tdierikx

And they hadn't done a simple blood test in all that time that would have shown that the dog was suffering from both conditions? Not to mention that the liver mass was most likely a haemangiosarcoma which is not caused by overfeeding. As for the claims of overgrown nails and conjunctivitis... his eyes look clear and normal in the seizure photos... and his nails look longish, but not markedly overgrown. In fact, apart from his immense girth, the dog looks pretty well kept. T.

Ummm... reading the linked article about the 70 charges, it states that one bitch had 6 litters in under 2 years... huh?? That is technically impossible... As for asking for donations of 300k to deal with this seizure that they instigated... grrr! They can recoup that in the adoption fees, which you know will be around 1k (or more) each, as the dogs are labradoodles, and 1k is cheap compared to getting them elsewhere. T.

I just found a coat in my dog goodies stash that fits Alice my foster dog, and she is wearing it in the mornings when the temps are around 5 degrees. She sleeps in a nice heated room with me at night, so doesn't need it until I get up and start moving about and the rest of the house is cold. We take it off once the day warms up. T.

Trust me, I've tried making friends with the dog in order to be able to catch it and take it to the pound myself, but it's a smart little turd and won't get within arm's reach... and I'll be buggered if I'm getting bitten trying to lunge for it. The compromise is shooing it home when it comes onto my property. I have spoken to the owners numerous times, the latest being yesterday after it nearly got skittled by a car when it came rushing out to bark at my friend who was visiting me... but unfortunately they don't seem to give a toss, and as council can't be arsed following up after the initial visit they made back in January, the owners haven't had any consequences applied for not keeping the dog on their own property, so they think they can continue to not do anything about the problem. T.

Interesting to note that from Emma's call for all papers relating to greyhound racing, this is the only one that is being touted as "proof" that the industry as a whole is rife with cruelty... generally these calls for papers result in literally hundreds, if not thousands of said papers.... surely if the industry was rife with cruelty cases, there would be more than one paper referring to it? As for RSPCA reacting to calls about racing greyhound issues, I'm not sure if they are actually tasked with that job under POCTAA... aren't racing greyhound complaints usually put through GWIC? In most animal welfare legislation there is a clear delineation between domestic dogs and working greyhounds, with jurisdiction for complaint management allocated elsewhere than RSPCA/AWL. RSPCA/AWL are generally responsible for domestic animal welfare management, and also usually only investigate or get involved in working/production animal welfare cases on an "invitation" basis by industry or government bodies if a case allows. Generally, the majority of racing greyhound owners care very well for their dogs, but as with any industry, there will be a minority component who mess it up for everyone. T.

Not sure what you are asking @JessicaLawrence... if you are asking if council has done anything about the dog across the road, the answer is a flat no... obviously they don't have the time or inclination to do their bloody job properly in this case. The dog is still being a complete little menace, and I'm still constantly shooing it home... T.

