k9angel

I think you are wrong. I don't consider it a high cost either. Is it expected that shelter and pound dogs should be free? If so, why? Why do you consider a dog from the pound as not of any value? The average rescues sells a dog for between $250 - $350. If Muttrus purchased the dog, desexed, it would have been within this range and it would have also been registered. A lot of rescues do not rehome rescues registered and the cost is borne by the adopter.. I'm a rescuer and I think most rescues would have to be charging $350 - $450 to cover costs, vet charges have gone up. Have they what! I am paying almost double to what I was 3 years ago.

Fanastic news.

I think you are wrong. I don't consider it a high cost either. Is it expected that shelter and pound dogs should be free? If so, why? Why do you consider a dog from the pound as not of any value? The average rescues sells a dog for between $250 - $350. If Muttrus purchased the dog, desexed, it would have been within this range and it would have also been registered. A lot of rescues do not rehome rescues registered and the cost is borne by the adopter.. That's what I was thinking when I read the OP. When I first started rescuing I would get phone calls from people assuming I was a pound and that the dogs were 'free'. They were going to be killed after all.. (well according to the callers they were). It would make me sad because IMO a pound dog is of no lesser value than any other dog. It's not their fault they ended up with crap owners and at the pound, yet some people assume that they are worth nothing, not even a measly cent.

Personally, if I was a member of the public looking to adopt a poundie that price wouldn't put me off at all. I think $440 for a pet (that includes vetting) and is going to be a part of your life for hopefully many years to come is well worth it. Have you seen the prices pet shops and Back yarders are charging for oodles and other x breeds nowadays? We're not talking hundreds, some of them go into the thousands and that doesn't include desexing. And after all, once they become a part of the family, they become priceless right? ;) So no, I don't think it's unreasonable to pay that for a poundie. And as others have mentioned, Blacktown pound also has the free desexing program. If they don't have room this week, they will most likely hold him over until the next week for you, if you ask, that will bring the costs down even further. :) If I was looking to rescue him and I didn't have a clause, I would definately be trying the pounds desexing program first. Ask for Illy if you can, as she is very understanding & helpful. Goodluck with him.

What a special little dog. Good on her!

The tigers are emaciated and the 180 pelicans packed so tightly they cannot unfurl their wings without hitting a neighbour. Last week, a giraffe died with a beachball-sized wad of plastic food wrappers in its belly. That death has focused new attention on the scandalous conditions at Indonesia's largest zoo. Set up nearly a century ago in one the most biologically diverse corners of the planet, it once boasted the most impressive collection in Southeast Asia. But today the Surabaya Zoo is a nightmare, plagued by uncontrolled breeding, a lack of funding for general animal welfare and even persistent suspicions that members of its own staff are involved in illegal wildlife trafficking. The rarest species, including Komodo dragons and critically endangered orangutans, sit in dank, unsanitary cages, filling up on peanuts tossed over the fence by giggling visitors. "This is extremely tragic, but of course by no means surprising in Indonesia's zoos, given the appalling way they are managed on the whole," said Ian Singleton, a former zookeeper who now runs an orangutan conservation program on Sumatra island. The zoo came under heavy fire two years ago following reports that 25 of its 4000 animals were dying every month, almost all of them prematurely. They included an African lion, a Sumatran tiger and several crocodiles. The government appointed an experienced zookeeper, Tony Sumampouw, to clean up the operation and he struggled, with some success, to bring the mortality rate down to about 15 per month. A bengal white tiger which is missing an ear and suffers from a spinal problem lays inside a cage at the quarantine section of Surabaya Zoo. Photo: AAP But following last week's death of the 30-year-old giraffe Kliwon - who had for years been eating rubbish thrown into its pen and was found with a 18-kilogram ball of plastic in its stomach - Sumampouw said he's all but given up. Nothing short of a "total renovation" is needed, he said. "We need to either think about privatising or transferring out some of the animals." With entrance fees of less than $US2 ($A1.91), critics say there's not enough money to care for the animals, much less invest in improving the zoo's facilities. One of the biggest problems is overcrowding. Whereas most zoos limit the number of animals born in captivity - taking into consideration how many can reasonably be cared for or exchanged with other zoos - the notion of "family planning" has not yet taken off here. Contraceptives are expensive and there are not adequate facilities to separate males and females. As result, species at the Surabaya zoo are bred to excess. The 180 pelicans are kept in a pen the size of a volleyball court. Nearby, 16 tigers - 12 Sumatran and four Bengalese - are kept in a prison-like row of concrete cages. One white tiger, whose parents were donated by the Indian government nearly 20 years ago, is now covered by skin lesions. Let out so rarely, she suffers from back complications that make it difficult to just stand up, let alone walk, zoo curator Sri Pentawati said. "There are too many tigers," she lamented. "We have a hard time rotating them out to get all the exercise they need." Sumampouw acknowledged he has had little success in controlling the undisciplined staff. He said he believes some animals, including three young Komodos that disappeared last year, were stolen by caretakers and sold into the exotic pet trade. Zookeepers also have been accused of taking meat meant for the tigers and selling it in the local market. http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/13161016/nightmare-zoo-conditions-exposed/ This made me cry. That pic of the tiger just broke my heart. No animal deserves that. Surely something can be done. How they can let it just go on like that? and how do the zoo owner/zoo keepers sleep at night?

