WoofnHoof

True but it would only need to cover the basics, recognising body scores on main livestock species, adequate fencing requirements, making sure they are aware of parasite control etc realistically if the farmer knows what they are doing it should only take them 15 minutes max, could even be done online. It's really designed to make sure that people who don't already have the knowledge get there and learn enough to demonstrate that they can tell if a horse/cow is starving or needs vet treatment. It only needs to be basic because a lot of the mistakes we see people making are basic ones, people who don't recognise their animal is malnourished or that it needs worming or better fencing.

You could get one license and then different classes for the different animals, like how you can have a C class license as well as a HR license you don't have two licenses you just have both codes on the one license, D for dog, C for cat, L for livestock O for other something like that, then you can have a general test and add the relevant questions for each species into it. One learner's booklet for each animal type which covers basic nutrition, vet care and legal responsibilities. Farmers will whinge but really it's not it would be all that much of a strain on them their license could be classed as a business expense same as they have to get a firearms license or a driver's license.

I don't see the harm in a licensing system it's only a matter of time before it's brought in anyway and I like the idea of people having to pass a basic animal care & responsibility test before they are allowed to own an animal. The current system where anyone can walk in and purchase an animal without having to know anything at all about basic animal care isn't helping animals and it's not helping the responsible owners either. The current system of laws doesn't encourage people to go out and learn the rules, they just keep doing the wrong thing until they get caught and then plead ignorance. I would much rather them have to pass a test in the first place so that they at least have a passing knowledge of what's required and they can't pretend they didn't know what their responsibilities were.

Personally I think a licensing system would be good, it wouldn't have to be any more difficult than getting a driver's license and the vast majority of people can do that. If it covers the basic requirements and responsibilities of owning an animal it can't hurt that's for sure, I was only speaking today to a friend of mine about how so many people own animals who don't have a basic understanding of animal nutrition. It could be paid for by the licensing fees as well as fines for non-compliance, a national scheme would be best to ensure people can't dodge it by moving interstate. ETA really would be quite easy to enforce if you have an animal and can't produce the license you would be instantly fined and your name would be red flagged so that the action could be followed up, similar to existing license systems. Many people who drive without a license are caught repeatedly because the police are keeping an eye out for them after the first time.

Thanks for posting that it's really interesting!

No not for sheer vengence - not my style. The dog would be euthed to make sure it didn't happen again. We have been shown time and time again that people do not listen and do not take appropriate steps to stop it happening again. I would not risk that fact the animal would get out and attack or kill my defenceless animals again. If the same happened to my own dogs I would as mentioned before deeply mourn the loss of my dogs but would fully understand why it had been done. It would be my fault my dogs had been allowed to raom. Having said that a dog merely turning up at my place will get contained, have a feed,drink and any help it requires whilst the appropriate channels are followed to find it's owner as I have done in the past. I will not shot a dog no questions asked, but kill, injure or maime one and that is what will happen. My dog returned our neighbours dogs 4 times. They still didn't keep them home (had to go around 15 to 20kms to get to our property) so they disappeared. What if you didn't allow your dogs to roam but that they escaped for whatever reason? A storm might blow a tree onto your fences, any number of things can happen we've seen it here loads of times. I'm not talking about repeat offenders or irresponsible owners I'm talking about a one off escape that could not be forseen. If a dog has a high prey drive it's highly likely it will chase something that looks like prey, I suppose the answer is that no one should ever have a dog with high prey drive if you don't want it shot if it ever escapes. Sheilaheel02: As are mine.

