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Emma Milne

That's an appalling sweeping statement to have made.

I must admit, I have no time whatsoever for Emma Milne. Many a time I've sat with my jaw well and truly dropped after listening to yet more rubbish from her, on TV etc, over the years.

I hope a proper apology appears in the next edition of the magazine.
 
I read this article in my edition of Dogs Today & was horrified by her sweeping statements. I expect there will be a very big reaction to this.

A year or so ago another vet, Manda Scott I think her name is, wrote a similar article about Akitas in this mag & it was the last column she wrote for them as the backlash was so great.

My own cat was killed by lurchers a couple of years ago but I know it was just a tragic accident & I certainly didn't drag my own 2 lurchers off to the vets to be PTS because of it.
 
i can understand the vet being upset after spending 8 hours trying to save the old ladys dog but really that sort of kneejerk reaction is ridiculous.as for beverly cuddy( i knew her years ago as a young woman when she used to show beardies she lived in our area,i knew her mum and dad too)she ought to check her sub editors word when she says this article is going to provoke a lot of replies.i too have just been doing our vat but i certainly dont spend so long doing it that i let someone run my business into the ground!i have an accountant to do it i just get all the paperwork together and send them to him and he sorts the figures out,maybe ms cuddy needs to employ and accountant then she can spend less time doing paperwork and more time checking whats going in her magazine.as for this stupid vet,she needs a good talking to.preferable by some of the greyhound rescue people :rant:
 
I read this article and was appalled :rant:

There is a 'response' from her here

The editor of the magazine has published an apology on her blog link

ETA. ooops, just seen that the apology has already been linked! and also to remove a link which may have got someone into trouble :p
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What an idiot she is, that's like saying all staffies / rotties / bull terries etc (take your pick really) are bad and dangerous, which we know they aren't. I think it largely depends on the owner and perhaps the owner should have had their dogs on a lead or maybe even muzzled if they were know to be very keen. But it could have been a one off tragic accident.

I feel sorry for the lady whose dog died obviously :( , but you can't judge all dogs by the same standard. She will do much more harm than good making statements like that. :rant:

I thought this was going to be a nice thing, like she'd adopted a greyhound or something! :(
 
This is the article and I stand by every word - it was an opinion piece and this is my unexpurgated opinion...

fwiw, we got to two more (Bassett Hounds and Border Collies, I think) before the spineless editor decided she'd had enough flak from the Akita-owning public. Mind you, the month they pulled the column was the same month they ran a large article on how to manage the behavioural crisis of an aggressive Akita which was either editorial mastery or the laughter of the gods, I never worked out which. And I had more supportive letters over these 3 articles than anything else I'd ever written.

enjoy

ms

 

Once in a while, when writing the novel has ground to a halt, I read the local 'Free Ads' for recreation. I have to be pretty desperate and utterly insomniac to progress beyond the horse-ads, but both of these applied recently and I found myself leafing through the page after page of puppy-adverts, wondering why anyone could possibly imagine that the world needed yet another litter of German Shepherd pups where only the sire was hip-scored, or a litter of Golden Retrievers with no scores of any kind on either side. There were seven of those, but even they paled into insignificance against the almost-full page of Rottweiler puppies. If you're thinking of breeding Rotts, think again, trust me; the world doesn't need more dysfunctional dogs. And then were was the litter of Weimeraner x Springer Spaniel in which 'parents and grandparents can be seen'. That has to be a joke. Next to the Border Collie X Springer, I'd be hard pushed to think of a less inviting combination; speed, lack of forethought and a tendency to hysteria. Yum.

 

It was depressing enough to be amusing even before I found the ad for a working cocker dogs, 'Six months old, very fit and healthy, for sale through no fault of his own. Needs lots of exercise.' One can't help but feel that the 'no fault of his own' was related to the need for lots of exercise and it doesn't take too long to wonder why the purchasers didn't check out exactly what was required in terms of exercise before they splashed out on their pedigree mutt.

 

But then, it's not always easy to find out the truth. If I had wanted to find out all the problems of my lovely Citroen Xsara before I got it (second hand, one careful veterinary owner, if that's not an oxymoron), I would hardly talk to a Citroen dealer, however honest they may appear. If I had sense, I'd find a large number of people with Citroens, buy them a drink, or a bunch of flowers or whatever would work best and sit quietly while they sounded off at length on the hazards of Citroen ownership.