Keeping everything crossed for you guys.

Awww T, they are adorable. They remind me a little of Tess (Mums girl who was pts last week ). It bought a tear to my eye looking at those pics, esp the side on shot of Fern. And I agree with Mita, you do an amazing job with your K9 kids.

This ^^^ Plus the fact that rescue dogs are not only temp. tested /assessed whilst in care, but also come vet checked and vetted (DESEXED) already, and those costs are included in the adoption cost. Plus most rescues offer a trial period so they won't have to return the dog to the pound and worry about the dog being pts if it doesn't work out.

Lovely pics T. Wishing you the best of luck. :)

Great save - he is truly gorgeous.

This is so my life! Dogmad you are not alone, we may be few but we are out here. Same. I often dream of what it would be like to have a normal life, to be able to just lock up for the day and go out somewhere nice. Rescue is just a way of life now, I couldn't walk away if I tried. I feel sorry for the dogs that will miss out because of this. They are the one's who will pay in the long run. It will lessen their chances of rescue even further. I don't visit facebook or other social networking sites, I rely on the info I get from the pounds and the info that is so kindly provided here on DOL by volunteers. The volunteers who take notes, pics, and update the threads deserve a massive thanks for the work they do. I helped for a short time updating the Blacktown thread and it was far from easy. So thanks guys - you all do and have done a wonderful job for the poundies. I am also another concerned at the direction rescue is taking. I have only been rescuing for 3 years but even I have noticed big changes and not all good since I started.

I had my sibe girl Takoda done at 5 and a half mths, before her first season. After what we have been through this past 10mths with pyometra and mammary tumours, I wasn't taking any risks. Pyo is quiet common or so I am learning the inlaws lost their shep girl to it, I have lost one to it and Mums girl Tess had it a couple of mths ago. She got through the emergency surgery for the pyo but sadly had mammary tumours that had spread to her lungs and so I had to take her to be put to sleep last Tuesday. She was deteriorating fast. If she had of been desexed earlier on, she may still be here today.

Gorgeous pics Kirislin. When we were living in Manildra I used to love visiting the creek down near the flour mills to look at the platypus. They were fascinating little critters. I wish I had of taken some pics now, I took it for granted at the time because we lived so close and I could just go look for them when I pleased. We had plenty of roo's but never saw an emu out there.

Tess - cattle/dingo/greyhound blend - given her wings less than a week ago due to cancer - 11 years Gypsy - my heart dog - Siberian husky - died suddenly at home in my arms last year aged 11 yrs 11 mths Whitey - Sibe husky - died last year at vet aged 6 years - had many complications with IMT Jay Jay - Sibe husky - died last year at vet aged almost 10 yrs Cassie - Sibe husky - given wings on operating table 2008 - cancer - aged 7 yrs Claude - Sibe husky - died suddenly at home 2007 - cause unknown - aged 6 yrs - I cannot believe it has been nearly 5 yrs already. I will always miss them.

Beautiful beautiful pics. Thankyou for sharing.

