Souff

What have the parents got to do with it? Not that is matters, but the parents were no doubt at work, earning a living to feed their family and their now deceased Labrador dog. It is school holidays and it is not unusual for a responsible 13 year old to be home without his parents in school holidays. Had the parents been home would that have stopped a roaming vicious dog from attacking their dog? I don't think so. Souff

I keep asking the same question, asking the same question, asking the same question ...... :)

No assumptions here Gareth. This kid has lost his pet Labrador, and seen it die a cruel and horrible death .....because another useless dog owner did not exercise the proper responsibility and keep their aggro mutt at home. I hope they throw the book at the owner of the attacking dog. Souff

When will this madness stop? When will dog owners get the message about what it is to be a responsible owner? How many innocent little kids have to be scarred first? Souff

Mantis, I also noted that the word "dog" or "dogs" was mentioned 9 times. Souff

I totally agree, and made to pay damages to the victim's owners. Souff

Probably only in Queensland. Beautiful one day .... dead dog the next.

Hard lesson to learn. Dogs attack stock in daylight hours too. If you choose to live in the country you must keep your dogs at home ALL the time, not just at night. A farmer has the legal right to shoot dogs that are mauling stock. I am sorry that this farmer only injured the dogs though, it would have been more humane to have used another bullet on each and finished the job properly. Souff

And then there are the claims about "cleaning teeth" ..... I just laugh when I see the bits of "dental" dog food spat out on the floor around the bowl, no matter how well known the brand. It wont clean any teeth if the dogs just spit it out! The message is clear ..... the dogs here prefer to use raw bones as toothbrushes. 15 year old was at the vet last month and had teeth checked - one molar is on the way out, the rest of the teeth are as sound as a drum. 14 year old went to a different vet the month before. Vet called in the young trainee vet to take a look at an old dog with a complete set of teeth. Raw bones can take the credit for this, not processed dog food. Both vets agree - keep up the bones. Litter mate of the 14 year old lives in another household and has only a few teeth left. He doesn't get fed raw bones and has the most disgusting mouth imaginable. Souff

MEMO FOR POLITICIANS AND PARENTS: Around 400 breeds of dog can injure or kill children. Guns can injure or kill children. Bears, lions and tigers can injure or kill children. It is the responsibility of adults to ensure that dogs and guns and bears and lions and tigers are never in the hands of children or untrained adults. Souff

Oh Huski, you were deprived of one of the joys of childhood! The world can be viewed in an entirely new light when you are 6 years old and sitting in a cul-de-sac with your friends - all manner of wonderful subjects can be thrashed out in such a plac-e, right thru to the meaning of life (thru the eyes of a 6 year old of course). You can keep a close eye on the street cricket the bigger kids are playing, or the basketball game being played in the streetside hoop, or wager whether it was Kylie or Brandon who was fastest on their bikes as they whizzed around the safety of the cul-de-sac, or just simply chat to the next door neighbour who is washing their car on the grass, telling them all about the new teacher at school or whatever. Life in a cul-de-sac isnt all bad for a 6 year old, and cul-de-sac gutters did have a reputation for being reasonably safe places for children, in communities where people get along. Souff

What is wrong with sitting in the gutter of a cul-de-sac with some other children!! You are seriously not going to say this is wrong and the parents or kids are at fault for sitting in front of their house!!! Why cant a dog just be a 'bad' dog, why is there always an excuse? I dont believe in BSL, but I DO believe if a child is bitten by a dog then it should be PTS. ESPECIALLY in this case where it appears to have been unprovoked. OH ETA... in my 40+ years I HAVE seen dogs of all and any breed be aggressive.. I comes back to the individual dog. You cant claim that ALL huskies are not aggressive the same as you cant claim that ALL pitbulls are. You cant have it both ways. Thank you, Greydobe, thank you. Very well said. I too am sick of the excuses and I do not want to live in a world where a 6 year old cannot sit with his friends in the gutter ... for fear of being savaged by a passing dog. I also don't want to be part of a world where adults hand over the responsibility of a strong dog to an 11 year old child. I feel very sorry for that 11 year old child because this dog is sure to go, if it hasn't already. Souff

