tdierikx

There aren't enough dogs waiting in Victorian pounds then? T.

This article raises an extremely valid point... basically, why, if microchipping is mandatory in nearly every state and territory in Australia, and state governments are tasked with creating and maintaining legislative requirements regarding pets, then why the heck have most state governments been happy to effectively outsource critical components for that legislation to work to third parties? Anyone who has ever had dealings with RSPCA in any state fully understands how frustrating that can be, either when trying to report on animal cruelty, or being a target of investigation into same. Policing of laws should not be handed over to an essentially privately run and unaccountable charity organisation - especially one that has a business model that may have it in direct competition (in a business sense) with those it is tasked to police. Policing of laws MUST be retained as a government owned and operated function. And now we have a privately run microchip database going offline and putting the reclaimability status of potentially thousands (if not tens of thousands) of pets at risk. NSW and South Australia are leading the way with having a central (State) database for tracking microchip details... as it should be at the very least. I do believe that recent legislation in WA may have the creation of a state-wide database happening also... but don't quote me on that... I'm sure that it was mentioned in the legislation that was passed by their state government. Of course, none of the state run or private databases actually "talk" to each other, so if an animal is found wandering and scanned, if the animal's chip is not in the preferred database of that region, then it's details will not come up... and pounds/vets/etc are not inclined to go check every single possible database for those details, as they may need to seek authorisation/permission to access those databases, and the process just gets too convoluted and time consuming. I'm all for a National database system where anyone that scans a chip can access a single site, enter the chip number, and the system will check ALL available databases for any details for that chip number. This would NOT be a hard task to achieve if created and maintained by a National/Federal entity, who can get the required access authority for searching each database, and incorporate the search to return the details for ANY chip implanted/registered in Australia. Seriously, it's NOT rocket science... T.

Pounds are only required to check the main chip database for the state they are located in... and if a chip doesn't come up with details, then that's where the search stops. The chip could be from another state or registry, but those aren't checked, mainly because either pounds don't have quick access to other registries, or don't have the staff/time to go and check every possible registry available out there. It's a major flaw in the system IMHO. @asalI'm pretty sure that DogsNSW was included in the consultation leading up to this legislation... T.

Interesting. I grew up over that way, and we used to swim at Clontarf beach (opposite the Spit to the east), where it was regularly noted that grey nurse sharks bred and would get snarky if you swam outside the enclosed area. We didn't see bull sharks back then... maybe the grey nurses chased them off too? T.

They have a point about burying animals that have been put to sleep by lethal injection. If the body breaks down and leaks Lethbarb into the soil... or worse still the water course... the implications could be nasty for small wildlife, or even for humans. That said, one of my Rottweilers died in our back yard, so no chemical assistance, and we buried her up in the back corner about a metre or so deep, with a piece of steel mesh fencing over the top of her to stop any upward movement, or digging by other dogs. She's still down there some 20 plus years later. T.

OK, made some inquiries, and they are still allowed to do prosecutions, but have to have them approved to go ahead by DPP first, which is most likely why there have been only 14 commenced... all the bullsh!t ones were tossed out... T.

Ummm... didn't RSPCA Qld have their prosecutorial powers severely limited by the Qld State government in the last 18 months or so? After all the findings of the inquiry into their illegal activities on numerous fronts? T.

According to a Google search, the sweat glands that produce body odour smells (ammonia, etc) don't mature until a person hits puberty. Young children sweat, but it's just water and salt basically, so smells different to adult sweat. Regardless, proper socialisation with humans of all ages during a pup's development should negate that factor as being a trigger to chase/bite children... but won't reduce bites due to other child interaction causes, like squealing, running about idiotically, or uncontrolled annoying of the dog by a child. Children need as much social education as dogs... probably more methinks. T.

Off-lead areas still have rules as to their use. All off-lead animals must be under full control of their owners by law. Maybe certain off-lead areas might have rules rethought about the sharing of the space with small children - if the area is regularly used by small children, then maybe dogs should be on-lead in that area, or children could be excluded from that area. A little bit of common sense can see both groups catered to effectively. T.

They could stabilise the leg with a splint to give time to find the owner. I've personally seen a dog's leg with a femur shattered into 5 pieces put into a Robert Jones splint to stabilise it until surgery could be performed a few days later. I have also stabilised a goat's badly broken leg with the same splint method until it could be seen by the vet the next morning. T.

