Let's put the world to rights...
I'm just starting writing an article and I'd welcome a lively debate on the subject to get me thinking outside the box!
It's my perception that there has never been more good dogs put to sleep.
But is my feeling correct?
Are you on the coal face of rescue?
Are you stretched to breaking point?
Why do you think that is?
I have my theories, but I want to hear yours.
I'd like to hear your thoughts as to the real size of the problem, is it even bigger than the statistics suggest? Dogs Trust say 20 dogs a day being PTS at the moment. Are there any other stats?
Why are we in this mess and crucially what you think would get us out of it?
A breeding amnesty has been suggested, would this help?
How about a breeding tax that put money back into rescue and dog wardens?
Or something else that makes breeding have a consequence like the Puppy Contract?
Is the UK dog population at its highest ever?
Why?
And is it just some breeds that have had a population explosion?
Has dog ownership of other breeds other than so called 'status' dogs really declined?
Tell me who you are - pet owner, breeder, rescue person and what you think.
Would really like to hear some alternative theories of how we tackle to the dog problem before I write my happy (!) new year article.
Do either email me beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk or post here or join us on Dogs Today facebook page.
A quick reaction to the first few posts.
If the explosion of Designer Dogs is the cause of the problem why isn't Battersea bursting at the seams with oodles of Doodles?
A further thought...
Many have commented about our throwaway buy-it-now society. But what do we think about people already on the breadline who take on a dog and then discover they cannot afford even the most basic vet bill? Is dog ownership a right or a luxury? Do you feel differently about people who have a change of circumstance after getting the dog?
It's my perception that there has never been more good dogs put to sleep.
But is my feeling correct?
Are you on the coal face of rescue?
Are you stretched to breaking point?
Why do you think that is?
I have my theories, but I want to hear yours.
I'd like to hear your thoughts as to the real size of the problem, is it even bigger than the statistics suggest? Dogs Trust say 20 dogs a day being PTS at the moment. Are there any other stats?
Why are we in this mess and crucially what you think would get us out of it?
A breeding amnesty has been suggested, would this help?
How about a breeding tax that put money back into rescue and dog wardens?
Or something else that makes breeding have a consequence like the Puppy Contract?
Is the UK dog population at its highest ever?
Why?
And is it just some breeds that have had a population explosion?
Has dog ownership of other breeds other than so called 'status' dogs really declined?
Tell me who you are - pet owner, breeder, rescue person and what you think.
Would really like to hear some alternative theories of how we tackle to the dog problem before I write my happy (!) new year article.
Do either email me beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk or post here or join us on Dogs Today facebook page.
A quick reaction to the first few posts.
If the explosion of Designer Dogs is the cause of the problem why isn't Battersea bursting at the seams with oodles of Doodles?
A further thought...
Many have commented about our throwaway buy-it-now society. But what do we think about people already on the breadline who take on a dog and then discover they cannot afford even the most basic vet bill? Is dog ownership a right or a luxury? Do you feel differently about people who have a change of circumstance after getting the dog?
Comments
Soon afterwards, buyers are discovering that dog ownership is more than just a thing to decorate the hearth rug and keep the kids quiet... in fact it's very much the opposite! In desperation, or sometimes just apathy they are given up. Some getting angry that the rescues are too full to accept them! ('and they call themselves a rescue centre' one lady vented to me not so long ago. It was tough to explain the reasons WHY they couldn't accept her dog at that moment when she had already reached her own tolerance levels already) The real root of the problem is therefore capitalism... (the cause of many of the world's problems really)
Policing breeders is near impossible, but I have always thought an Animal Keepers License would be a good step forward. People would no longer be born with a right to own certain animals, they would have to earn it. This license would have to be earned like a driving licence and can lose points for anti-social behaviour, but while owned, the owner can keep as many dogs, cats, horses etc. as they can reasonably manage and afford. It will become a criminal offence to supply, loan or entrust an animal on that list to anyone without a license.
This way dog owners will be forced to learn something about the animal from places other than Disney movies and any dogs in their care have a better chance. Demand will lessen, small time 'hobby' breeders will die out. It will also help to address aggressive dogs because if a dog is being 'anti-social' and not under control (but before any injury occurs), wardens will be able to add points to the owners license in the hope the dog is removed before people get hurt. As it stands, we have to wait until a child gets mauled before police can do anything.
