Rescue centers.

[lurcherman]

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So in the light of another dog attack i want to get your views on rescue centers? So i will put this out there i read a post on another site saying cull most dogs in centers and start again, the more i think about it would it be that bad? The bad dogs must not slip through the net into the homes of familys with little or no experience but keeping in mind rock steady trustworthy dogs to be rehomed but into the right homes so lets say for now 35 or 40 % to be culled.. The biggest sad thing is a dog that shows big aggression must not be saved by some loony tree hugger.

 

[hanneroon]

crikey thats a bit harsh lurcherman!

what really needs to happen is stop the backyard breeding of dogs for profit by idiots. This would reduce the number of dogs available in the country, and thereby reduce the number given over to rescues....

Rescues are under tremendous financial pressure to rehome dogs, this case shows two things: 1, how hard it is to gauge the temperament of a dog, and 2, the lack of thought OWNERS have when choosing and caring for a dog.

This most recent case is very very sad, but it is the people in this situation that are at fault.....

Having a 'cull' and 'starting again' actually doesn't address the heart of the problem, "bad dogs"? you mean any dog thats been neglected and not trained well deserves to be culled??? really? If a dog has never bitten anyone, how are you meant to know its a "bad" dog?

i know you are only being controversial to start a debate but this makes you sound like a prime candidate for a job at the rspca... bolt guns at the ready eh?

 

[lurcherman]

Hanneroon calm down i said i read it on another site hahaha, but there are dogs in our world that shouldnt be breathing, i didnt start this to be controversial, but rescues are over run by dogs that are a danger to whoever owns them. i agree with ur point about in it for a minute breeders, the rescue center i got my brindle from hadnt a clue but luckily my brindle is sound,'the centers are full for more than one reason thow.

 

[StAlbansDogs]

Working for an animal charity myself and also as a professional dog trainer I am a little bewildered why people would even mention "culling" rescue centre dogs. Dogs do not attack people for no reason, although very tragic an innocent girl died there must be an under lying issue as to why it did. Rescue charities do a lot of assessments prior to re-homing and are decisions are made based on their situation, living conditions and experience. Breeding should be controlled and conditions monitored. Dog owners should take more responsibility of their pets, as people make dogs aggressive. Without proper socialisation or training any dog can be dangerous. What would having a cull actually achieve other than putting to sleep innocent dogs. Councils are crying out for foster carers for children and babies that have been taken into care, does this mean we should suggest a cull because a small percentage of the children in care could turn into murderers?

 

[lurcherman]

Thats a great idea st albans lets cull the worst children too lol .most of your points agree with but not all dogs are innocent, i do think we get bad dogs from the start, i will never keep a biter it got no place in my life or home, some of you are too soft.

 

[hanneroon]

oh come on....don't try and pretend you aren't being controversial. Just cos you got the idea from someone else doesn't mean you are not posting it as your opinion here, You own your words! i came to this thread after you suggested, to a fairly upset man, who was returning his wifes dog to a rescue, that he join this thread, seems you were just being unkind as far as i could tell.... basically telling him you thought the dog ought to be put down... nice.

rescue centres are full, because there are a lot of stupid humans out there, not bad dogs,

no-one would disagree that a dog who showed severe aggression to humans and had caused injury, should be pts, but how are you going to be able to judge a dogs future actions if its not shown that behaviour before...

your comments about innocence and bad dogs, are just bizarre to me, dogs are instinctive creatures, they learn their bad or good behaviour as a result of their experiences, Are you seriously suggesting you get nasty puppies?

Dogs become "bad" because some crappy breeder sells their dogs to people who don't have the wit to care for them properly, and don't seek help when problems develop. Rescue centres are not overrun with dogs "that are a danger to whoever owns them", they are overrun with dogs who's owners couldn't cope for a whole host of reasons.

my friends dog got knocked out by a toddler weilding a large lump of wood, he's now very nervous and growly around little kids, should we cull him? are his owners being soft?

maybe i'm being a little sensitive, as my dog would probably be on your hitlist, he's very reactive around strange dogs when he is on a lead. He's never bitten anyone/thing and i keep him under control. He is far from being a "good" dog, but there is no evil in him, he is a result of his poor upbringing (owned by two crappy breeders); he has been attacked by strange dogs twice since i've had him, (to which he didn't fight back, just squealed) which hasn't helped matters. Whatever the reasons tho, he is MY RESPONSIBILITY now, his actions are a result of my actions...

Maybe you think i'm being soft, well i think you are too harsh, i'm very glad that your dogs turned out well, seeing as their other option is death.....

 

[chelynnah]

ok, well I'm probably going to end up being a bit controversial here then, but this is something I've been thinking about for a long time. I don't think I actually agree with 'no kill' shelters (I can hear the gasp and angry 'buts' starting already, but please hear me out).

For example - Dogs Trust 'We never put a healthy dog down'. What's the definition of healthy? Mentally healthy, physically healthy? And if a dog has a reason that he/she isn't rehomed within a reasonable amount of time, how healthy is it mentally for that dog to live out the rest of it's years in a kennel. Wouldn't it actually be more humane to give that dog a dignified death than living years in what is essentially a jail cell. How can that be a happy existence.

I'm not advocating kill shelters where dogs are put into a room and gassed, but I do think that there does need to be some middle ground. While the dogs that are healthy and living years with that rescue are there, they are taking up the space of other dogs that might have a good chance of being rehomed.

I think a lot more work needs to be done at rescue level and within some rescues. Some so-called rescues aren't any such thing officially. Just a few people who set themselves up as a rescue with no accountability. Some dogs are literally in the 'system' for a couple of days. That's NO amount of time to evaluate a dog properly, and even at that, a dog cannot be truly evaluated in a kennel environment. It's best evaluated for suitability for a home environment from within a home environment.

Lots of issues going on here, and not necessarily one person/issue to blame.

And while I agree dogs don't go off for no reason, we can't always know what that reason was - because it may not be something we ourselves can see or rationalise. It could be medical, historical, anything really. There could have been nothing 'seemingly' wrong with the previous interaction, but something in the dog's head could still have set it off.

Anyway, just a bit of a hornets nest to raise up and walk away

 

[lurcherman]

hehehe nice to see some people posting for once.