Since joining with the rescue group I'm with, I've been feeding all my fosters Savour Life kibble and raw food, and all of them have done really well on it... nice stools and a lovely shiny coat... even the tiny foster puppies do well on it. The added bonus to feeding Savour Life is that they donate 50% of all their profits to rescue... and our rescue has been funded for surgeries, and also gets regular donations of the food for our dogs in foster care. When I had the staffy mumma with 7 babies, Savour Life donated a massive amount of kibble and raw for them specifically, along with a few boxes of all manner of yummy treats. My previous foster arrived with an upset tummy and within a couple of days on the Savour Life had lovely stools, no tummy grumbles... and her breath improved 100% also. It could be worth giving Savour Life a try. You could get a small bag of the kibble and maybe a box of the raw patties and mix them for Albert's meals and see how he goes. If he does well, then larger bags of the kibble are available. You can get it from Petbarn. T.

Not excusing the neighbour's behaviour, but who lets their dogs run around the neighbourhood unsupervised? What if the issue wasn't the neighbour doing something to the dogs that trespassed into his yard, but they got hit by a car or the like? Personally, I'm hoping the dogs' owners are fined for letting their dogs roam unsupervised in public, and that they learn that their own actions led to this tragic incident. If they hadn't let their dogs out to roam unsupervised, then it would never have happened, yes? T.

Moreton Bay Council has a very poor track record when it comes to dog ownership in the area... to the point of their actions being found to be illegal even. Unfortunately, homeless people don't have the means to fight the council in an extended legal battle, so are easy targets... grrr! I remember some years ago when a homeless man took up residence in a derelict unused garage on the empty property next door to where I lived. He was quite respectful about his comings and goings as to not set off my 5 dogs, and he lived there safe and dry and relatively warm for a good number of months not bothering anyone. Someone must have seen him one day and called the police to come move him on, which they proceeded to try with heavy handed tactics that appalled me. I tried to defend his right to camp there. I was the only one who would have been affected by his presence, as the garage was right next to my property line... unfortunately the police stuck to their demands that he move on, and I never saw him again. Obviously things haven't changed much in the 20-something years since. People are all concerned about the homeless problem... as long as they don't have to see the realities of it where they live... *sigh* T.

Generally in an adult dog the C3 vaccine (parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis) can have immunity effect for between 3 and 7 years, but this is due to a combination of factors... 1. the dog must have had the full course of puppy vaccinations AND their first adult booster to start the process of developing immune responses to the diseases 2. the dog needs to have regular low level exposure to those diseases to ensure continuing stimulation of the immune response to them I have seen pups get sick after a vaccine, but generally this has only happened when the vaccine was given at the same time as their worming treatment and caused their little systems a big shock. As a result, I never worm puppies the same day as I vaccinate them. I also only give pups a C3 vaccine, as kennel cough is generally not lethal to healthy pups as long as the owner is vigilant to make sure they stay warm and dry during the course of the disease and seek medical help if the phlegm expelled becomes yellow or green. The kennel cough vaccines tend to only give good immune coverage for around 6 months anyways, so I'd only give those components if you were going to board your dog or there was a high incidence of kennel cough going around. The incidence of extreme adverse reaction to dog vaccines is rare, but obviously this doesn't give any comfort if your dog is the one in a million that has the reaction. Still, I wouldn't use anectdotal "evidence" as a reason to not vaccinate your dog. I've seen first hand what parvo and distemper do to a dog, and it's not something I'd chance happening when I have access to a perfectly good vaccine that can stop it happening to my dog. By all means, titre test your dog if you have concerns about the vaccines, but don't discard any thought of vaccinating based on media hype after a dog may have had an adverse reaction to one. Your dog deserves better than that from you. T.

I'll leave this here... T.

So RSPCA refused to do anything about the problems at the time they were actually reported, but now that media attention has been put on them for that oversight, they want to "do over"? Surely some evidence of what was depicted in that article would have been evident when the RSPCA raided the property and brought the overbreeding charges? It's not likely that freezers full of dead animals would all have been conveniently empty at the precise point in time of an unannounced visit by RSPCA. Public outcry at RSPCA wanting to target the whistleblower workers has damaged their reputation so badly that they are now publicly stating that any deals done with them are non-binding, and that they can still come after you at any time for "historic" breaches - especially ones that you now cannot defend due to having been put out of business. I am in no way defending the actions (or inactions for that matter) of the people who ran this particular hell-hole, but seriously RSPCA, this is just covering your proverbial in the worst possible way. RSPCA had their chance to to the job properly the first time around, but decided to take a course of action that put the defendants out of business rather than to actually pursue all charges through the courts. Why should they now be able to renege on that agreement? Shame RSPCA Tas... shame... T.