The only issue I can see or have had feedback on this is initial implementation. What happens to all the dogs who's owners fail to earn a license?
I have saved several dogs from being put to sleep because owners were about to hand them into rescue.If more owners knew of people like myself who were dedicated to personally offering advise in the home on how to make small changes which affect behaviour hugely then i know there woudl be less dogs in rescues facing certain death.
I also think that society has changed a lot in that time now people live in an instant world, it takes 5 minutes to get some food out of the freezer and put it in the microwave for dinner, we also live in a throw away society were the next thing is bigger and better and there is an instant fix for everything.
Once dogs had a central role to play in the family, everyone went out together to walk the dog and walks could last a few hours. A lot of dogs are left home alone all day, for 8 or more hours and get a short walk around the block if the weather is nice. People don't seem to realise the time and commitment it takes to raise a dog and live with it for 10 years or more.
Even the TV shows around dog training give the untrained eye the impression that a dog can be trained in a matter of minutes. Watching a long process of shaping and rewarding behaviour would not make great TV viewing. Dog owners are being promised an instant cure for whatever their dog is doing or not doing.
People just don't have the time or the commitment anymore.
Olwen
www.olwenturns.co.uk
It's a global problem and one that seems to be getting worse.
Our first challenge is to tackle the reluctance of many owners to have their dogs spayed or neutered, or maybe the cost is putting them off,I think nowadays it can cost between £100 and £300 to have your dog sterilised dependent on size and breed, a heck of a lot of money to find for many people. Perhaps one solution is for neutering vouchers to be made available for everyone so that that excuse becomes redudant.
Rising costs of Vet treatment is another reason that seems to be on the rise for people dumping or handing their dogs in, yes I know we all advocate Pet insurance, but in the majority of cases, you need to have the money up front and claim it back. With the average cost of a consulation being £30 + VAT and then treatment on top, my last bill for one of mine was £180 for blood work and urine test!
Then you come to the global economy, many more people are being made redundant and then finding themselves loosing their homes, trying to find Landlords who allow pets is becoming increasingly challenging and I know that many dog owners are heartbroken when it's a choice between a roof over their heads or their beloved pet.
With the lack of jobs, many of us have to take a role where maybe our hours change or we work in an office where we used to work from home, have to go full time instead of part time, our dogs are left on their own for a length of time that is deemed unacceptable in this day and age and therefore owners give up their dogs to rescue.
The rise of the internet and the sites that sell second hand goods, all of these have pet sections, just look at how many people are giving their dogs away or trying to sell their puppies to make some money (so they believe) for a holiday or Christmas.
I really don't believe there is a 'one size fits all' solution.
I had a conversation with a Rescue representative who, out of respect, shall remain nameless, we discussed this very issue and we came up with some very dramatic and probably very unpopular solutions, this would be to start from scratch, to euthanise all the dogs that are currently languishing in kennels, the one's that are assessed as aggressive, this would free up space for those who would be easier to rehome, to bring in a compulsory license scheme for ALL those breeding, and only licensed and microchipped to the breeder puppies could be legally sold, should a dog at any time of it's life be sold on or end up in rescue, the breeder would become responsible for the costs of kenneling while the rehoming process takes place.
I believe that ultimately the breeders of dogs should be made more responsible, don't get me wrong, there are some amazing one's out there who DO take their dogs back at any stage of their lives, but sadly there are more that don't.
It would be interesting to know how many "cheap" puppies are in rescue centres and how many high priced ones (ask the owners how much they paid for them?) to gain a clearer view of whether paying more money for a puppy might be more likely to prevent rehoming.
We should also find out the real reason these dogs are being re-homed and not just take for granted the three main excuses of "my sons allergic" "We are getting divorced" or "We are moving house and can't take the dog". We could charge folk more to re-home the dog rather than ask the new owner to cover the costs. If these excuses were genuine then they should only be too pleased to pay extra. But then more dogs may just be dumped at centres.
More information on qualified behaviourists to help owners if they have to re-home due to behavioural problems and perhaps some in house help in return for more exposure.