I think there are a couple of private veterinary telehealth providers active already... and at least one is connected to a pet insurance company, which could be problematic if the focus is on diverting possible claims on insurance. The only issue I have with telehealth for our pets is that unlike humans, our pets cannot accurately describe their medical situation, and most owners aren't terribly good at it either. Unless there is a physical examination of the animal, I would be loathe to allow diagnoses or prescribing of medications, however, it would be invaluable as a triaging service to weed out those basic cases that aren't urgent and can wait until business hours for an actual vet to see the animal - as is the current model referred to in the article. I'm all for a triaging telehealth service for our pets, but it's only one small tool that could be part of a larger range of services employed to deal with the situation at hand. As the article states, many graduating vet students only manage to last around 5 years in the industry before they leave for other pursuits. I personally believe that is due to the vet courses not being well designed enough to produce actual work-ready vets on graduation. Universities are constantly reducing the resources they need to achieve this goal, too much focus is on the theory/academic side of vet science, and not enough on actual practical experience because of the lack of those resources. Another issue is how prospective vet students are selected for the available courses - too much focus on academic results, rather than aptitude for the profession. And don't get me started on the sheer number of overseas student places allocated to these courses, which means that local students are competing for a smaller number of available places in the course. Then there is the ever shrinking list of procedures that are allowed to be performed by non-vets. Gone are the days when experienced vet nurses would be entrusted to do simple surgical procedures like castrations of cats and dogs (under vet supervision/sign-off of course). Vet nurses are taught how to place sutures also, but are not actually allowed to do so once they are in the workplace - surely cleaning and suturing of most non-complicated wounds could be entrusted to nurses where vets are scarce. Vaccinations are not rocket science either, yet must be performed by a vet (specifically for dogs and cats), but vaccinations for livestock and rabbits can actually be performed by anyone - not just those with any medical experience. I'm all for a registration scheme for vet nurses which would then allow them to perform more procedures legally. However, if vet nurses are legally allowed to perform more procedures, they should be paid more than minimum wage to do so... this is not a simple case of farming out procedures to cheaper providers. All that said, the rising costs of everything is also a factor. It costs real money to set up and maintain a working vet clinic, and that needs to be taken into account when discussing the cost of providing the services they do. Medicare has us complacent about what the actual costs of providing human healthcare are, and so we are shocked when that safety net isn't available when looking for healthcare for our pets. Pet insurance is a rip-off, often being cost prohibitive to low income earners anyways, so that's not a viable option for that sector of our pet owning population. We are seeing a situation where Medicare for human health is not working as intended, so I'm not of the opinion that introducing a similar scheme for pet healthcare is the answer either. Complex issues require complex solutions, and I'm not confident that the recommendations offered by the inquiry will go far enough to resolving most of the issues here... but it makes for warm fuzzies when they can announce to the media that they've "done something" about it, yes? Even if what is done is just the tip of the iceberg, and doesn't actually go far enough towards resolving the actual problem. Note the focus of the article is on the most simple and least impactful recommendation... but it can be implemented quickly and relatively cheaply, so it will probably be the only thing actually actioned IMHO... T.

Telehealth is not the only finding or solution to the vet workforce shortage... which is a global issue, not just in Australia. The full report can be found here, for anyone who wants to read it... Trigger warning: it covers some distressing topics https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiries/2964/Report No. 58 - PC 4 - Veterinary workforce shortage in New South Wales.pdf T.

Vets are regularly expected to provide gold standard care, but then the cost of that is baulked at. Doesn't help that young vet students are taught to use all of the diagnostic tools at their disposal (blood tests, xrays, etc), but not much actual hands on diagnostics, so when those young vets hit the workplace, they tend to want to rely on the tools, rather than developing good hands on diagnostic abilities. Unfortunately all those tools are expensive to provide and to maintain, and staff need to be trained in their operation also... all extra expenses. Try mentioning "shelter medicine" to any vet nowadays, and you'll be met with some pretty strong resistance in favour of the expensive diagnostics... but in most cases, those diagnostic tests may not be completely necessary, especially if the vet has any reasonable idea of what to look for with common ailments. Also factoring into vet servicing costs are staff wages, rent or maintenance of the premises, cost and ongoing maintenance of equipment, consumables like syringes/needles, bandages, medications, etc, and other sundries. That said, vets and vet nurses are paid ridiculously low wages for the services and experience they provide - nurses in particular are usually on minimum wage, and are only casually employed, which keeps costs lower there - vets don't generally make a heck of a lot more than nurses unless they have quite a few years of experience. Then there are the corporate group owned clinics... those are generally much more expensive than smaller practices, and their whole goal is to make money for shareholders. Unfortunately many of the 24 hour and emergency clinics are corporate owned nowadays, so an already more expensive service is corporatised and costs more than it really should. All that said, if one has a gripe at the expense of medical care for their pets, hurling abuse at vet clinic staff certainly doesn't make their lot any easier, and as a result many are leaving the industry, which just means less of these services available, and drives up costs of those that remain - simple supply and demand... Don't get me started on the pet food / pet supplies industry... but let's just say all of those things are purely designed to maximise profit, and may not necessarily be all they are claimed to be. "Complete and balanced" on paper doesn't mean much when said "balance" consists of chemical supplements to "balance" the product... note that chemical versions of natural vitamins and minerals are not processed the same way as the natural version, and as such may be as healthy and "balanced" as a junk food meal for us. T.