Wow she was gorgeous Pers.

Another paw paw fan here. It's great stuff.

Thanks everybody for your kind words. I am still feeling numb and empty from the events of the past few days. Tess is the 4th one we have lost now in less than 12 months. I am still grieving for the 3 I lost last year including my heart dog Gyps. Seems I just come to accept when one has passed and then we lose another. These past 10 months have been like a nightmare, I keep waiting to wake up from. One thing I have learned is that life is so fragile and precious - Our dogs could be here one day, then taken from us the next - in the blink of an eye - just like that. That saying "tommorow is never promised for any of us", is so true.

I can still remember the first time I saw you Tess. All those years ago back in Manildra. You were bred to be a pigging dog but didn't cut it and were left to spend the first 10-12 months of your life alone, on a vacant lot. Your Mummy was a cattle/dingo blend and your Daddy a greyhound. The vacant lot you were left on was fenced in with tin so you couldn't see much of the outside world except for a little gap in the back fence that backed onto the laneway. I was walking Gyps one day when I spotted you. You came barrelling up to the back fence to greet us. And boy were you fast. You ran just like a greyhound and I loved watching you bolt up each day to greet us. It didn't take long for us to become friends. We were the only friends you had back then... but that would soon change. One day I was walking Gyps at the Piggery creek when I got the fright of my life when I thought I had found you dead. Upon closer inspection, I discovered the dog laying before me was a male. I would later learn he was your brother. He had been shot twice. Like you, he was no good at pigging and that was the price he paid. It broke my heart. We left him to rest in peace in the beauty of the countryside. I went home and started asking friends/neighbours about you. I managed to track down your owner, a young bloke who openly admitted to shooting your brother and told me you were next. He had bred you for pigging and because you wouldn't chase, he had no use for you. I offered to take you and give you a home. It was no surprise he accepted so readily. So off I went to the vacant lot lead in hand, to pick you up and give you a better life. You could not believe your luck when I opened the gate and held you in my arms for the very first time. You were so happy but yet so scared. Not of me, but of what was on the other side of those fences that had hidden you from the world for so long. You hadn't been out of the vacant lot much before and so the world was a pretty scary place for you. I reassured you as best I could as I put the lead on you and walked you home. Never in my life, still to this day, had I seen a dog so terrified. Your body trembled with fear and you left a trail of poo all the way from the vacant block back to home. It didn't take you long to settle in and you were accepted by all, even my pack of sibes. They loved you and saw you as one of their own. You were so sweet, so gentle and so loving. You stayed with us for about a year until One weekend when my brother came and visited from Sydney. He met you and it was love at first sight, and vice versa. You loved him so much so I agreed to you coming back to Sydney to live with Mum & my brother where you lived and were loved for the next 10 or so years of your life. You were one of us Tess, one of the family. You were always there to help us celebrate Christmas and Easter and Birthdays. You'd always be there sitting on the lounge or running around the yard playing ball or zoomies with Bear, or sticking your nose into a big bowl of cooked scotch fillet steak or roast chicken. You lived a pretty good life. You were fed nothing but the best, many a time over the years I would joke that you ate better than us. You went for walks almost daily and had the run of the house or yard, as you pleased. You slept on the bed at night and loved going car cars. You loved it when I'd take the kids down to visit and when my other brother would visit each Saturday with his 2 little girls. You were there to see all our kids grow Tess - you showed them the special friendship and love that dogs have to offer. Your troubles began in late Jan when you were diagnosed with pyometra. I may of saved you from the vacant lot and found you a wonderful home, but the one thing I did not do and what most likely cost you your life, was to get you desexed. I cannot tell you how sorry I am. It is something I have to live with for the rest of my life and something I will never ever forgive myself for. I didn't know of the importance of desexing back then. Not until I began rescuing and although I suggested it to Mum a few times these past 3 years, Mum is kind of old fashioned and insisted you'd be fine. I would of had it done myself but Mum always had an excuse to put it off. It was a close call but you made it through the pyo after emergency surgery. Sadly though, you were never quiet the same after the op. You'd pick up one day, then be down the next. This went