More education of new owners and more legislation of puppy breeders. A discounted neutering programme for owners who are on allowances paid for by ?
We shall just have to put folk off getting a puppy unless they can really afford it and not allow it to become some sort of human right.
Not an easy one for a Friday Beverly....
Rosie Barclay CCAB
People really must be way more selective about breeding and the reasons why they do it. The Government needs to plug the loopholes which enable 'amateur' breeders to sell litter after litter of puppies with an off the books income of thousands of pounds each year without having to register for tax. Many of them also use charitable vet clinics and claim state benefits while they coin it in on the side.
more must be done on what it means to be a responsible owner, breeder and potential owner.. dogs need to be understood much more.. therefor trying to eradicate people buying dogs on a whim or by the time the dog reaches teenage hood they are not coping and dumping the dog instead. Or buying the dog they like to look off - not providing the dog what it needs and then dumping the dog as it's bored frustrated and ill understood and has developed behavioural "problems". So many dogs I see coming in to rescue or are PTS in pounds are the direct result of unknowing owners that did not take the responsibility of owning a dog seriously. The excuses are still the same: can't cope with the behaviour, having kids instead, etc…
Peoples expectations of what it's like to own a dog need to curbed! None of them are perfect, all of them need training, patience, dedication and exercise.
2. must be NEUTERING!! people must realise that not neutering there animal can also contribute to illness
3. COMPULSORY MICROCHIPPING - much more responsibility must be taken by owners and breeders and this needs to be traced. There should not be any unlicensed breeding
4. RULES ON BREEDING are currently ridiculous - I think it's something like 5 litters a year are allowed - well no wonder to many people see breeding dogs as a moneyspinning operation
5. to try and do something about the "backstreet" but also KC breeding machine!
the biggest problems as I see it that are
1. many things need a change in the law and therefor there is also a need for enforcement in my eyes people are able to get away with the mistreatment of animals to easily
2. as long as there is so much monetary value placed on dogs in particular pedigrees, there will always be demand & supply. The idea of status dogs just applying to Bull Breeds also sits wrong with me slightly as I feel many clueless dog owners get a pedigree dog for just that status! I think those who breed and sell pedigrees also have a lot to answer for, as there seems to be many pedigree dogs that are not neutered causing "accidents" / litters all the time.
(I feel more pedigree dogs in fact are not neutered compared to cross or mixed breed dogs - This would be another interesting statistic)
3. I think one of the problems as well is that figures of how many dogs each year in total in the UK are being SLAUGHTERED are difficult to get hold off - but I feel if we would have such figures I truly believe peoples attitudes might change!
There are just so many unwanted dogs, especially at the moment, and rescues are simply not able to cope, not only are their more dogs but there are also less people that want a dog - I blame this on the financial climate. On top of that many rescues are struggling as donations are not as forthcoming as they were perhaps 5 years ago.
As for dogs in rescue people must move away from the idea it's all staffs, they do have a huge problem in particular as there are to many and any pound list you get will be full off them, but unfortunately by focusing on Bull Breed alone and rescue means that actually, I feel, it's impacted many rescues adversely through this kind off press as many people know thing ALL RESCUE DOGS ARE STAFFIES which is NOT TRUE! Many dogs end up in rescue, some cross breed, some pedigrees all sorts.
Judith Broug in Rescue
A massive UK wide neutering campaign for both dogs and cats with vets reducing prices could really make an impact and it would at least be a start. I've worked really hard to promote early cat neutering in my area and the last two years have seen a significant drop in the number of unwanted litters.
Another problem is our lives are very changing - nobody has to put up with anything that is an incovenience to them. We are in control of our lives and we can make changes. If you're fed up with your husband you can divorce him! If your cat wees on the carpet you can dump him somewhere. If your dog is badly behaved then hand him over to a rescue. Simples!! Just move on. (It would be interesting to follow up people who have surrendered an animal to a rescue, five years later - a large % would have got another animal during that time I'm sure.) It takes guts to stay around long enough to deal with and live through the bad and upsetting consequences of our poor decision making (such as getting a dog or cat even though unsuitable) and for many people they don't feel they want to have to face up to those consequences - so it is easier to bail out early and move on.
