I sit here in tears, crying for dogs that I have never met, have no emotional connection to or have anything to do with.  Or rather, I think I'm also crying for their families.  For what they have been through and in some ways I think 'There but for the grace of God go I'
'What is she talking about?' you may ask..........and ask you may for I will enlighten you but before I do I ask that you read without prejudice or switch off because 'it doesn't affect me'.


Today I looked at the website of DDA Watch, I read the 'in memorium' page.  My heart breaks when I hear their stories.  
One thing that strikes me when I look at their pictures is the variety of dogs that are classed as Pit Bull Type.  From muscular to lean, to tall to shorter, big head to smaller head.........there is no common ground and it seems that the definition of 'type' is very ambiguous.  But I didn't start writing to criticise the law, it's talked about everyday and everyone that knows me knows my view on the Dangerous Dogs Act - let me just say that from Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) I can give you a few different words which begin with BSL!


I read the 'in memorium' page and was reminded of the Jewish Holocaust in World War 2, now I know that a lot of people will be totally offended by that but believe you me, those people whose stories I read have lost a family member who is equally as important as a human.  


I think that there is a general opinion that anyone who owns a 'type' dog is a certain kind of person.  A person who uses their dog to make them feel good about themself,  who uses their dog to make people scared of them, someone who doesn't see their dog as part of their family.  Many people own 'type' dogs by accident and actually have no idea that their dog would be illegal.  They can be families with children, older couples - people like you and me.  Responsible people who train their dogs, socialise them and bring them up as well adjusted dogs.  All it takes is one accusation for their world to be turned upside down.


Please read the stories below, these are just two stories of the thousands of dogs who have lost their lives.  All I ask is for you to imagine if it were happening to you, regardless of the breeds of dogs involved, imagine if you were told that your dog didn't look right and it was torn away from your family and taken to a secret location and you had to fight for his life. 

Annie


In December 2006 Annie went to live with a young family in the south of England. She was a delight to her family, happy to be fussed by everyone and adored all she met. Her family felt honored to own such a dog with such an amazing temperament. For the next 18 months Annie lived happily with her family, without a care in the world but all that ended in April 2008. It was during a scheduled veterinary visit, to ensure the welfare of her dogs, that annie's and her owners world turned upsidedown.

On 15th April 2008 the vet stated to Annie's owner that Annie was a pit bull and that she had to contact the police. Scared and confused, she made contact with the local police who came and took photographs of Annie and signed an agreement stating she would not rehome any of the dogs . Later that same evening Annie's owner had a phone call from a police "breed id expert" Annies owner states he told her that he didn't hold out much hope for Annie.

On 20th April 2008 the breed ID expert visited Annie at her home. Annies owner said she was told that annie was a "time bomb waiting to go off" and that if she did not comply with him he would seize Annie, prosecute her owner and Annie would be killed. Faced with the option of Annie dying with strangers Annies owner asked if she could take her to the vets herself and permission was given.

Annie died at 1pm on 20th April 2008 having never shown any sign of aggression.


Red



Red was found stray and ownerless in January 2008 by South Gloucestershire Council. The council-employed dog warden, Celine Jacobs, said of him “This dog was only about one year old, he was highly social with other dogs, even when a Jack Russell tried to attack him, he showed no aggression. I could touch him all over and kiss his face and cuddle him with no hint of aggression, he was well mannered and well behaved, probably the nicest dog in the kennels at the time.”

Being ownerless when a breed identification expert considered Red to match the criteria of a pit bull type dog his destruction became a legal necessity despite his evident good nature.

“When we went in to the vets his tail was still wagging and he sat there licking my face and licking the tears of my face, he didn’t know I was going to have him killed. I held him all the time and he slipped away in my arms quietly, I held him even when he was dead and sobbed my heart out.” Said Ms. Jacobs, who afterwards described feeling “empty”, “broken” and “beaten” by the duty imposed on her.

Later she said, “Red was a lovely young dog and as far as I could see there was no aggression in him towards people or other dogs. I became a dog warden to save dogs lives not to kill dogs for no other reason than the shape of their bodies.”


I put the story about Red on here because I wanted to show how other people are affected also, people who have to implement a law that they don't agree with and didn't sign up to do when they originally began their job.  
I am one of those people, I worked in a kennel where siezed 'type' dogs were kept.  
I still think of those dogs now, over 15 years later.  I know they're all dead now but part of me wants to know if those dogs made it out of there alive, if they went back to their families before they died.  
Most of the dogs were Staffie crossbreeds, or mastiff cross or EBT x.  Most of them were friendly, kissy dogs.  Some were more aggressive, not helped by being in a kennel which was dark inside and outside, their only view was of a brick wall.  I was young then and scared of those dogs but  to the friendly dogs I gave as much time as I could.  I felt guilty every time I walked out of their kennel and everytime I went home.  The day I left for good I felt no weight lift from my shoulders, I carried it home with me.


All I have to remember them are the two dark, fuzzy pictures below.  My two favourite dogs, Judd and Scooby.  So if you recognise the two dogs below please let me know whether they were released.

Judd

Judd

Scooby

Please don't turn your back on these dogs.  They are, in the main, normal family dogs who apparently don't look right.


To see the stories of more dogs please visit http://www.ddawatch.co.uk/in_memory.html     The stories about Annie and Red were taken from this website.  I urge you to read about Tyler, his story and that of his family is heartbreaking.


For more information about The Dangerous Dogs Act visit http://www.endangereddogs.com/

The pictures of Judd and Scooby belong to me, please do not take them.