The perpetrator is a dog, not a human with the capacity to inflict pain for the fun of it or understand the consequences of their actions, they are animals acting on instinct it's not like killing them will set an example for other dogs not to do the same. An eye for an eye doesn't exactly mean anything to the animals themselves, so would you be killing the dog to prevent it happening again or just out of sheer vengance? By all means fine the owners, order them to compensate and make them realise the importance of keeping their dogs contained but everyone knows accidents can happen and dogs can get out, I say this as the owner of horses who are extremely valuable to me and I would be utterly gutted (and more) if someone's dog (or even mine) injured or killed them but I wouldn't be baying for the blood of the dog, it wouldn't bring my animals back. Many of the examples here are a result of irresponsible dog ownership where dogs are getting out time and time again and where the owners of the dogs are totally insensitive to the issue but if it were a one-off and the owner were truly remorseful and taking steps to ensure the dog is more securely contained in the future would you still be insisting on PTS? I understand both sides of the equation as the owner of a high prey drive dog and the owner of prey animals it's my job to ensure that never the two meet and I would have no mercy for the owner of any dog who did not take that responsibility seriously, but I wouldn't take out my anger and sorrow on the dog itself.

My dog would chase stock, it's terrifying the thought that he might get out one day and chase the horses or the neighbours cattle. I wouldn't want him shot for an accident though, he is a high prey drive dog so I do my best to ensure he doesn't ever get out and keep him occupied so he doesn't feel inclined to try to get out. I don't share my house even though I need to financially because it is so difficult to find people who understand how important it is to never ever leave the gate open. I understand the reality that if he did get out someone might shoot him but I would like to hope someone would try to catch him first.

Same goes with any food, just because you scrape the mouldy bits off doesn't mean the rest is good (there are people who do this)

Thanks for updating us Andrew. On the point of microchips my parents dog escaped from their yard on Monday night during a storm she was taken to the Toowoomba pound where she was scanned for a chip and the chip was found and my mother was contacted. Since my dad is disabled and my mother is away I brought the dog to my place at Ipswich to look after her until my mother gets back, when I went to work the dog promptly escaped from my yard and was rescued by some people down the road. They took her to the Yamanto vet where they scanned her for a chip and didn't find it! I questioned the lady who found her and they said they scanned both sides of the shoulder when in fact my knowledge of chips suggests that a chip can be located anywhere from between the shoulder blades to further up the neck. I intend on going to the vet and alerting them of the possibility that they are scanning incorrectly but I think this incident highlights the fact that no identification method is completely failsafe and that staff need to be effectively trained and performance monitored when scanning for chips. BTW the dog is now shut inside today!

I tolerated with good humor my dog being called a rat for about the first 200 times, the next 200 times it started to grate a little, now I just wait till they're gone and spontaneously combust It might not be so bad if I liked rats but I really don't.

Yep I agree... they would be incredibly easy to sell, they are just adorable as puppies and even a bit older... but not for everyone - and probably NOT for people that would purchase from a pet shop in the first place... Do pet shops provide any breed information? - written or otherwise?. (serious question too, I dont go into pet stores and I wouldn't have a clue what they provide ) Do that people that buy these pups have any idea of how big they can grow? Most people would have some idea of how big most of the more 'common' breeds will grow and most of the SWF mixes are exactly that- small and fluffy, but when it comes to the less common breeds I would think that the average Joe would have no idea Maybe a breed information sheet detailing exercise and feeding requirements plus the size of a full grown adult dog might make people think twice. Sadly I doubt many pet shop assistants even know what the dog look like past puppy stage :D Only a few weeks ago my 9 year old niece was telling me about a school friend of hers that "used to have a snow dog but they had to get rid of it because it grew too big". Dont people consider that when they BUY the puppy???! Pet shop at my local shopping centre had Malamutes for sale a while back and I was quite amazed to see an info sheet about them on the window I don't know whether the breeder insisted on it though because I've never seen any info sheets for the other dogs they've had in. It was good because it talked about size, exercise requirements and shedding - the three biggies The funny thing with the 'snow dog' stuff is that often people not familar with sibes and mals confuse the two, I've been asked a number of times if my bloke is a malamute and I have to say no he'd be at least 10kg bigger if he was! People don't realise it and may have seen a husky and mistaken it for a mal not realising that mals are a LOT bigger, not everyone realises the difference 10kg can make.