Still perpetuating the myth about "wild dogs" and "hybrid" dingoes to justify killing them off... I called it, didn't I? And just days since this study found that hybridisation isn't as prolific as claimed... https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-07-09/ancient-dna-study-suggests-dingoes-preserve-genetic-heritage/104065490 Here's a novel thought... maybe authorities need to be looking into why there has been a sudden increase in adverse behaviour from the local native wildlife towards domestic dogs and/or humans. Or maybe they don't want to know the answer. It's easier to just kill off anything we don't like, yes? Sometimes I'm ashamed to be part of the human race... grrr!

Of all the decisions we have to make in our dogs' lives, this one is the hardest by far... The balance between quality and quantity of life is sometimes very hard to judge when we are so emotionally tied to our best mate - especially one that is high need and becomes a daily focus to keep them comfortable. If the process is stressful for you as his best mate and primary carer, it will most likely be similarly stressful for him, if not moreso. My personal stance on this situation with my own dogs is that it's better to release them early than even one day too late, but not being in your actual position, I cannot judge you or your decisions at this stage of Snickers' health battles. What I would suggest is to look deep into his eyes and he will "tell" you when he wants to sleep the long sleep, OK? And be honest with yourself when you look for his signs to you... he deserves that, yes? T.

Funny how simply rebranding them as "wild dogs" in order to be able to more easily kill them doesn't actually make them hybrids... Anyone who has worked with dingoes can tell you that they are significantly different to most domestic dog breeds. I'd say they are most similar to the Shar Pei, which is itself an ancient breed and has distinctive qualities not found in other more popular domestic breeds. T.

What do we expect when we constantly encroach on the habitat of our wild neighbours? And just calling them "wild dogs" does not change the fact they are dingoes or native to this land... but it does give "justification" for killing them off when our own needs apparently trump their right to survive. "Next time it might be a child" is the general catch cry before we simply go and kill the "offenders".... Indigenous peoples managed to live alongside our native apex predator for some 60,000 years, but we "civilised" peoples seem to have lost that ability, as we constantly spread our populations across the country (and planet), decreasing natural habitat, and thus the ability for many species to survive in what habitat is left for them. Maybe we need to have a good hard look at what we consider our own "rights", and start to think about what that actually means for our native species - especially if we want to "enjoy" our natural environments, we need to be aware that that may come with actual risks from the native species that live there - especially dingoes, crocodiles, large kangaroos, etc... that may take umbrage at our being in their ever shrinking spaces. Yes, what happened to that dog was horrible, but the fact remains that it was running loose and unsupervised, until it got in trouble and yelped for help. What should be called for is no unleashed dogs in that area, and for humans to stay vigilant if visiting that space, as the dingoes may not take kindly to us being in their habitat. We could learn a lesson from this incident, but I doubt we will... *sigh* T.

Just in time for the last call for donations to RSPCA for the financial year.... Excuse me for being a cynic, but there were good reasons WA removed prosecutorial powers from RSPCA WA... their practices were found to be lacking to say the least... That said, there is no excuse for anyone to keep any animal in those conditions. T.

Hey Albert! Foster Mummy LG only wants the best for you big guy... please be a good boy tomorrow, and if you go home with these new people, I'm sure they will love you so much you won't want to live anywhere else, OK? T.

Not toy sized. I think the OP wants a small oodle type dog... May I suggest that you keep an eye on Sydney Animal Second-chance Rescue, as they recently took in about a dozen cavoodles... https://www.petrescue.com.au/groups/10123/Sydney-Animal-SecondChance-Inc?listings=active#pet-listings - and they rehome to Canberra. T.