 

The problem when it comes to dogs is that most folk are aware of the 'nature versus nurture' theory and just because Mrs Jones down the road has a lunatic working cocker spaniel doesn't mean they're all nut cases, it may have more to do with the fact that Mrs J works in a solicitor's office from 7 am to 10 at night and thinks a five minute walk is enough to keep her beloved child substitute sane. (for the record, I rather like working cockers and don't think they're remotely mad – I met a lemon and white one recently and would have stolen it and brought it home if my dog sitters wouldn't have gone on strike as a result - but they do need a great deal of exercise.)

 

So the point is, nobody gives you the real deal about dog breeds. I am here to change that: the unexpurgated version of what to expect.

 

We'll start at the beginning of the alphabet and work through, which means Akita's are first.

 

Akita's are Japanese fighting dogs. Read that again. These dogs were bred over generations specifically to fight other dogs and each other in a country where perfectionism is an art form. They are big (61 – 71 cm) and heavy – the dogs can weigh as much as 50Kg. I weigh 50 Kg. I don't have sharp teeth. Akita's do. In my opinion, they are not and never have been, designed to fit into human society.

 

In this locale, they are owned by large men with small Y-chromosomes who have a point to prove about their capacity to produce testosterone. Sadly, those same men tend to go out to work for long hours leaving the dog in the care of their significant other, who is usually endowed with 2 x-chromosomes and has rather less to prove. This being the case, the Akita generally rules that side of the pack. There may be sane ones somewhere but I have never met one. Indeed, the only time I saw a colleague get genuinely badly bitten, an Akita was responsible – and it was muzzled, until the owner grabbed for it as it went for the vet and the muzzle came off in mid-tangle. That one no longer graces the earth but there are plenty more.

 

 

 

The list of inherited diseases is not huge - you can do a web search to find out more - but they are reputed to suffer from hip and elbow dysplasia, Hypothyroidism, various retinal atrophies and a number of immune diseases. Practically, being large, deep-chested dogs, they may suffer from gastric torsion, aka bloat, if fed large, infrequent meals. As with all the other fighting breeds, if you feed them raw meat and no bones, their own bones will dissolve but this isn't breed related, just a product of normal physiology – it's only that butch men with big dogs tend to think that feeding them raw steak must be A Good Thing.

 

And that's it. People who have them, obviously love them, but then that's always the case. Next month we'll look at Bassets, Bedlingtons and anything else I can fit in beginning with 'B', including Black Labradors. Happy puppy searching.
 
Eceni said:
This is the article and I stand by every word - it was an opinion piece and this is my unexpurgated opinion...
fwiw, we got to two more (Bassett Hounds and Border Collies, I think) before the spineless editor decided she'd had enough flak from the Akita-owning public.  Mind you, the month they pulled the column was the same month they ran a large article on how to manage the behavioural crisis of an aggressive Akita which was either editorial mastery or the laughter of the gods, I never worked out which. And I had more supportive letters over these 3 articles than anything else I'd ever written.

enjoy

ms

 

Once in a while, when writing the novel has ground to a halt, I read the local 'Free Ads' for recreation.  I have to be pretty desperate and  utterly insomniac to progress beyond the horse-ads, but both of these applied recently and I found myself leafing through the page after page of puppy-adverts, wondering why anyone could possibly imagine that the world needed yet another litter of German Shepherd pups where only the sire was hip-scored, or a litter of Golden Retrievers with no scores of any kind on either side.  There were seven of those, but even they paled into insignificance against the almost-full page of Rottweiler puppies.  If you're thinking of breeding Rotts, think again, trust me; the world doesn't need more dysfunctional dogs.  And then were was the litter of Weimeraner x Springer Spaniel in which 'parents and grandparents can be seen'.  That has to be a joke.  Next to the Border Collie X Springer, I'd be hard pushed to think of a less inviting combination; speed, lack of forethought and a tendency to hysteria.  Yum.

 

It was depressing enough to be amusing even before I found the ad for a working cocker dogs, 'Six months old, very fit and healthy, for sale through no fault of his own.  Needs lots of exercise.'  One can't help but feel that the 'no fault of his own' was related to the need for lots of exercise and it doesn't take too long to wonder why the purchasers didn't check out exactly what was required in terms of exercise before they splashed out on their pedigree mutt.

 

But then, it's not always easy to find out the truth.  If I had wanted to find out all the problems of my lovely Citroen Xsara before I got it (second hand, one careful veterinary owner, if that's not an oxymoron), I would hardly talk to a Citroen dealer, however honest they may appear.  If I had sense, I'd find a large number of people with Citroens, buy them a drink, or a bunch of flowers or whatever would work best and sit quietly while they sounded off at length on the hazards of Citroen ownership.