There is no one answer nor no one cause but the lack of long term committment to anything is laying a very ugly trail behind us all.
I don't think a dog licence would work at all. When it was last in place, only 44% of owners bought one (Defra figures). Taxing breeders is a good idea because they make a lot of money from pups. Also every breeder should sign an undertaking to have any pup back if the new home doesn't work out. Rescues should hold dog classes before allowing people to adopt for the first time. I also think Rescues are too strict with people who work, for instance, they won't let a full time worker adopt, and it takes no account of the fact that the adopter may employ a dog walker or ask a neighbour to pop in and see to the dog. I also believe that the new Dog Control Bill will make the problem of rescue dogs a lot worse, because it states that a dog 'may be dangerously out of control' which is subjective. I would consider a dog to be out of control if it attacked another for instance, but others may report a dog for simply barking at them. The key is whether a person feels threatened, or is malicious. A dog will nturally protect its property and home, but the new Bill will ensure that a burglar can obtain a destruction on your dog if he was bitten or snarled at !
I would also like to see compulsory microchipping or tattooing and the law strengthened on dogs wearing collars and tags at all times. Rescues already insist on neutering, so I think breeders should also be brought into the compulsory neutering arena, and the KC should stop insisting that dogs are intact.
I'm not sure that the stray problem has increased, but I believe cruelty certainly has, and much tougher sentencing should be in place, and enforced as a deterrent.
There is the obvious staffy epidemic, and people trying to breed pit bull types. I recently saw an advert on facebook asking for any stud dog to cover a staffy bitch, no specifications and the obvious answers such as 'I have a mastiff x you can use'. I personally think there needs to be a ban on the breeding of staffy and staffy crosses and breeding licenses. These dogs are fast becoming vermin.
People buy puppies without forward thinking. They think they have been gifted a preprogrammed puppy that requires no training will appear and should they experience a problem that a dog trainer can come free of charge and magically wave a wand over their puppy. Also basic set up for a puppy can easily cost £500.
The other illusion that people are under is that once they've created a messed up dog that someone will either give them £200 for it or a shelter will willingly take it in. I'm not so sure I agree with no kill shelters, some people need to know that they can't just dump their messed up dog for someone else to sort out.
...all breeders were like this, and people only bought dogs from breeders like this?
"I am a breeder.
I spend a lifetime learning pedigrees, going over dogs, talking, and learning from those in my breed and those outside it.
I raise each litter as if I gave birth to them and spend an equal amount of time finding them loving forever homes. I only put puppies on this planet that I think will be the healthiest (mentally and physically) and nicest examples of their breed.
I support each family who chose one of my puppies and let them know they are now a part of our extended family.
I am there if one needs to come back and will aggressively pursue the return of one of my dogs if it's in the wrong place.
I support my breed in rescue and education.
I hold them when they arrive and leave this world.
I share my knowledge and socialize my dogs so that they will be the advertisement for my dedication. I don't keep track of the money and time I put in to my love of dogs, it would not be a true measure of how I feel.
The price I charge for my puppies is never profit, but investment in the next generation. I am not ashamed of who I am... I work hard at being a good dog person and encouraging others to be the same. I am a breeder and I am proud of it.
If we don't support each other - we are doomed as a fancy."
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
But I think it is important not to overstate the case - there are far too many dogs in rescue, but there are far, far more dogs in happy homes. There are too many pups born and raised in misery in puppy farms, but also many being carefully bred and reared by knowledgeable, caring breeders, few of whom make much money out of their litters. And the mixed breed puppies from backyard ooops litters may be amongst the best dogs out there.
The next issue for us is the change in RSPCA policy to not accept surrenders at their branched, only case dogs. Our local branch us one of these, and us in the same city ad the pound we commit to. The pound now takes a significant number of these dogs which in turn becomes our responsibility. Last year in Wales the RSPCA took in a total of 646 dogs, compared to the 387 we took - a stark contrast when you compare our resources. I do understand why they changed their policy but do not recall them undertaking an impact assessment to determine the affect it would have on rescues close to their centres.
Our next issue is the increasing number of rescues taking increasing numbers if Irish dogs. Again, I understand the reasons but for a co-ordinating rescue like us who relies on rescues offering spaces we simply cannot compete with the choice that Ireland offers so often miss out on the limited spaces available.