I agree the comments people make are so rude, I've lost count of how many times someone has called my chi an ugly rat dog If you ever see a news story about someone being assaulted because they said something nasty about a chi that would probably be me having finally lost it I also really hate it when you have two dogs and someone comes over and only pats one of them while the other poor bugger is waiting for a pat too

I wondered if it was a pure or a mix it's a gorgeous dog

Oooh I do love free stuff will have to remember that come March

I have experienced this too, all smiles until they ask where your dog is from, I am tempted to lie next time someone asks just to see what it's like to not have that stigma attatched.

Just what I need more time sitting at the computer Forums are fun but they are no substitute for real life hands on getting out and about with your dog but since I'm just the owner of a dodgy pet shop dog I should just crawl back under my rock hey? It's been fun but I really have to go we have gotten a bit OT anyway. If you are not prepared to join your breed club how do you know they have nothing to offer you? You would get a newsletter I assume you would have fun days organised for you. I am a member of a sighthound club in another state, will most likely never ever get to one of their shows or fun days but so what, I am supporting my breed by being a member regardless. it's not always about what you can get out of things. I am planning to join my local sibe social club (and not just because they have shirts ) I was referring to the clubs that don't cater for owners of unregistered dogs, such as the one KK was referring to for her breed where she was told that there was nothing there she could participate in with her unregistered dog other than the 'waggiest tail' classes. The Chihuahua club of QLD has fun days but you can't enter an unregistered dog. When I pay for membership I like to be able to participate not just sit on the sidelines for the next 10 years till I get a registered dog.

OMG how gorgeous are those pics!!! What a beautiful family of chis

Designer breed registries already exist (at least I think they do, the labradoodle people have one) I don't think this will affect them much.

Just what I need more time sitting at the computer Forums are fun but they are no substitute for real life hands on getting out and about with your dog but since I'm just the owner of a dodgy pet shop dog I should just crawl back under my rock hey? It's been fun but I really have to go we have gotten a bit OT anyway.

I don't think you can have any real understanding for how angry and disgusted most ANKC registered dog breeders and owners are by commercially motivated dog breeding practices. I view anyone who buys from such sources as supporting them, whether or not that was their intention. If you want to be accepted into the fold, start with the affiliated dog training clubs and make your next dog one with a pedigree. The clubs will be waiting a while for my money then I can't get another dog till these ones expire which hopefully wont be for about 10 years (sibe is 3 chi is 6). I haven't got an interest in formal agility or obedience with my current dogs I'm just taking my sibe to a local private trainer. Guess I wont be learning much about the breeds and breed clubs for several years yet

Particularly if they let people use the 'my dog jumped the fence' get out of jail free card too many times.

And if you attend any meetings, bear in mind that the facilities you use are paid for by the Canine Control - who raise their funds through shows, trials and litter registrations. You're benefitting from the efforts of registered purebred dog breeders and buyers, just by being on the grounds. Where are all the facilities provided for dog owners by puppy farmers and pet stores? Last thing I went to with them was a walk through the public park, I think they use the obedience grounds for most of the social events, they use the CCCQ grounds for weightpull events it looks like. I never go to meetings for any of the clubs I'm in they always want to rope me into some kind of secretarial job which I am notoriously crap at, I was minutes secretary at the pony club many years ago and lost the minutes book in the first month Not sure what you mean with the reference to puppy farmers and pet stores? No one here is supporting them or advocating them it's just that a lot of people have dogs from there does that mean they should feel excluded from breed clubs? Membership money accepted but nothing provided for them simply because they didn't realise that without pedigree papers they are just scum feeding off the good work of others? If my membership money goes towards the hire of those grounds does that mean that the CCCQ are profiting from the owner of a pet shop dog? If the CCCQ runs a canteen on the grounds (not sure if they do I haven't been) should they sort the profits made into piles representing pedigree and non-pedigree dog owners?

I just popped into the AMSCQ website and discovered that they now offer shirts for an extra $5 on top of membership - I am soooo there this year

Wow I wonder if Cr McDonald has seen how many of those mutts and moggies are euthed day in day out?