I'd be worried about coming forward if I had a dog (especially a declared dog) in any part of Queensland after they pushed through their "Stronger Dog Laws" state legislation a few weeks back. Under that new legislation, actions that those council rangers did that were illegal back then, are now legal. You can only imagine what could happen to anyone who has a declared dog of a non-pedigreed bull breed background, as it can now be declared a "pitbull" and ordered to be caged or destroyed - even if the dog has never been any trouble to anyone. T.

Nope - C-BC Unfortunately, as soon as the dog sees me now, she starts heading home... that's how often I've gone out and told her to... she knows the drill now... *sigh* On the upside, she no longer tries to bail me up, or even bark at me any more. Cheeky sod! The owners have even seen her chasing people up the street and don't even try to call her back... until I come out and yell at her to go home... but 10 mins later she's doing it again and they don't care. Today she nearly made a cyclist have a fall... grrr! T.

I can remember a time when if you rang council about a loose/stray dog, they'd send a ranger out to come catch it. Nowadays, unless you have caught and secured it yourself, they won't come... and even then, they come "when they have time", so you are stuck looking after a strange dog until they get around to your issue. Earlier this year (January), I called council about a little dog across the road who is always out and annoying anyone trying to walk up the street. She's a pretty little thing, but territorial. Council sent a couple of rangers out to talk to the owners a couple of days after my first complaint. The little dog is not microchipped or registered (and also not desexed, but that's not illegal), and the rangers have told the owners to get her microchipped and registered, but then haven't bothered to come back and check that it has been done... which it definitely hasn't by my conversations with the owners whenever I've herded the dog back home to stop it getting skittled by cars. I've called council at least twice since my first call, and nothing has been done or even followed up from that first contact back in January. If I could get near enough to the dog, I'd catch it and take it to the pound myself, but the closest I can get is for it to sniff my hand then back off quickly... and I know that if I lunge and try to grab it, I'll get bitten for sure... and it doesn't have a collar, so not much to grab at anyways. I bet that if the dog across the road from me was a larger breed, council would be much more proactive about making the owners keep it contained. It's only a matter of time before it decides to nip/bite someone walking up the street. It's fave people to chase is a family of indian people with very small children. I've had it bail them up outside my house and I had to go out to chase it back home to let them pass safely even... their little kids are only toddler ages and were terrified. Even though this dog is only slightly larger than a chihuahua, if she decides to sink her teeth into a toddler, there will be damage. T.

Queensland has just recently upped their penalties for dog attacks... but the legislation also went a lot further than that, with a number of extra changes that are draconian and do not bode well for dog ownership overall. I am all for increased penalties for those who own dogs that have attacked and severely injured or killed a human or other animal without provocation, and repeat offenders should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law... but as evidenced in this article, when council rangers are inadequately educated in the facets of their supposed functions, that raises a much larger problem. Those enforcing the legislation or council local laws should be sufficiently educated in all aspects of their roles at the very least, wouldn't you say? This lack of requirement for any animal based qualification for someone enforcing animal welfare based legislation isn't just restricted to council rangers... RSPCA inspectors aren't required to have any animal based qualifications to do their role either, they basically only have to have a qualification in criminal investigation in order to get their job. I wonder how many people who own pets nowadays actually know what the legislation is at local and state levels that affects them? Not many methinks. Then again good luck finding what the council level laws are in NSW, as those are either non-existent, buried deep inside some other compendium list/document of local laws, or not easily found via council websites. Hint: generally if a NSW council does have specific animal based local laws, they are called "Keeping of Animals" - but you also need to be aware that some councils also have Animal Management Plans, and just to throw a spanner in the works, some also have a list of other local laws that refer to animals as well. All other states' council websites are much easier to find their local animal management plans or local laws/by-laws, but NSW councils are really good at hiding theirs, trust me, I've been through all states council websites looking for that exact thing. Seriously, some remote indigenous community councils have better clarity of animal based local laws than city councils... which is just ridiculous. A word to the wise... NSW are having local government elections in September this year, and that usually means that an incoming council will be looking at the local laws and amending those that may be out of date... which most NSW council animal based laws are... be warned! And don't get me started on state level animal welfare legislation... grrr! T.