Considering that I was at the Yagoona facility recently to pick up 2 dogs from them to come into care at the privately run rescue I foster for... and had to wait while a fellow surrendered his 4 month old oodle pup... I'm calling bullsh!t here. Obviously the 12 month waitlist is reserved for animals that may not be easily rehomable if a person can walk in and surrender an oodle puppy on the spot with little problem, yes? The rescue I'm with has taken in easily 50 or so animals from RSPCA NSW in the past 6 months alone... and we have also taken in animals via AWL NSW - in fact, I'm likely getting a wee foxie and her 2 neonate pups from AWL in the next couple of days. Quite frankly, for any animal shelter to enact waitlists for animals that are urgently in need of finding alternate accommodations is simply appalling. It's rare that someone decides on the spur of the moment to surrender their pet, and usually it's in some sort of crisis situation such as having to move to somewhere that won't allow pets or similar. To then be told "come back in 12 months" is just ridiculous. So what are people reduced to doing when turned away from the only facilities they know of to find homes for their pets? They generally will have to abandon those pets... which then forces the also strained pound system to have to try to house/rehome them somehow. And take note here that pound facilities are in many cases rudimentary temporary housing for lost animals... they aren't designed for long term holding, like the facilities at RSPCA with their flash government funded kennels, vet clinic, and well staffed rehoming centres. The NSW pound system also got irretrievably broken with the enactment of the "Rehoming Bill" introduced by the Animal Justice Party in 2021 and passed into law in 2022. That Bill basically means that any physically healthy (no mention of mentally healthy mind you) animal in any NSW pound MUST be offered to at least 2 privately run rescue groups before any thought of euthanasia is considered. On paper that looks great, but in reality it's NOT working well at all, as those small rescues are now being overrun with pleas from pounds to take on any and all animals from those pounds... then add to that strain RSPCA offloading literally hundreds of animals every month to those same small rescues, and you start to see the big picture here. Ostensibly, our state government has outsourced (with NO funding - big win for government there) the entire responsibility for lost or abandoned animals in this state. Now, I'm not averse to the rescue industry being funded by government for all the hard work that's been foisted upon them, but with that funding MUST come regulation, so that animals don't just fall through the cracks and end up in worse welfare situations than they came from. Currently only rescues that register with the Office of Local Government (OLG) for certain exemptions to registration rules are made to do any reporting about the animals they take into care. Similarly only those who register as charities need to report certain statistics to the ACNC. But what of those rescues who are not registered with either authority, and thus have NO oversight of their activities? I guarantee you that not all rescues are necessarily doing the right thing by the animals in their care, and that needs to be addressed. T.

Is it mean of me to ask what the kid did to the dog to have the reaction it did? I'm also assuming that the kid may not have been supervised around the dog either. Under the recently passed laws in Qld, the dog owners could be in for a very hefty fine and/or jail time in response to the attack. And the dog has already been surrendered and euthanised, so no-one will ever know if there was an underlying issue (like pain from arthritis, etc) that might have contributed to the incident. T.

Never a wiser word said... T.

And this is just one reason that relying on AI to do stuff for us is stupid. You can be assured that the appeals are also done via AI, not an actual human - or they can't figure out how to exclude certain pages from the stupid algorithm, so they just say "computer says no"... Gonna be interesting to see how Meta reacts to the recent new legislation regarding under 16's accessing the platform here... the rumbles are already happening that you'll have to confirm your identity with actual documents/ID like passport or license... and who wants Meta adding that sort of stuff to their trove of user personal data they keep (and sell)? T.

I was 55 years old before I met a Pembroke that didn't try to bite me... massive shout out to the lovely breeder at the DogsNSW Spring Fair for having such lovely dogs that let me approach and pat them. Personally I'm not fussed on being chased, menaced, or bitten by ANY dog, large or small. Yes, the larger the dog, the greater the chance of serious injury, but that is no reason to simply ban anything that "might" cause serious injury. Education for owners of all dogs regarding raising socially acceptable canine citizens is key, not what size or breed one should have. T.

This would be a smart move... especially for the larger livestock guardian breeds, as they don't always do well in a suburban family/community environment. T.

@Spottydog0would you be comfortable with a breeder inspecting your house and yard to see if it's up to scratch for their expectations of you as a potential owner of one of their pups? Interestingly, most puppy buyers will be taken aback at the suggestion that their home be checked out, yet it is perfectly fine for them to expect to be able to inspect a breeder's premises... just sayin'... T.

Have you seen the latest "Puppy Farming Bill" put forward by the NSW Labor government? It will most probably be debated in the Legislative Council this week... https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bills/Pages/bill-details.aspx?pk=18674 Overall, it is less onerous than the AJP/Greens attempts at the issue, but it will still mean a paperwork nightmare for anyone whose dog has puppies - including those with only a couple of dogs in the back yard. It is also the first version I've seen that includes the operations of rescues (or rehoming organisations) that take in pregnant dogs or litters of pups - which I actually welcome, as all puppies should be raised under the legislated Code of Practice for breeding Dogs and Cats, regardless what source is doing the raising, don't you think? T.

A friend of mine recently had to say goodbye to her beloved ex-show Cocker... she was 17... T.