Steve

Let me tell you why (although I very much doubt you will understand). I have worked my arse of for the last 8 years to: 1) rescue greyhounds in an ethical manner as part of GSN - with all the bells & whistles you have been advised about from various people on here but igniored - legalities, insurance, temp testing, appropriate rehoming, financial and other resources and the rest 2) Spent a lot of time this year cleaning up the mess of a good hearted person who jumped in the deep end and started rescuing greyhounds without any forethought, experience or money - does this sound familiar? To rescue from a so called rescuer is suxh a bloody waste of valualble time, because you know that once you have dug them out of the shit, they will do it all over again. Re rescuing starving flea ridden dogs which have also become aggressive due to starvation is heartbreaking. There are things worse than death - I have seen those things. 3) over the last 6 years have been involved in rescuing form hoarders - again good hearted people without the means to support what can only be called an addiction. And finally - I live in the same council as you, and I have spent years ensuring that not only the rangers, but as many residents as possible, see what wonderful animals greyhounds are - and what lovely pets they make. You have undone some of this by being subject to a council complaint, and yes that does make me angry.

There is a Maremma owner around the outer west of Sydney who tells us he is having a nightmare with the RSPCA regarding the grooming of his working Maremma dogs. They are bred to be able to live in a paddock and soak in water troughs and dams and roll in mud with out needing to be groomed.

Hey it was a learning experience and one I wont make again. I never thought in my mind that the neighbors would kick up a stink. Although I am a live and let live type person but hey they started it so they will be getting nice visits from the council because I am tired of listening to their dog bark all day. So they either shut their dog up or they deal with the rangers. How they can complain about dogs that never barked, we not outside unless supervised and only to play and potty is beyond me but we will see how they like the rangers knocking on their door because their dog is a small yappy dog that barks all day Horrible.

Please don't generalise Steve, a lot of breed clubs do their very best for their members. Even though we are a minority breed we run a very successful club and have a large membership. Not all breed clubs are the same, the fact that you had a negative experience with one club doesn't give you the right to tar all clubs with the same brush. Miranda Im not going to get into the crap here because I dont think its in the best interests of purebred dogs but my experience with breed clubs is not just about the ones I have been a member of and I get why some people don't have a great experience with them generally.

I think anyone can join a breed club as long as they demonstrate good dog ownership & abide by club rules (and the rules of any club they are affiliated with I guess?) I'd say what stops them is a sense that the pure bred dog world spins in a different hemisphere that they know nothing about. And by feeling that the pure bred dog world has nothing to offer them. I know it's probably fantasy, but I really think encouraging people to participate & feel welcome with cross bred dogs in other ways than just competitive arenas such as neuter class & competitive dog sports would open up a whole new way of educating the average Jo dog owner to better the way they choose, train, groom, manage their dogs, Yes they might have a cross breed today, but by encouraging participation through the pure bred fraternity , tomorrow they are more likely to choose & support the pure bred. By keeping them at arms length that is exactly where the vast majority of dog owners will stay. I had a couple of goes at being in a breed club - even though I believe they are necessary Id rather do most other things than ever go there again. Big politics and its where you see some of the worst of the dog world. - not for me.