Remember Stan the greyhound? He definitely had the "hungry" gene... lol! The stories about him chewing through the side of the chest freezer or fridge door to get to the contents were legendary... I currently have a staffy mumma dog here who was quite underweight when she was collected as a stray - with a tummy full of babies she weighed only 19kg. Pups are now 4.5 weeks old and mumma is a much healthier 20kgs, but she'd be more if I let her - she has a real love of food of any kind, and has managed to feed herself a couple of times, so now all her food is safely stashed behind closed doors, which she hasn't worked out how to open yet... *grin* That said, I've seen myriad fat staffies around, so maybe they are similarly affected genetically? I doubt anyone will do a study on them though. T.

I once had a friend tell me that my Lab Trouble couldn't be a Labrador because she wasn't fat... and I reminded said friend that the Labrador wasn't the one preparing her own meals... Regardless having a gene that seems to make them want to eat all the time, it's an owner's responsibility as to what, when, and how much a dog is fed, yes? @coneyemany smaller dogs seem to have faster metabolisms, which means that they should be fed more smaller meals over time to stop them getting sick, Probably what was your little dog's issue making it throw up when it went too long without food. It could have been worse if your little dog had gone into hypoglycaemic shock and started having seizures, which can also happen. T.

Meanwhile the council referred to so glowingly in that article has only 4 legally designated off lead exercise areas for dogs, of which there are approximately 13,329 registered in the LGA... and all of them are located mainly on one side of the LGA area, meaning that a good half of the dog-owning population would have to travel a fair distance to get to one. That council are also now looking to enact either curfews or 24/7 containment for owned cats, so possibly their free programs aren't working as well as they like. T.

@Rebanne "A vegan dog food manufacturer is being sued over claims it produced a toxic batch of biscuits which killed seven dogs and caused illness to more than 60 others. Veganpet dry dog food was recalled in October 2020 after it was linked to an outbreak of megaesophagus, an incurable condition which causes lifelong eating difficulties or death. Documents lodged in the County Court of Victoria by SNH Products, the owner of Veganpet, reveal the company has paid out $232,000 in damages to 33 dog owners. The company is now suing the manufacturer of the toxic batch, Advanced Pet Care of Australia. According to court documents, expert testing found toxic levels of fumonisin B1 and fumonisin B2 linked to a contaminated corn-derived ingredient. Veganpet is suing for damages and costs, claiming the manufacturer was responsible for the “contamination event” which caused them loss of business, profits and reputation. The toxic batch of dry biscuits was manufactured in June 2020 in a volume of 22,155kg at a facility in Western Australia. Veganpet, based in the Gippsland town of Nar Nar Goon, was made aware of associated pet illnesses four months later following correspondence from The Pet Food Industry Association of Australia (PFIAA). In its voluntary recall message, Veganpet wrote: “We feel greatly for those that have lost a family member to megaoesophagus, or whose dogs may have been diagnosed with the condition.” “Veganpet has been produced safely for over twenty years by our same manufacturer and there has been no change in the quality, formulation or process used in the product as it is supplied to us,” the message said. Its website states it uses “human grade, Australian grown, organic (when available) raw ingredients” in its pet food products. Unlike in other countries such as New Zealand and the US, there are no mandatory standards for pet food in Australia. Here it is self-regulated, with voluntary industry standards applied through the PFIAA, but no mandatory recall system for pet foods deemed potentially dangerous or deadly. There is also minimal government oversight of the industry. In 2018, it was revealed more than 100 dogs became ill or died after eating top-shelf dog food brand, Advanced Dermocare. Some of the dogs who died were part of the Victoria Police dog squad." T.

Interesting that it's the police who have charged the woman, and not RSPCA... Upside of that is that the woman will be tried to the fullest extent of the law and not plead down to some lesser charge for only a fine. T.