BRITAIN'S UNWANTED PETS - PANORAMA-BBC One, Monday 2nd August, 8.30 pm

meerkat2007

EmptyPockets wrote: »

It's not right. Some people can be so cruel and heartless, and I'd like to wring their bl**dy necks.

EP, that would be too good for them :mad:

hethmar

Just today, literally, today - Ive had 3 calls so far from people wanting to get rid of staffies. They always come out with some nonsense about why - its amazing how many people have to move to a smaller property where no dogs allowed - and this last one has just asked if we would pay for the 5 year old dog to be put to sleep. Can you imagine?

Ive given her a lot of numbers of rescues who MAY be able to help but its doubtful. And you know what, at the end she tells me, as I hear yapping in the background, they have just got another staffie puppy "to grow up with the baby".

Im going to have a cup of coffee and a head ache tab.

foreign_correspondent

hethmar wrote: »

Well I just steeled myself to watch that clip and to be honest, poor bloody Brandy is going to be put down after a few second test where they walk him up to another dog. Brandy goes stiff and pulls on the lead and is deemed too aggressive to live. Well, Im sorry but I think my 2.5 legged Jack Russell would do exactly the same thing in the same circs. Surely they should give a few more tests before they kill dogs.

Bloody hell - I have just watched that - that dog is introduced to a new dog which is bigger than him and entire, in a strange environment and on lead - with a handler who he is not used to - he goes up to greet the other dog ok, has a sniff and then growls.. He doesn't lunge, doesn't snap, but growls.. and they say he is dangerous to other dogs so will be put to sleep??

Unless that is heavily edited, it does not show anything which makes me think he is dangerous - he may never be the greatest fan of other dogs, but even if that is the case, lots of people have dogs that arent that keen on others.

Badger used to growl and even snap occasionally at bigger dogs when I first had her (never made contact, she was just trying to warn them off as she was intimidated) - she wasnt dangerous, just new, unsure, and unused to other dogs!

hethmar

They are looking for the weakest excuse to put them down because they know they have limited space and few adopters.
Ralphie takes a dislike to the odd dog, no reason that we can fathom and up will go his hackles and he leans towards them as you pass. He is even worse on lead when people drag a big dog up to him on a lead, doing the ooing and arring cos he is wearing his prosthetic feet. Of course, he is nervous the big dog will clump on him and hurt him so we get all the noise again and people look shocked. But its a defence mechanism for him.

elsien

It's got to be lack of space. Mutt came through Battersea 10 years ago, and is not good with other dogs. Looks like if she was taken in now, she'd have been put down, but she's manageable if you're careful. They bottled it not showing them being pts though, unlike the vet - terrible job for him to have to do.
RSPCA turning dogs away from being handed in by owners- asking for dogs to be dumped on the street if you ask me which is going to cause more problems in the long run.
Staffies can be such great dogs as well.

Person_one

hethmar wrote: »

Well I just steeled myself to watch that clip and to be honest, poor bloody Brandy is going to be put down after a few second test where they walk him up to another dog. Brandy goes stiff and pulls on the lead and is deemed too aggressive to live. Well, Im sorry but I think my 2.5 legged Jack Russell would do exactly the same thing in the same circs. Surely they should give a few more tests before they kill dogs.

I was a bit shocked too, my stupid lovely dog always pulls towards others because he's the friendliest dog I've ever known and is excited at the thought of meeting and playing with them!

If there isn't room and that's why they're being put down, I'd be happier if they admitted that. I wouldn't judge them it would just make me even sadder.

simontheiceman

!!!!!! it; I have my weekly trip to the Borough kennels tomorrow. I may well get away without having to euthanase a single resident, and recently there have been fewer to kill. The problem lies with the complete lack of responsibility shown by a large number of dog owners. I'd love to say it was a very few, but with the kind of people I work with its commonplace. I see vast numbers of "serial puppy owners" who never manage to get a dog past a year of age. Once the "cute" has worn off they want a new one, sign the older dog over to the kennels and go and get one. What gets me is that these people are all on benifits (misspelling deliberate) and can manage to find £300 for a new Staffie cross but not enough love to keep it for more than a year. A good number go on to perhaps keep a !!!!! a bit longer to see if they can make some money from breeding, but as I am sure you are all aware there is sod all profit in dog breeding and a lot of graft (they work this out a bit late; unfortunately). Since when did a Staffie cross puppy cost more than £50 anyway? We need full traceability and soon. I know the responsible will hate it but thats just tough - we have to do somehting mroe than we are doing right now. The Dangerous dogs act needs action and that WILL happen so lets get this sorted as well.

Sagz_2

simontheiceman wrote: »

We need full traceability and soon. I know the responsible will hate it but thats just tough - we have to do somehting more than we are doing right now. The Dangerous dogs act needs action and that WILL happen so lets get this sorted as well.

:T Totally agree with you - until we can identify a dogs owner what hope do we have of making them responsible.

tcr_3

That was quite sobering.

Honestly don't know what the solution is to the unwanted SBT problem. Can't see a licensing scheme for owners/breeders being complied with. Perhaps vets need to insist on routinely neutering these dogs & over time reduce the number of SBT's coming into the system.

Doesn't do much for dogs like Brandy though. Aggressive my backside ... Brandy was just curious about the other dog, didn't bark, didn't lunge at the other dog at all. Poor thing. And I felt sorry for the vet too, he was obviously upset about putting these dogs down, I don't envy him at all.

Grim, innit. We'd take one if we could, but we've got two rescue cats and now a rescue dog, can't take any more on for quite a few years yet.

Fang_3

Whatever anyone else may think, those people work with these dogs day in and day out and know what the signs of aggression are better than anyone here.