Tim'sMum

If vaccine is available that is. A friend had to take her dog to Japan last year, without the rabies vaccine...because there was a worldwide shortage apparently. He has since been vaccinated in Japan, because it seems they can't bring him back to Australia without it when they return in 3 years, despite Japan being free from rabies as well. Another friend moved back to Sweden and took her dog. She was told by AQIS that he must be vaccinated against rabies, but in Sweden, which is rabies free, it was actually not necessary. The only issue Sweden has is if people take their dogs on holidays to Mediterranean regions...dogs being taken to these regions must be vaccinated.

Mine too. Especially when I read what you have told your little boy. Poor little Lucky. He died with a full tummy, was warm and cared for...and you couldn't do anymore. Good on you K9 Angel.

Advantix is good for tick prevention, and if you live in a tick area (as I do too), you need to use something. Try a Preventic collar, rather than a topical application on this dog, when the symptoms settle down. Hope your dog recovers quickly.

She is well and truly 'at home'. I would be very surprised if she has been dumped/abandoned. Hopefully she is chipped and goes home soon.

This option...."Trap, neuter, release programs for unowned cats." NO, NO, NO! They may not breed, but they will kill to survive....and kill native animals and birds. They can get killed or injured on roads. They may suffer malnutrition, illnesses and injuries and have no vet care. I am sure that the life of a feral cat is not a happy one.

Paralysis ticks are certainly the worst in eastern coastal areas, and roughly in an area 20km from the coastline. Also in areas with a high density of bandicoots, which are their main host. Where we are, on Sydney's Nthn Beaches, it's 'tick central' unfortunately. I have used Advantix but also Preventic collars. Neither dog has had a tick (touch wood) while wearing the Preventic collar. You also need to check dogs daily. Thousands of dogs live very long lives in areas with high paralysis tick populations...so perhaps, if you use preventatives, you shouldn't let it influence your decision about where to live?

There are 10 species of tree kangaroo apparently. Cuscus are quite small...15cm - 60cm (6in - 24in) in length and 3kg - 6kg (6.5lbs - 13lbs) in weight. Just for comparison.... 1. tree kangaroo 2. cuscus

It's a Tree Kangaroo...native to tropical rainforests in Australia and Papua New Guinea/West Irian. The poor thing was probably trapped in NG and sent to China. As they do actually climb into trees...obviously some ignoramus has decided it is a 'koala'....or called it that to get a higher price. They would be hard pressed to keep a real koala alive for long due to their specialised diet. The predeliction of some Asians to eat something exotic/rare/endangered is bizarre and very, very damaging to wildlife, especially endangered species. :mad

I just saw your thread in General Staffyluv...and didn't know about Ollie. Huge :hug: for his loss. He had a good life, and an extended one...with all the love and care you gave him during his health battles. RIP Ollie...run free brave boy.

Well said Clyde....and remembering that this little girl is only 3, particularly an age when they do tend to push their boundaries too. For all we know this child has been taught how to behave around dogs and the dog may have been friendly initially? Perhaps it was just being hugged that made it snap into aggression, due to it's age and possible pain with arthritis? Our previous ACD was not happy about his hips being touched in advanced age, because he had arthritis in both, and as a result his patience with young kids seemed to disappear in his 14th year. He was fine with our kids because they knew his limits but we would keep him well away from others. I feel sorry for the dog too...his stupid owner has probably signed his death warrant by not clipping on a lead. Such a simple thing.

It's semantics....but 'mauling' doesn't imply a repeated attack. The word 'maul' means to injure and the journo who wrote the article was grammatically correct in using the word 'maul'. eg: if someone is 'mauled' by a shark it can be one bite. No different with a dog. I get the impression that you are brushing it off as not very serious....'simply debridement and suturing'....so therefore should not be described as mauling? :confused: Any injury to the face, especially to a child, can leave lifelong scarring.

What do you call a 3yr old girl having to have facial surgery....a nip or a 'love bite'? The definition of the word maul is: to injure or batter. Her face would have been level with the dogs and one bite can do serious damage to young skin, poor little thing. Stupid owner...allowing his dog to run into a yard where there are children playing.

Is there any way you can fence off an area with bird wire...not netting? We had an an incident with a Brown Snake and our Kelpie, that still gives me nightmares, at our old house (in Sydney suburbia and on a busy road). When we moved to a new house, backing onto a bush reserve, we had timber railing fencing installed along the back and we attached aviary or bird wire to the timber, and also sunk it below ground level. So far (fingers crossed) in two years, we have not had a snake in the yard, although other houses in the street have. Neighbours, who have two GR's found a Red Bellied Black in their frontyard last summer...fortunately not in the backyard or near the dogs. There is a creek running through the reserve and Red Bellies are common here. They are not as aggressive as Browns thank heavens.

Good on you for picking her up Fatsofatsoman. Hopefully an owner will be found and she is chipped. Sadly Kelpies tend to be dumped fairly often, so hoping this isn't the case.

If both incidents were with another breed or cross breed that was big and powerful....yes, I would be wary of that breed instead. It just happened to be Rottweilers both times when I have been seriously scared of a dog. The only time I have actually been bitten by a dog was a JRT....again lost but I knew the owners, seriously stupid people who let it roam. I had collected it once again from the busy road outside our house and it bit me on the hand as I tried to get it into my car to take home. I'm fine with JRT's but then they are small and can't do all that much damage. As for the 3 Rottys in the incident I described...one did not exhibit threatening behaviour and just seemed to disappear or wandered away? I remember seeing the 3 of them initially as we walked back to Oh's parent's house but I don't remember where it went, as my husband and I were pretty busy concentrating on the two who were confronting us. We were walking in the direction of their home, so I can only guess that they considered the paddock we were in as part of their territory? Our kids were small at the time and these dogs were well and truly big and strong enough to have killed them....any parent's worst nightmare. As for approaching the gate with my neighbour's Rotty, her owner felt her reaction was because I had gone towards her 'territory'. I had told him about the situation later that day when he came home. He has his dental surgery downstairs and she was there a guard dog (plus as a family pet) for when he wasn't home, to deter people from breaking in to steal drugs. He had thought the gate could not be blown open with the heavy latch it had, but padlocked it and the gate on the other side after that. I had met her numerous times when she was out with him or his son on lead and she was friendly. I know Rottys were originally herding dogs...but they certainly adapt well to be guard dogs as well. You can pick apart, analyse and find reasons for any confrontation with a dog...but as far as I'm concerned, any breed that shows the level of aggression I was confronted with, is one I will never completely trust and definitely never own.