ANKC breeds clubs are extremely unlikely to embrace cross breeds or their owners as members. Their general focus is on the breed survival and the show ring. Yes it is but unless they start looking at ways to increase interest in their registered pure bred dogs it won't be long before they don't have to worry about it at all. Especially in a breed like Maltese where there is actually massive popularity in the type of dog I just see a huge opportunity to run an associate membership where to join the dog must be chipped/desexed & council registered. Then have fun little 'shows' a couple of time a year along side regular shows where they can just have classes like best groomed, best child/dog, basic elimination obedience contest with sit, drop, stay where last dog standing wins, best trick etc.....all the while the pedigree breeders have a captive audience to show off their dogs too . If jo public felt like part of it I just about guarantee that the demand for ANKC purebred Maltese would increase. It won't happen overnight but neither will just pushing the same old barrow. What better way to fight fire with fire. Reel in all those owners with pet shop bought dogs and gently encourage them towards registered breeders. Oh well dreams are free! Sounds good but in reality the breed clubs are in existence to advise the ANKC about breed specific issues etc regarding registration and the standards of their breed and to deal with things associated with showing their breed. .The various state bodies have associate registers to enable dogs without pedigrees to participate but it would make a major change of culture for a bred club to accept cross bred dogs and their owners as members. Yeah I know. It just seems such a shame that with just a few hundred ANKC registered dogs annually that is a very small group to draw membership from, where in reality there are 10's of thousands of 'maltese type' owners out theer that would probably jump at the chance to feel included and venture out with their much loved dogs. I am by no means putting these ideas forward as promoting the cross breeds, quite the opposite. Reel them in to promote the pure breeds. I would love to hear of other innovative, fresh, inclusive ideas because with memberships, entries, clubs, registrations dwindling unless someone comes up with something they're doomed. Pushing the same old agenda is clearly not working for purebreed dogs everywhere. I'll make the analogy to what's happened with the sport of cricket. They took a look at the dwindling interest in a sport lacking relevance to todays faster pace here & now society and made changes that turned the sport on it's head, but also ensured enduring interest & popularity by making it more interesting & accessible. As much as it isnt the popular politically correct suggestion for a solution we need more people breeding more of them. There isnt much point in the club surviving if there isnt anyone who can maintain the defined purpose of the club's goals and cross bred owners are not going to do much to determine what is best for the breed.

299 in 2011 throughout Australia

Geez if we are going to be called to answer for things we did decades ago few of us would have a clean slate .How does her methid of making money years ago have anything to do with what is going on with the horses? Its pathetic.

ANKC breeds clubs are extremely unlikely to embrace cross breeds or their owners as members. Their general focus is on the breed survival and the show ring. Yes it is but unless they start looking at ways to increase interest in their registered pure bred dogs it won't be long before they don't have to worry about it at all. Especially in a breed like Maltese where there is actually massive popularity in the type of dog I just see a huge opportunity to run an associate membership where to join the dog must be chipped/desexed & council registered. Then have fun little 'shows' a couple of time a year along side regular shows where they can just have classes like best groomed, best child/dog, basic elimination obedience contest with sit, drop, stay where last dog standing wins, best trick etc.....all the while the pedigree breeders have a captive audience to show off their dogs too . If jo public felt like part of it I just about guarantee that the demand for ANKC purebred Maltese would increase. It won't happen overnight but neither will just pushing the same old barrow. What better way to fight fire with fire. Reel in all those owners with pet shop bought dogs and gently encourage them towards registered breeders. Oh well dreams are free! Sounds good but in reality the breed clubs are in existence to advise the ANKC about breed specific issues etc regarding registration and the standards of their breed and to deal with things associated with showing their breed. .The various state bodies have associate registers to enable dogs without pedigrees to participate but it would make a major change of culture for a bred club to accept cross bred dogs and their owners as members.

We do have a way to separate them thats why we had no issues with the cat but we will continue to help the breed and we will continue to rescue when we get moved and settled. Life threw a curveball we dealt with it and kept the dogs safe. We had networked before getting the dogs so we did have support from other rescues and one has made the decision to help us and we are very grateful for that. This is a good rescue that didnt feel the need ot down us to make them feel better about themselves. We would never not do right by the dogs. Give it a break .Its easy to pass it off as them downing you to make themselves feel better it means you dont have to acknowledge your own errors or learn from them.

Its difficult to believe that it isn't going to get to a place where they have no choice but to inspect. The AAPDB are doing yearly audits and everyone else has to have someone look at their property to allow permission to legally breed dogs However, if they start coming to a person's property and find they have more dogs than they have approval for from council they will need well thought out policies and procedures in place and members need to know potential outcomes. Last survey we did showed 72% of breeders who had more numbers than their council knew about

why would you want to be excused for posting? Of course its sad that they are closing.

