Blackdogs

It seems irresponsible rangers and shelter staff also have a lot to answer for.

A fifteen year old Schipperke:

You are right. The function and value of pounds really needs to be made clearer. Many people equate pounds with euthanasia. Of course it happens, but I'm sure many more lost dogs are returned than euthanised.

Oh no. Was the dog ok, having been without his meds for so long?

When you don't know what has hapened to your pet, the hurt seems to linger forever. At least with death there is some closure. This is why I take in to be scanned any dead animals I find on the side of the road. Holding on to an animal, whatever the justification, is just plain theft.

I find people use all sorts of silly, nonsensical justifications for holding on to a pet that they semselves do not really believe.

Oh dear, Mags. How awful. I am so glad you got your dog back and I am so glad that he managed to see the poster. When people find well looked after animals, that are well trained and socialised, surely it must twig that the animal belongs to someone who is missing them greatly!

I find it disturbing that educated DOLers would condone this behaviour, no matter how well-intentioned the finders are.

:eek: What happened in the end? Did he get them back?

It was wrong of vet to say that to you. You could have put the cat through the proper channels and put your name on it if it came up for destruction. Now you have a cat that someone may be pining over and that one day, you may be asked to hand back. It is possible the cat escaped and traveled from the area of residence, so the owners may not have had the opportunity to see the posters. Further, not everyone is aware of lost and found internet sites. I don't think you are bad people for doing this, just misinformed and misguided, to the potential detriment of some grieving pet owner.

It's frustrating and devastating, isn't it. It really boggles the mind that some people cannot seem understand the magnitude of what they are doing in holding on to pets.

Well, so far, over half of us dog owners prefer dogs to cats, but it's a pretty slim margin! Great photos, everyone!

Dogs used for hunting or as guard dogs should not be allowed to mix with children. Not sure about this. There are plenty of hunting dogs that can differentiate between a prey animal and a child. Otherwise, a pretty good article!

Alternatively, if you would like to be utterly confused, I can tell you about the Schipperke! They have the focus, drive, trainability, loyalty, hyperactivity and agility of a herding breed, the clownishness of a gun dog, the territoriality and protective instincts of a mastiff, the prey drive of a sighthound, the stubborness of a spitz breed, the nose of a scent hound and the scappiness and determination of a terrier!

I'm not big on rants, and I'm a fairly easy going sort, but there is one thing that really gets to me. The sense of entitlement some people have over dogs/cats that they find. I work in the pet industry and we constantly have lost pets dropped off to us. We scan them for a microchip and if they don't have one they go to the pound where the owner has an opportunity to find them. This process is generally an effective one and I've not heard of any animals falling through the cracks and being euthanised before their owners have a chance to locate them (though that's not to say it has never happened). So we have these protocols for a reason. If an owner is genuinely trying to locate their pet it's a sytem that works. Despite this, I spend a lot of time trying to wrangle pets from the vice-like grip of the people who found them and wish to keep them. They usually come up with a myriad of reasons as to why they should not leave the animal with us. Sometimes it appears to be genuine concern, but most times, particularly when it comes to purebred animals, it seems to be greed. This year alone I could tell you many stories about dogs and cats having been held on to by finders for weeks to years (the most being five years!) before coming in to us, being microchip scanned and locating their original, very emotional owners. I would like to change the minds of anyone here who thinks the better option is to hold on to an animal and put posters up. It's very possible the animal is from another area, has been missing for some time or that the owners could simply miss the posters. If you go to the lost and found section of Gumtree, you will find numerous heart-broken owners of missing pets posting week in week out for months or even years. I had a cat escape and go missing a couple of years back. He was registered, microchipped and clearly well looked after. However, he was a purebred and very social. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wonder what happened to him. If you find an animal, please do not hold on to it, because it does not belong to you and you have no rights over the animal, not even by law.

You might want to do a bit of googling. I think this might be all bullshit. Did you try googling before posting? http://www.sodahead....estion-1636663/ You don't think it's bullshit? The fact that they did the study? It seems as though they did do one. Or did you mean the findings? What findings? Nobody did any study, there is no Bijon-Frize Care Institute or French skincare giant Bonpeau. It's all just bullshit. Copied and pasted from a weblog posted on April 1st, 2011. :rofl: Although, if it's not April fool's day it's the fooler who is the fool, apparently. Yes, I'll go with that.

You might want to do a bit of googling. I think this might be all bullshit. Did you try googling before posting? http://www.sodahead....estion-1636663/ You don't think it's bullshit? The fact that they did the study? It seems as though they did do one. Or did you mean the findings?

You might want to do a bit of googling. I think this might be all bullshit. Did you try googling before posting? http://www.sodahead.com/fun/study-shows-dog-saliva-improves-acne-are-you-heading-to-the-pound/question-1636663/ It's not all positive though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wound_licking

You're welcome.

Seven pups for seven people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfP4zbMukIw

Could you find a commercial hydrobath and pay $10 to use it? They're elevated off the ground and generally have dryers attached.

Not enough pictures!

I voted that I prefer dogs over cats. I have two dogs and one cat. He is a lovely, gentle boy, though not overly affectionate or playful. Mostly he just does his own thing. I love him, of course and I have had him for four years. He is the definition of 'low maintenance', particularly in comparison to my dogs. I know not all cats are like this, and I have had some very full on cats, who were almost dog-like. Still, if I had to choose one over the other I would choose dogs. I just find that I connect with them better and I enjoy being able to engage in activites with them. Could you imagine trying to teach a cat flyball?

Traditional thiniking has often placed pet owners in to two camps: those who like cats or 'cat people' or those who like dogs or 'dog people'. Now I know this is a false dichotomy, as obviously there are many people who own both. However, I would be interested to see whether there is any truth at all to the notion that people who own dogs prefer them over cats. Just to make this thread more interesting, those who want to post photos of their cats or their cats with their dogs can go for it! Have fun! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Thanks for all the information, everyone, and those pictures are incredible! How adorable they are.