I'm sitting here looking at a sleeping puppy...........can life get any better???  My Kelly might not agree with that statement.........the puppy adores her and jumps on her to play at every opportunity!!
It's very funny to watch, he picks up a toy because he knows she can't resist......so they chew it together, then tug of war with it, then Kelly decides that she wants it all to herself so she tells him off.  He stops and looks at her for a few seconds, all the while she's chewing away on the toy, and then he launches himself at her and chews her ear to get a response out of her.  Then he starts biting any part of her that he can get to and running away and when she moves to follow him he runs back to the toy, picks it up and jumps on the chair to play with it.  If she doesn't chase after him he keeps on launching himself at her and when she ignores him he starts to cry all the while lying on the floor.....very much like a child having a tantrum!!

Mouse, on the other hand, can't stand him!!  He just barks at him but we've got to the stage where he can come in the living room on a lead when the puppy is in his play pen.  The play pen isn't strong enough to withstand a full scale barge if Mouse decided to so we're erring on the side of caution!!

Met a lovely couple and their two dogs today.  A Yorkshire Terrier and a low rider collie/spaniel/type x breed.  Millie was a little timid but is such a sweetheart.  She rolled over so I could rub her belly and she gave me kisses too.  Then after that went round to see Liquorice the cat and her mum in preparation for looking after her when her mum is away.  Such a lovely family and a lovely cat, am looking forward to caring for her again.

                                            Snorty, Snuffly Puppy!!

                                           Auntie Kelly!

                                             Mouse

Wedding and wittering!!

We went to a friends wedding yesterday, it was a lovely church wedding with a fab vicar.  Then back to a hotel for the reception.  Well it was a day of lookie likies, in total we shared the day with Helen Mirren, Danielle from Eastenders, a fat Tom Clarkson from Waterloo Road, Shirley from Eastenders and Amy Winehouse!! 

I am a proud mother today.....
It was the summer fair for the RSPCA in York today.  I'm not going to get into RSPCA bashing here, people who know me know that I don't think, as a national organisation, they do as much as they should.  The local branch is fantastic.  I am a volunteer puppy trainer/socialiser there.  I get to go, play with and train puppies and get fantastic puppy cuddles.  This branch, as well as taking in cruelty cases also tends to take the strays found in York.  They do not put to sleep for any other reason than the animal is ill or 'beyond repair' behaviourally or physically.  Behavioural issues are worked with and assessed by their voluntary, independant behaviourist Morag Heirs.

So we did a puppy demonstration, to show how the puppies can sit and be calm and turn around.  Wow these pups have grown!!  I last saw them two weeks ago and they've moved from the puppy block to the grown up dogs block.  Oh they are gorgeous littly staffy puppies.  Well they came out of their kennel and just went 'waaaah-people and other dogs....wahey!'  Bless their little hearts they came into the ring and just couldn't believe all the people and dogs there, they just wanted to cuddle and greet everyone.  Unfortunately sits and lie downs went a little out of the window and I just enjoyed showing them off.

I entered my staffy Kelly into the dog show, in the Best Rescue class.  There were about 14 other dogs in the class, all with stories to tell, and quite a few sad ones.   A lot of the dogs were picked up as stray dogs, as was my Kelly, but the hardships they've had makes me so glad that Kelly seems to be well rounded and doesn't seem to have been abused. 

It's such a hot day, and Kelly was a bit grumpy with other dogs, but oh so excited to see all the people.  A little toddler came up to her and put her arms around her neck.  I thank God that Kelly is good with children.  The mother didn't ask me if she was good with kids but just let her child come up to Kelly and start round her face.  Kids need to be taught to approach dogs in the correct way, and ask permission from the handler, if the child can't ask then the mother should. There are many good websites to give further information about children and dogs, information to teach children can be found here.

Anyway, the reason why I'm a pround Mummy.....Kelly came third in the Best Rescue class and won a lovely rosette, a pack of dentasticks and a key ring for me!!  Am so proud of her!

What to do if you find a stray dog

First of all well done for helping a stray dog. A dog running loose on the roads is a hazard both to itself and the drivers on the roads as it might cause an accident.

If you find a dog you are legally obliged to tell the authorities. The police no longer deal with stray dogs UNLESS the dog is a banned breed, is a danger to the public, is straying on school premises or is loose on the highway. However you should inform them in case the owner calls to tell them they've lost their dog.

You should first of all contact your local Dog Warden to inform them and arrange for them to collect the dog to take it to the stray kennels. Most dog wardens will only collect/catch the dog during office hours (Monday – Friday 9-5). Some councils have an out of hours kennels but you will need to take the dog there yourself. Alternatively you'd need to keep the dog safe overnight or the weekend and call the dog warden on Monday morning so that they can collect the dog. Make a note of what kennels the dog is being taken to.

You should also contact local vets, a lot of vets keep a lost and found book. Give them an accurate description of the dog that you have found.

You should also register the dog on Doglost (http://www.doglost.co.uk/), the dog's owner may have listed their missing dog on there.

What if you want to keep the stray dog??

You still need to do all of the above. You must keep the dog for at least 28 days before legally adopting the dog. The original owner of the dog can claim him back in that 28 days. If the dog goes to the stray kennels you can adopt the dog after 7 days.

It is also advisable to poster the local area where the dog was found, to make every effort to find the original owner.

IF YOU FIND A STRAY DOG AND DO NOT REPORT IT YOU ARE COMMITING AN OFFENCE UNDER THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT 1990