ANKC breeds clubs are extremely unlikely to embrace cross breeds or their owners as members. Their general focus is on the breed survival and the show ring.

There were only 299 ANKC registered maltese bred australia wide last year - of them less than half would have main register papers If someone isnt working out some strategy to ensure survival of the breeds its time they woke up. There are breed clubs shutting down all over the place.

last Maltese Club in Australia will be folding in early 2013, due to the lack of membership.

Why cant they shred them - why use security bins? This is a pretty big issue as when people were worried about what might go wrong with their ID documents everyone was assured security measures were top notch . Now we are told scanned licences are left in boxes on the floor of the office . This was discovered because of the event that was held onthe day but it begs the question whether the documents have been disposed of this way all along and they simply havent been caught out.

No one wants you to fail - its ridiculous to even consider that is what has occurred here. Before you move do your homework and know before you get there what you need to do to be legal and cover your bases .Thats not advice designed to make it hard for you or see you be anything other than successful Its because I work with this stuff every day and many problems can be headed off where you dont get the kind of stress you are feeling now and where you and the dogs can live happily ever after. You learned quickly and the hard way that its not as easy as it sounds be grateful for that and use it to learn. Some people can be doing what they think is good longer than you did and get knocked down when there is more dogs in the mix. Good intentions are only part of the mix and there is more at stake than just you and the dogs you are in contact with - many people have done a lot of hard work to make private rescue a viable place for people to shop for a dog and part of it is a big picture issue if you really are focused on what is best for the dogs.

it does appear to be legit based on who originally posted it on oz show

Over before you start - problem with neighbours already - did you ever get the council approval for numbers as advised?

What

Pebbles common sense and logic are long gone. There feels like there's an element in the whole thing where they are not really helping their members much. Its really great that Vicdogs members have the exemption and dont need the permit but there is still a lot they do have to do which never seems to be really covered This part in that letter seems to suggest that Vicdogs members dont need to comply with this stuff if they have 9 or less fertile bitches - but thats not true. Non DOGS Victoria dog owners who house more than two fertile bitches on their property are compelled by law to register as a Domestic Animal Businessand that requires them to comply with the Code of Practice for Breeding and Rearing Establishments, covering issues such as staff numbers, animal husbandry, microchipping, vaccination, health care, sale of puppies, hygiene, exercise,construction and size of animal housing, record keeping etc. Their members could also be forgiven for believing they can have this many dogs because they are Vicdogs without council approval - also not true. The other question of course is where exactly is the cut off point - can members ever expect support and the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty - can members ever expect them to help them when they are accused of something they didnt do or is it about down to only being about how it looks?

Well considering the majority of these"breeding premises" are lounge rooms because they have 10 or less fertile dogs and they cant know who is breeding more than shows up on their stud registry - and they are responsible for ensuring their members comply with ALL the laws and regs not just those pertaining to their membership if they did inspections and found that most of their members are breaking council laws and dont have a DA and approvals for keeping their dogs past the count of two it sure will be interesting to see how many they left standing.

Yeah well I think we should all remember that the case they talk about and say has made them look bad and guilty as charged hasn't seen any charges and the accusations are coming from people who are known to tell lies and break the law. Why would they have felt they needed to inspect or monitor this particular breeder? She rarely had a bloody litter and was well known and well respected for decades with the quality of her dogs. All well and good to tell members they will pick up their monitoring process but linking that case is rather hard when no one has been found guilty or even suspected enough of being guilty to have charges laid. What of the people who have come in to get the exemptions who don't ever register a litter because they are breeding unregistered dogs,cross bred dogs and working dogs? How will they spot them and monitor them? What are they going to do about members who own 8 dogs and live in a council area where they are only allowed 2 ? Smoke and mirrors.

WTF, please excuse my French but WHY would they insist on the horses being "disposed of" at all, not to mention before a trial can take place?? And who pays for the charges now that they have to keep them? Why cant they just go home?

Would that really be in her best interests though? Maybe - depends how its done. Sooner or later the system has to be challenged and its unlikely to happen via the courts. Its how politicians play the game.