And the magistrates didnt have the power to close the business altogether? Cruelty to animals in a pet shop should not be tolerated. Fine them and because of the cruelty and the other offences, SHUT THE PLACE DOWN! But to put a curfew on the woman is absurd. What dastardly deeds do they think she does at night? Is she sneaking around in the dark breaking the legs of cockatiels? Or tapping on sleeping children's windows trying to sell them goldfish or gerbils? Imposing silly sentences like this one is making a mockery out of an otherwise good justice system. Souff

oooh yes, Souff is with Lionheart! At last! Labour government measures have begun to crack down on crime. Thank God that this obviously very evil person has been nabbed - I will sleep a lot better now that this dangerous yob has been taken off of our streets. I hope now that pensioners using walking sticks should also be fined for carrying illegal weapons with them. They also incur horrific injuries to passers-by with their zimmer frames! These oldie gangs are not to be underestimated. Don't be fooled by pensioners using fake hearing-aids either - they are actually tuned into Al Qaeda mission chiefs, informing them when they should detonate their bombs! We don't have a broken youth problem, we have a broken OAP problem, which is a chilling situation to have to come to terms with. Did you know that a bus pass, if thrown at a certain angle, can maim or even kill? Tag them all, I say. Stop crime - tag a biddy! 0 0 1:55AM, Apr 01, 2010Lionheart Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/...s#ixzz0k6v2DQVl

Oh look, you just cant have great-grandmothers contaminating the bingo halls and wandering the streets ..... Why, this one was even heading off to a Rod Stewart concert ... can ya believe that? Ole rockin Roddy, goodness golly me!!!! The world will definitely be a far safer place when they tag all of the great-grandmothers who have a life and slap a curfew on 'em! A certain way to reduce the crime rate in Britain ...... soon to be happening in Australia ....... watch this space! Souff

Big bad laws methinks. Ones where all the dog breeders are rounded up and kept in kennels probably.

I dont think Chocolatelover is too interested in the numerically small breeds .... they would just mess up the statistics.

Yup, Souff has failed the numbers test too. I will just have to put some of the oldies down so I can be within the bounds of magic numbers. Damned dogs are living too long now - must be too well looked after. Was much more convenient (for the sake of numbers anyway) when they toddled off earlier. Souff

Somewhere in all of this I read that "puppies did not meet expectations". This is how it is. Buyers expectations can sometimes be a long way removed from reality. Some people are actually trying to replace a dog that they had for years and years but in reality, the new dog can never be the old dog. Some owners have trouble adjusting to the needs of a pup, after years of owning a dog who had been conditioned to think like them, a dog they knew as well as themselves. New pup is behind the 8-ball from the beginning and is sometimes moved on. Buyers expectations, particularly in the case of new dog owners, are often falsely built on what they were told by the person selling the puppy to them. In the case of buying a crossbred pup from a backyard breeder, this information is usually scant and in some cases little more than a pack of lies. Pup can turn out totally different to the parent dog they were shown! Pet shop buyers are also often led up the garden path and when the pup does not conform to what the $20 breed book says will happen (purchased from the same pet shop) and is actually becomes more like another breed as it grows, then yes, the dog does not meet the buyers expectations. All the new laws and new regulations in the world wont change a thing, because sellers will still tell porkies. And the revolving door of animal rescue will keep on revolving, ad infinitum, because the animals do not meet expectations. ;) What a grotty bunch humans are! Souff

Best wishes to David for a full recovery ..... and so that he and his family can pursue this callous and irresponsible dog owner and see her in court. I have had a gutful of people with her selfish attitude. I have had a gutful of people who do not give a fig about the adverse consequences of letting their dogs run loose and uncontrolled in public areas. Sue, David, sue. She might then have a better understanding of what an idiot she is. Souff