The closure of rescues we send to is another issue, one recent closure took almost 25% of the dogs we moved to rescue so this has hit us hard. Instead we need to rehome more ourselves which has an impact on our funds - we were not set up as a rehoming rescue yet we now rehome 50% of the dogs we help. Our half year accounts show an unsustainable 100% increase in vet and kennel bills against the previous half year.
The next reason is the pressures on the public sector. They are facing unprecedented cuts and animal welfare is not high on their agenda and is therefore prime for cuts. Stray dog services are being cut everywhere. They cannot fund vet bills they may have helped with previously, and are considering not vexing. Our local pound is also looming at taking on neighbouring contracts to raise income, further compounding our issues.
In 5 years of rescue I have never known it this bad and I am just so frustrated I could cry (and do frequently). There are a lot of genuine people out there who do need help to rehome their dogs and now we have to turn them away due to irresponsible .Our kennels are full of bull breeds no
one wants, the irresponsible breeding of bullbreeds has to
be tackled and any neutering campaign needs to take a
risk based approach and tackle the bull breed issue head
on.
I wish I had the answers , somehow we need to get it formally recognised that owning a dog is a privilege that comes with a life time financial and emotional cost; it is not a right that just anyone can claim.
Unfortunately I dont think anything will be done until the police are literally shooting dumped strays in the street.
She had behaviour issues, and the behaviourist I visited told me she felt certain that if she had gone to any other owner she would have been euthanised. Fortunately she's with me, and she doesn't have any major issues any more.
My second dog I got as a puppy from a breeder. I had two very young children (again a no-no from rescues in most cases). If there is no more breeding, young children will no longer be able to have dogs. Many of our childrens' friends don't have dogs and behave chaotically around them. My children have been exposed to dogs daily from their births. They know how to behave around dogs.
There was another reason I chose to get a puppy when I had two small children. How can I know, with an unknown adult dog, how hard it will bite if it's provoked? A toddler might poke it in the eye, fall on it, these things happen sometimes very quickly with little warning even if the parent is present. If this happened with my second dog, I wanted to have taught him bite inhibition (non-harmful biting) from puppyhood. Rescue centres don't test how hard a dog bites if it reacts, but rather test if it reacts at all. If a dog does an air snap it is deemed unsuitable. Well, I would rather have that dog with my children than a dog that just hasn't reacted yet and I don't know what will happen if it does.
As to the question of neutering, I would like to know whether there is a greater problem of unwanted dogs being produced in the European countries where neutering is much less common that in the UK. Does anyone know the answer to this?
I admit that I really didn't know what I was getting into with my first dog. She drove me to despair at times, but I wasn't brought up to believe animals were disposable. I worked on her problems, and she's had a very good life. She's been better off with me than being kept in kennels or put to sleep.
Lets screen potential owners on different criteria? Surely if someone is dedicated, provides enough company and exercise for their dog (even if they hire it), they are better than someone who merely has a garden? In the USA, many city dwellers keep dogs in high-rise apartments. Is this a problem?
Finally, we need more education of the public. Last year there was a very sad instance of a child being mutilated by a dog, and this was reported on the national news followed by the usual messages of don't leave children alone with dogs. A short time later there was a report in the local newspaper of a little girl who climbed into the dog's bed while her mother was in the bath upstairs. She ended up with stitches to her face, and the dog is dead. The mother said they had been given the dog a month ago by a friend, and she had no reason to think it would bite. The safety messages just don't sink into the general population, the people who we don't get at training classes.
Some organisations are happy to visit local schools on invitation to provide education. I propose that rescue and training/behaviour organisations bang on the doors of schools rather than waiting to be invited.
Lets hope that one day we really will manage to put the world to right!
Isabel Towers
www.bouncenpounce.bounceme.net
Certainly here in North East Lincolnshire, one large rescue kennel that advertises it's dogs on the internet, often have in the dogs details that the owners have had to move into rented accomadation and the Landlord won't accept pets.
I also think that a lot of what's already been said is true, and that people are also not willing to put the time into training the dog. I would certainly say that this was true with the rescue Labrador that we took on. About 12months old, and no idea of even being able to sit on command. Her behaviour was abysmal. But with love and positive training what a wonderful dog she has become.