 

The problem when it comes to dogs is that most folk are aware of the 'nature versus nurture' theory and just because Mrs Jones down the road has a lunatic working cocker spaniel doesn't mean they're all nut cases, it may have more to do with the fact that Mrs J works in a solicitor's office from 7 am to 10 at night and thinks a five minute walk is enough to keep her beloved child substitute sane. (for the record, I rather like working cockers and don't think they're remotely mad – I met a lemon and white one recently and would have stolen it and brought it home if my dog sitters wouldn't have gone on strike as a result - but they do need a great deal of exercise.)

 

So the point is, nobody gives you the real deal about dog breeds.  I am here to change that: the unexpurgated version of what to expect.

 

We'll start at the beginning of the alphabet and work through, which means Akita's are first.

 

Akita's are Japanese fighting dogs.  Read that again.  These dogs were bred over generations specifically to fight other dogs and each other in a country where perfectionism is an art form.  They are big (61 – 71 cm) and heavy – the dogs can weigh as much as 50Kg.  I weigh 50 Kg.  I don't have sharp teeth.  Akita's do.  In my opinion, they are not and never have been, designed to fit into human society.

 

In this locale, they are owned by large men with small Y-chromosomes who have a point to prove about their capacity to produce testosterone.  Sadly, those same men tend to go out to work for long hours leaving the dog in the care of their significant other, who is usually endowed with 2 x-chromosomes and has rather less to prove.  This being the case, the Akita generally rules that side of the pack.  There may be sane ones somewhere but I have never met one. Indeed, the only time I saw a colleague get genuinely badly bitten, an Akita was responsible – and it was muzzled, until the owner grabbed for it as it went for the vet and the muzzle came off in mid-tangle.  That one no longer graces the earth but there are plenty more. 

 

 

 

The list of inherited diseases is not huge  - you can do a web search to find out more - but they are reputed to suffer from hip and elbow dysplasia, Hypothyroidism, various retinal atrophies and a number of immune diseases.  Practically, being large, deep-chested dogs, they may suffer from gastric torsion, aka bloat, if fed large, infrequent meals.  As with all the other fighting breeds, if you feed them raw meat and no bones, their own bones will dissolve but this isn't breed related, just a product of normal physiology – it's only that butch men with big dogs tend to think that feeding them raw steak must be A Good Thing.

 

And that's it.  People who have them, obviously love them, but then that's always the case.  Next month we'll look at Bassets, Bedlingtons and anything else I can fit in beginning with 'B', including Black Labradors.  Happy puppy searching.

Click to expand...
Im I right in thinking you are the author of the above Manda Scott.

By the way you sig is wrong.

Mahatma Gandi acutally said Quote"The greatness of a nation is the way it treats its peasants" he was a middle class lawyer and was made to changed the statment to"The greatness of a nation is how it treats its poor"

Well Im a Peasent and im poor and some might say Im an animal.
 
galty said:
Im I right in thinking you are the author of the above  Manda Scott.

By the way you sig is wrong.

Mahatma Gandi acutally said  Quote"The greatness of a nation is the way it treats its peasants" he was a middle class lawyer and was made to changed the statment to"The greatness of a nation is how it treats its poor"

Well Im a Peasent and im poor and some might say Im an animal.

Click to expand...

yep, you're right... I was a vet before I was an author, and for a while, was both.

and... I'll check up on the sig file. I rather like it, though.. so maybe I'll just remove the source of the quote. It's that or a Mary Oliver, or both if I can find a way to make it happen.

m
 
Eceni

Did read you`re artical, you made a point ,good or bad I cant say.

On the other hand Emma Milne called for the geocide of a breed of dog because she does not like Greyhound racing, make no mistake that is her reasoning.

There are people that would support her, very few I would think, but there are some and they like to think they are dog lovers but love another breed.

As a Vet and Author do you agree with this so called Cleb,???? who wanst to exterminate a breed of dog because of a "political" point.
 
galty said:
Eceni
Did read you`re artical, you made a point ,good or bad I cant say.

On the other hand Emma Milne called for the geocide of a breed of dog because she does not like Greyhound racing, make no mistake that is her reasoning.

There are people that would support her, very few I would think, but there are some and they like to think they are dog lovers but love another breed.

As a Vet and Author do you agree with this so called Cleb,???? who wanst to exterminate a breed of dog because of a "political" point.

Click to expand...