Dog breeding is full of inconsistencies Anne. It is about the most inexact science I know! Souff

Anne, I would suggest that you need to talk to an experienced vet about the reasons some bitches have to have emergency C-sections. Emergency C-sections can happen to bitches from free-whelping lines - bitches that have delivered pups naturally in previous litters. Ask the vet about the pup that tried to be born sideways and got stuck in the birth canal, and the breeder and vet had to deliver the pups in the middle of the night at the vet's surgery. Ask the vet about the pups that were locked into the horn by excessive tissue growth caused by abnormal hormone production, pups that had no hope of being delivered naturally, and yet the bitch was from free-whelping lines and went on to have other pregnancies and deliver the pups safely and naturally. We don't just "give up" because the whelping did not go according to plan. We pay the vet bill, analyse what went wrong, and often we go on to breed another litter from the same bitch but just to be on the safe side, we use another stud dog. When you know what you are talking about in regard to emergency c-sections, then please feel free to come back and say "then possibly your breeding program and dogs are not good enough for breeding, or you are incredibly unlucky and perhaps should just give up." Until then, have a nice Easter. Souff

What has always given Souff the irrits is that a breeder is condemned - because they own more than a certain NUMBER of dogs, they must be a puppy farmer. Wrong! Condemn them if their practices stink, but get your facts straight first! Many good breeders (who have more dogs than some people would ever own) often have a few favourite oldies lounging around the verandah, eating up any meagre hint of a profit, getting all the needed vet care,love and attention, until they go to the bridge. They are not put down after their show and breeding life is over, many of these dogs have a right royal retirement. But they are still counted in the number of dogs that are owned by the breeder. That is not going to happen at a puppy farm (puppy mill). If you are old and not breeding, you are OUT. Then up in the kennels, they will have two beautiful bitches about 5 years old who have been bred from only twice in their lives, because the right stud dog has not been available on all occasions, or it was not convenient for other reasons for the breeder to have bred from them more often. This would not have been tolerated in a puppy farm. They would have been mated to the first available male, or whatever breed. Their breeding bitches will have a litter once every 18 months, not every 6 months. No back to back litters. The breeding bitches are as good as any show winner and they have many show ribbons to their credit. They are always in excellent condition and this is confirmed by their vet, who visits the premises. The condition of dogs at puppy farms has often been found to be closer to the state where it is humane to euthanase, rather than treat. Dogs from puppy farms often do not enjoy good health as a normal part of their life. Exercise and socialisation? A must. And these dogs are well socialised and well exercised through a variety of means and they are not locked up in small dog runs for the majority of the day. Yes, they are managed in areas for safety and you will also find some of these dogs with the owner or staff when they leave the property. When they go to town, some of these dogs are in the car with them, some go to organised canine activities, and often staff have pups with them overnight at their homes, for socialisation. Good breeders know the importance of socialisation. Puppy farmers do not have places like this, and they do not have dogs like this. SO, BEFORE YOU USE THE TERM "PUPPY FARMER" - PLEASE REMEMBER: Puppy farms exploit dogs for profit, no matter what their numbers are. An excellent breeder can have the same number of dogs, but never be guilty of the same sins that you will condemn a puppy farmer for. Many of these people have made a huge contribution of their lives so that you, the dog owner, can have high quality dogs made available to you. You have met some of them at dog shows and they have been happy to give their time to you and many others, to tell you of what to look for in a good dog. You will find some of them, or their friends, as volunteers at agility and obedience classes, or taking one of their dogs to the local aged care home to bring a bit of joy to some oldies lives. And much more. Many are no longer with us, but they have left behind some wonderful dogs and some great doggy legends. The animal world is a better place because of the contribution that many of these breeders have made. They obeyed the council rules and had their kennels inspected and spent many thousands of dollars on the right systems and facilities. They did NOT have dogs sleeping in wrecked cars and jammed into tiny filthy crates in old caravans. They did the right thing by their dogs and by society. Yet on paper - based on numbers alone - it is all too easy for these legends to be tossed into the puppy farmer basket, by people who don't know them. Take care when labelling people - your labels can sometimes be very, very wrong. Souff

