KatrinaM

Hi Steve, Do you know if there has been/will be a NTIS recognised course developed for dog breeders to at least let people know of their obligations under this new scheme? I just cant see how this will stop puppy farmers, especially commercial ones. Its just another cost to add to an already expensive hobby for the rest of us. I am starting to feel like one of those people who said they would give up smoking when they reached a dollar a packet. Lucky I dont drink, smoke, do drugs or gamble.................I couldnt afford a second expensive vice!

Not sure if I am too late to be involved, either way I have a few ideas I could PM/email the group to have a look at that seem to be working for petshops I am familiar with that dont involve them selling kittens and puppies. Maybe they could be of use????

Greytmate, Funny you should say that. My young girls (early primary age) were suprised to discover that a vasectomy isnt the same as desexing badly behaved human males, especially as they thought it would stop them weeing on things and wandering.

I agree with you Greytmate, I think it lets dog owners feel safe with a dog that they think will scare off the bad guys and lets the public feel safe from dogs they think are the bad guys.

The letter writer wrote - "I have a large dog behind a big fence which rushes out and barks like she will eat you" "I have her because I cannot count on anyone else to protect my family and property " A dog full stop is a deterant to would be theives. A dog that rushes the fence and barks like it will eat you is a problem as it isnt just would be thugs who are concerned, it is the general public. We have a Toy Poodle who WILL bite if you walk into my girls bedroom in the middle of the night and DOES bark like a banshee when somebody outside our family comes to the door or in the yard. He doesnt need to use the footpath as entertainment by rushing the fence barking meanacingly at passers by.

Why do people think that a dog that rushes the fence and barks would be any good as a protection dog?

I am not sure why owners of large dogs should take note. The QLD laws do not discriminate based on size, only on behaviour. The laws were being ridiculed the other day as there were toy breeds declared menacing for aggressive behaviour. There will be statistics that say (for example I don’t know the statistics and they are usually expressed as a "Pyramid") for every 1 fatality there are 2000 hospitalisations, 10000 medical treatments and 50000 counts of menacing behaviour. The plan looks to be if those dogs that are menacing are identified and controls put in place to stop these events before they escalate then it makes a whole lot less medical treatments, hospitalisations and fatalities in the future. I am pretty sure there are a whole lot more dogs that deserve the title menacing in every shire but are flying under the council’s attention or the council don’t want to deal with it. Sadly it sounds to me as if a good plan has been misconstrued to sound like a competition for local government to "get" dogs and dog owners.

Training a goat to race is no different to training a dog. Your a pretty bad trainer if you arent trying to expose the animal in a calm, positive way to things which he might find frightening under different circumstances. People like their goats, they dont want them to panic or be injured.

Chocolate is not a dilute. The genes involed in the colors you describe are a bit more complex and there are different ones at work. Could you please tell me where the statistics for occurance of blue gene alopecia are quoted from. It seems to me to be very high.

and even if trained they wouldn't be used to all the noise in the actual race,so would panick. Ummmm.......that is the point of training.

Cao de Fila de Sao Miguel Dogo Argentino

I am not defending animal cruelty at all, in my mind harnessing feral billies to a cart and expecting them to run is stupid, cruel and bizarre and I would like to think that it would be stopped. I cannot for a second see what this kind of crap has to do with anything to do with historical interest, entertainment or anything else. I am disappointed that the baby has been thrown out with the bath water - mud has stuck to the people doing the right thing and those that are doing the wrong thing, as always dont give a toss. The story has been pointed at goat racing and no seperation has been made by either the media or Animal Rights groups between the good and bad. It has been beat up to let people believe that anyone who puts a goat in harness is an animal abuser. My perspective is way different - the only goat racing I have ever witnessed has been trained animals throughout central and central western Queensland, and this was well before De Groot and Co were involved at Barcaldine. There are plenty of other places that events are still run, Roma has a big annual event, The Caves are trying to revive interest. To me thats what the sport is - people working with animals - not what is being portrayed. That is not a sport. It doesnt matter what past time people participate in with animals - there are plenty who care and are in it for the right reasons and a handful of people who just dont care, who are involved for money or their ego and wont lose sleep if they ruin things for others.

Possum Corner, We kept goats for meat as kids, a few we broke to harness, what else do you do when your a kid and you get to play with such a trainable animal? We never raced though, we never had enough parental interest or a good enough goat to be competitive. Through the way this has been promoted by animal rights groups and the media all goat racing is underfire and is considered the same. Have a look at the comments left on Mr De Groots article. He is the sponsor of the Barcy event. http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/blogs/top_...oat-racing.aspx Those who go out of there way to promote the sport properly, who only desire for animals to be kept, raced and trained ethically are being lumped in one and the same by the public. The story is being beaten up and made to be a whole lot more than it is - an isolated incedence in an otherwise legitimate pastime. No different to breeding dogs I guess. Once breeders were proud of what they did and were considered experts in their field, now every breeder is considered a hoarder, animal abuser and puppy farmer.