On the face of it, if she's advocating the culling of all greyhounds, then no, it doesn't sound reasonable, but OTOH, the numbers killed each year surplus to racing are painfully huge and always overwhelm the ability of the rehoming services to place them in 'forever homes'.

If I were going to be reincarnated as a dog, while not being the worst (see other threads, I'd be fairly scared of a life as an English Bulldog - suffocating on the contents of your own pharynx 24/7 can't be much fun) I'm not sure being a racing greyhound would be top of my list of ideal lives - at least it's short, but that's not necessarily good.

Is she suggesting that greyhound racing should reduce the numbers they breed in order to reduce the wastage at the other end? There might be some merit in that, I suppose, if she's worked out a way to do it?

I'll need to get the magazine and read the article and see what it says... will get back to you on that.

m
 
galty said:
Emma Milne the so called TV Vet published an artical in a Mag called Dogs Today calling for all Greyhounds to be Killed as they are a danger to other animals.

The Editor of this Mag has a blog spot where she has appoligised.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=74...032971793047288

Click to expand...
As the owner of a beautiful,gentle,loving retired Greyhound,i feel insensed.I am not a fool,and i am sure some Greyhounds do not make good pets,but that applies to all breeds.What a silly opinionated person,and such a good avertisement for vets,who are supposed to care about animals,Oh yes,i forgot,shes a telly vet!! :rant:
 
fewterer said:
http://www.emmathevet.co.uk/
Click to expand...

From which this:

I think I’d like to see a time where every rescue centre in the country wasn’t stuffed full of animals discarded by an industry using animals for human entertainment and also I’d like someone to actually read the article in the way it was intended instead of going off the deep end then telling all and sundry that I said something I absolutely did not.

so - will go out and read the article and try to understand what she was saying.

I'd like to see a time when every rescue centre in the country isn't stuffed full of animals discarded by the racing industry too, tho' - so she has a valid point there. The question is how we reach that point (in thoroughbred racing as much as gh racing, and the answers are as hard to find)

m
 
ive read an artical by her before i dont think its just greyhounds i dont think she likes purebred dogs of any breed to do more damage by writing such rubbish is such a shame for any breed but for the poor greyhound its terrible :angry:
 
it really annoys me when these tv vets pontificate about breeds they know nothing about.she really ought to have got her facts right about bullies before lecturing everyone about them.im not a bully breeder but i knew they suffer from interuterine inertia and that that is the main cause of c sections.i had a bullmastiff bitch years ago and i mated her to the top champion stud in the breed.i was told by the guy who owed the stud dog that they lie there and wont push its just how they are.when she started in labour i rang my vet and i took her down to him after a number of frustrated calls telling him she wasnt pushing and that they suffered from interuterine inertia and that she needed a pituitrin injection to get her going.he refused and said hed do a c section.i said she doesnt need a c section she needs a pituitrin injection.anyway cut a long story short he gave her one reluctantly) she had 3 pups the first one born dead(suffocated)he apologised to me after saying he didnt think she was in proper labour.id told him what the breeder of the stud dog had told me but he just wouldnt listen :angry: .he had been practising about 10 years the breeder had been in bullmastiffs for 40 odd years!some vets just think they know more about breeding than breeders but sorry in my experience unless theyre breeding themselves they dont.yes theyve read all the books but in dog breeding you cant beat practical experience. :thumbsup:
 
your right kris i know a lot of small breed dogs that do the very same thing and suffer from uterine inertia does that also mean you shouldnt breed them too :thumbsup:
 
Just going back to the subject of Emma Milne's response to the upset she caused by her article, she has written her response on her website in green font.

It is very difficult to read in light green writing. The gist of some of her response seems to be that of some of the emails and what she refers to as "hate mail" she's received, she says some of those writers haven't even read the article themselves.

Anyway, I purposely bought the Dogs Today magazine on Friday in order to read the article for myself, and have downloaded the Greyhound Rescue Trust's template letter.

I'll be sending it off tomorrow. I'm so cross, how dare she make such sweeping statements? Just how much research does she undertake before she writes her articles? Not much, I would think, judging by some of the stuff I've heard her come out with over the years.

It's just so dangerous though - people like her make lofty, high-handed statements based on very little, and it is accepted as truth by some sections of her readers, because she is a vet (and therefore presumably an expert on all matters under the sun).

How many of the general public will go and check out the truth about greyhounds for themselves after reading Emma Milnes' misinformed article? Sadly, not all will - they'll perhaps take it as gospel "because the vet said it was so".
 
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