There are some very ethical registered breeders who probably don't turn a profit, because in addition to working in another role in life, they pay staff to ensure that their dogs are properly cared for and they have kennel facilities that are cleaner than some people's kitchens. You wont find them in suburbia, they have acreage so they wont bother you their neighbours too much. They breed beautiful dogs in excellent conditions and they do it for the love of the breed. It is a great shame that they are tossed into the same basket as the grubs who are turning out sub-standard dogs in appalling conditions, based on the fact that they own a certain number of dogs. Some women are not capable of looking after just 1 child, while other women are capable of raising 6 of their own well .... and then taking on foster children and doing voluntary work in their local community or helping hubby with the family business! It is the same with dog breeders. Some are just grubs. Some are excellent managers. It often has little to do with the number of dogs they own. Souff

A bit off topic, but I am sick and tired of seeing vets blamed for things like this. A relative of mine was a vet with his own practice for over 30 years. I still have nightmares about some of the stories I wish he hadn't told me. Of the pensioners who would come in in the latest fashion with a brand new car sitting in the driveway demanding a pensionr's discount; of the people who would come in last thing on a Sunday night with an animal who had been obviously ill for some time saying the dog just suddenly became ill, of the people who would bring in their dog who had obviously been ill for some time and no matter how hard the vet tried, the animal died and then the people would reefuse to pay their account because the vet didn't save their dog's life; stories of how the vet's wife had to call the police because the vet was being threatened; of the dangerously ill Dalmatian who was on a very strict diet, but after a visit from the owner was violently ill bringing up about a kilo of peanuts fed to it by the stupid stupid stupid owner, of the people who would swear on their children's lives that they never used poisons when it was obvious the animal had been poisoned by something in the house or garden ..... and that is just the tip of the iceberg. One of these days, I may tell on DOL a story that I think of too often which even now I can't put into words. Just consider how many animals that vet had seen that day (that week, that month, that year), twodoggies, and how many time he had heard people making excuses as to why they couldn't pay their account. Get real, twodoggies, and look at both side before you start blaming someone. Souff has the utmost respect for vets and their patience and diplomacy. Most busy vets would scarcely have a day where they didn't have some of the incidents you mention. Souff would have throttled half the fibbers. Saw enough of it with dogs that didn't get groomed ..... and heard enough of the excuses of how it was always somebody elses fault that the dog now needed medical treatment because of neglect! Heard enough of "those tablets didnt work!" stories too. No, they don't work very well if they are still sitting in the container! Would I take an owner's word that a dog was dangerous if I were a vet? You bet I would. If they didnt want the dog and sent them back home with the unwanted dog, then the dog is going to develop issues, if he hasn't already, and a large breed with "issues" is not the sort of animal that can safely live with little children in society. And I am pleased to say that most of the vets I know would have put that dog down the first time the owner asked for it to be done. Payment can be chased up later, if there is a problem. It wouldn't be the first time and it wont be the last. LITTLE KIDS COME FIRST. Dangerous dogs like this one in the hands of idiot owners is simply a lethal incident waiting to happen. The cost of the green dream and disposal of the dog would be a small investment in the protection of little children and I would sleep well at night. Allowing this dangerous dog to go back home with the owner brought consequences that cannot be as easily fixed. Also, it is not the vet's role to doubt the claims of the owner. Sometimes a handler gets the job of taking a dog to the vet for euthanasia after a nasty incident. The vet has to take the word of the handler that the dog is deemed to be dangerous and does what has to be done - professionally. Ethics before emotion. Every time. Souff