I found the link, I just couldnt see it. Compare this http://animal-lib.org.au/campaigns/280-wild-goat-racing.html to this http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2009/02/...s-on-the-cards/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/maleny_steve/...in/photostream/ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/03/2888563.htm http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/blogs/top_...oat-racing.aspx Very different things!

I have never heard of goat races being conducted in the fashion described. The video no longer appears on the site mentioned. The only racing goats I know of are well trained, well cared for and much loved pets. Do you think this could just be a story thats been beaten up to be whole lot more than it is for the benifit of animal rights groups? If cruel things happen then that is unacceptable and must be changed but it would seem to me that an enduring link to our heritage conducted in a very humane way is being tarnished with the same brush as obvious stupidity.

You might want to close your eyes Moselle. Horse meat is often good for dogs with allergies, even those with chicken allergies. I find it excellent for puppies. Sunnyflower, just be careful feeding a whole lot of fat, pancretitis (sp?) is a horrible thing.

Our neighbours dog barks from 5.30 in the morning on when his owners leave for work, the another across the road barks when his owners are at work as well, it wouldnt be so bad except I work shift work so I understand how upsetting it can be. Rather than cause a war as neither have any intention of doing anything about it (like committing to excersising working breeds) I wear earplugs when I sleep. It isnt the dogs fault, after all they are just bored. While legal debarking wouldnt fix the reason why these dogs bark, it sure would stop the horrible consequences of having a barking dog in the suburbs.

Many butchers just mince fat and offal to sell as pet mince and run it through the mincer twice to get a better colour throughout, often left over sausage mince, cherios and other crap like gluggy crumbs left over from crumbed steak is added too. I only have an idea from working in a butcher shop. Some pet mince from butchers is awesome, some is utter crap. I feed chicken frames, beef brisket, lamb flaps and marrow bones, kangaroo, whole ducks, geese, turkey and chicken as well as horse and minced chicken frames.

A friend had her son die overseas from i think meningacoccial (sp??). She had to have him cremated to bring him home as well.

Please dont let my husband know, I will never, ever be able to explain my bills for testing or why I have paid a small fortune for a dog, then transport, then testing, then desexing and then given it away to a pet home.

For the reinbursement i would require a copy of a death certificate from the vet that stated the cause of the dogs illness was directly related to you. As for his papers you are required to return them to the registering body, I would make him a photocopy, write over the front of them with red nicko pen with something like PUPPY DIED ??/05/2010 PAPERS RETURNED TO DOGS VIC ON ??/05/2010. I would also send him a copy of the rules where it says thats what you are required to do. Cheers Katrina

I guess the sad part was the vet I told my husband to ring was also a specialist equine vet. My normal vet was away and I felt an expert opinion was worth the extra cost. Not saying it is or isnt the case here but how many people want to tell an expert in the field they are wrong, even if they think it? I didnt see Brandy myself so I have no idea if the vet was right or wrong, really all the guessing by me here wont change what has happened. I feel terrible for her carer though and the way she was treated. I also feel for all the stand up, genuine, caring people who are the grass roots of the RSPCA an organization I have come to detest, not just because of how it treats animals but also for it treatment of people. I am glad to hear your colt survived, did he founder at all?

As for a vets advice to euth a horse..... In 2006 I was away at a dog trial, I had little mobile reception. My husband (a non horse person) had found the kids pony ill after a wind storm knocked the side out of the she and chook pen and he had consumed 10 - 15kg of mixed grain. As I had 18 hours driving to get home I suggested he ring the vet and get her assistance. I rang back an hour later to find the kids hysterical and my husband digging a hole with the backhoe waiting for the pony to be put down. According to her horses dont survive colic like that (he was still mobile although in considerable pain at this stage) needless to say I contacted local horse people, who treated him. He fully recovered from the colic and the founder he developed as a result of eating that much grain. Not bagging them, I would be lost without them but sometimes Vets dont always know best. They are only human and sometimes make calls due to politics and outside pressures and sometimes just get it wrong.

Your neighbours dog is a huge problem, I do hope it is sorted now. Not to be nasty but cat owners really should have to keep their cats on their own property as well so as not to be attcked by other animals or cause a nusiance to others resideing in the area. It seems like a whole pot calling the kettle black thing otherwise (although I am sure your cat doesnt make off with the neighbours biscuit feeder or growl at them).

It amazes me that people cannot understand that everything they do, buy, use and eat has an impact of the animal world. Just because they cant see the displaced fauna, pollutants, insects that have been killed to save a crop, animal testing in labs it does not esist. Maybe it's the next enlightened generation from those who think its OK to eat meat from a supermarket as no animals were harmed in its making?