I have huge respect for the many people involved in rescuing animals, who must feel they are facing an insuperable mountain of ignorance, incompetence and fecklessness. I can understand how they must feel that things could only be better if everyone adopted from them rather than bought from breeders. But dogs are not interchangeable units - the home that is perfect for a papillon might not suit a GS mix. When the time was right for me to get a dog, I looked at my local rescues. I have cats (both rescues), so needed a dog safe with cats. Some of my neighbours have small children, others have dogs, and we share access and other common areas - more safety issues. I wanted a small dog, as I frequently stay with friends and family, and small dogs tend to be easier to accommodate than large ones. I knew I could not meet the exercise needs of a Border Collie, or Springer, and I find the terrier temperament hard work. And I did not consider myself sufficiently experienced to cope with a dog with health or behavioural issues, or an ex-breeding dog that needed help learning how to be a dog again. Unsurprisingly, the sort of dog I wanted and needed is as rare as hen's teeth in rescue, and does not tend to wait long for a home!
So I researched breeds and breeders, and bought exactly the pup I wanted, and then did so again when the time came to expand the family, and we have been very happy. Meanwhile I meet any number of people who have "rescued" dogs ("I rescued her - it was an advertisement in the paper, and the woman was divorcing and couldn't keep her. I paid £x."; "I rescued him from a pet shop - he looked so miserable it was worth the £x to take him home and make him happy"; "The man said any pups that didn't sell at the boot sale would be drowned when he got home, so I rescued this one"), all of whom look at me and my happy, healthy, sociable little dogs with an air of moral superiority, while I grit my teeth and refrain from commenting! I have also seen far too many dogs rehomed, then returned to rescue because their owners could not cope with the dog's needs, or it did not get on with the people and animals already in the home.
I really cannot see how discouraging responsible small scale breeders from breeding dogs, and thus leaving would-be buyers only the choice of puppy mills or BYBs, can possibly be good for the long term future of pet dogs. As others have said, I very much doubt that many of the dogs from these breeders end up in rescue, if only because part of the definition of "responsible" in this context is lifetime commitment to take back any dog of their breeding. I hope this does not come across as a rant - I would just like to see more emphasis put onto informed, responsible choice of type of dog, adult or puppy, breeder or rescue, and less emphasis on Rescue Good, Breeder Bad.
The high price of puppies compared to adult dogs, along with the use of dogs as 'status symbols' is another. Think of the people you know who feel their dog should have a litter because it's pedigreed/purebred and will make them money (said with an air of pride at their dog's blue blood). Same goes for the people who think of breed as the first consideration when getting a dog, and convenience as the second: people who will get a puppy mill dog over a rescue because the rescue doesn't have papers and the puppy mill owner can get them a puppy now. The same dog then becomes worthless as an adult, so it's more productive to breed a dog than to rehome an adult one.
Perhaps you might like to pass that on... shakes head... and you talk about other people being stuck in a rut Anonymouse! Broken record comes to mind!
Everyone I know in rescue is exhausted to the point of depression, but there is one left-field point that I think has to be made.
The problem is actually several times as serious as any figures show, because they can't take into account the 'hobby' rescues, or many breed rescues. We all know the hobby crew the people who move dogs around via the internet with plaintive cries to "HELP SAVE THIS SWEET ANGEL!!!!!", never seeing them, to pretty much anyone who says they want one. They then vanish when they get bored or it gets hard. There is in fact a skew towards major rehoming organisations showing figures that are well below the current state of affairs, and whilst this may sound awful (and I have to hark back to April's comment here) unless the hobbyists stop, or start submitting figures (and there are enough of them to make a significant spike in numbers), authorities won't even be seeing the tip of the iceberg and therefore the problem remains in the conciousness, yet not-quite-important enough to action.
If the explosion of Designer Dogs is the cause of the problem why isn't Battersea bursting at the seams with oodles of Doodles?" well perhaps thats because when they are sold for a fat profit they are call "Designer Dogs" but when they end up in the rescue kennel they are just a plain cross bred mutt, whos breeder took the cheque and ran!