on for weeks. Several trips to the vet for blood tests and xrays and antibiotics... At one stage we thought you had an injured neck, but it turns out it was a lot more sinister than that. At the time you were diagnosed with pyo, it was also discovered you had several small mammary tumours. At the time though, the vets main concern and our own was getting you through the pyo. We would deal with the mammary tumours once you'd recovered from this op. You started going off your food on the Saturday (the 3rd) and by Sunday wasn't eating at all. Your breathing was also different and had a horrible weazy sound to it. I took you back to he vet Monday and more xrays were done. This time of your chest. I waited nervously all day for the results to come back. At 3pm I rang the vet for an update and he asked if I could come in to talk. I knew it was bad. He would always give updates over the phone. I asked outright "Is it cancer?" he said there is something there. I got to the vet surgery and he showed me the xrays. In your lungs there were several masses. When comparing them to xrays taken (of the neck area but showing parts of the chest too) only weeks before, they had increased in size. You had also lost 1.5kgs in a matter of weeks. It was clear to see you were fading, and fast. I rang my brother and told him to pop into Mums after work (this was on the Tuesday) to say goodbye to you as I was taking you to be put to rest tommorow. (Wed). You had no quality of life. You were not eating, barely drinking, your breathing was not good and you just wanted to hide away from the world. It was sad to see. So he went and said his farewells. I thought I had better take Jack down too to say Goodbye. He took some roast lamb and a caramel cupcake in a little plastic dish thing to give to you. Although you wanted to eat it, you couldn't. I found you laying on the lounge almost lifeless, I felt the scruff on your neck to check your hydration. You were very dehydrated and your breathing was laboured at times. I said to Mum, we cannot wait until tommorow, this has to be done now. So I called the vet and told them we were coming in. I took some pics of you at Mums before we left. You knew what was going on. You came outside and stood at the front like you had done so many times before, but this time stood there and took it all in admiringly one last time. Thankfully it was nice and sunny (for a change) despite being so sick, you looked so beautiful standing there. I took one of us together while Mum locked the house and got ready. We dropped Jack off back home to his Dad and continued on to the vet with you resting your head on my lap. I spoke to you reassuringly, all the while with tears streaming down my cheeks. I tried to be strong girl. I have seen others taking their own dogs to be put to rest, and felt so bad for them and now here we were. I hadn't had to have my own put to rest before. Gyps died suddenly at home, Jay Jay died at the vet as did Whitey and Cass was put to rest on the operating table. They took you in and set up the catheter while we were asked to wait outside. It felt like forever for the door to open and when it did you were just sitting there, thinking you were coming home. As soon as we got up and went in with you, you started to shake. You knew. You nuzzled your head into my chest and I asked the vet just before they started injecting you, whether we were doing the right thing and she assured me we were. I cuddled you and kissed you and told you how much I loved you as the weazing sound came to a stop and you passed away in my arms. It was quick and peaceful. I have seen dogs put to sleep before but never had to hold one of my own, until you, Tess. Taken 4 mths ago here at my house. Our last pic together. I took it myself and had been crying, so it's not the best. I tried to put on a brave face for her. Walking down the steps for the last time With Jack Admiring the views for the last time R.I.P. beautiful Tess. xxx 2001-6.3.12 Run free with Sooty, Pedro, Gypsy, Cassie, Jay Jay, Claude, and Whitey. xxx Missed by many and never forgotten.

Gorgeous pics, she is beautiful DD.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

So true, we have a big Labrador at the dog park and his hackles go up every time a new dog walks in... He is just really excited. Once they are all together he calms down to just play... Takoda, my sibe, puts up the hackles when she's playing with Jasmine. :laugh:

Dulcie is gorgeous and so are her bubs. Sorry to hear about the little 3 who didn't make it though. Just a thought, but have you tried Dulcie with advocate? Two little kelpie girls I had in care last year (or the year before?) came into care with identical bald patches to what Dulcie has. They weren't red or scaly, and they never scratched at them. When I took them to the vet, they too had skin scrapings done but the vet couldn't see anything either. He suspected sarcoptic mange and told me to advocate them. So I did. Within days you could see the new hairs coming through and within weeks you could not even tell where the bald patches had been. :)

for a safe and speedy return.