying to bluff owners into surrendering their dogs but cave in at the first sign of a challenge. It appears they have basically admitted that their 22 point check is useless. Pitbull=Amstaff and they can't tell the difference. I really can't see what leg they have to stand on now. It will be interesting to see the outcome for Rangi's dogs. I do hope they are home very soon. Again big thumbs to everyone involved. Your persistence is inspirational.

So Tango's coming home? This is great news for all Queensland Amstaff owners, I recently moved and have been waiting to registered my dog with the new council. Very happy I don't have to hide her like a criminal. Keep up the good work John!

Amstaffs are completely banned from Toowoomba, and have been since the instigation of the ban. Jed, My unpapered Amstaff was seized by Toowoomba City Council. After a month I proved parentage and my dog was returned and registered. I have since moved to Brisbane otherwise my dog would still be registered with TCC. They have no ban on Amstaffs, unless this has been introduced since 2007