Zhou Xuanyao

There is no evidence. The RSPCA blame dog fightings "rings" or "syndicates" for every second case it is their favourite term, whether it is a cruelty case or a missing dog. Never any evidence, never any convictions.

So glad that he is ok pockets. Lets not be sad for the little mate because he isnt. He has no clue its all in the past. He just wants to relax, get a pat, wag the old tail ect and get on with it. I have known a dog before who lost a leg to cancer, he was my uncles Bull Terrier, and he lived a perfect life, I do not think Rocky even knew he was short a leg, and i'm sure Tyson will be the same.

An American Staffordshire Terrier is an American Pitbull Terrier. Anyone that says otherwise is wrong, it's not debatable. They did not come from a "similar" gene pool, they came from the same gene pool. AST's were bred from pedigree APBT's and nothing else. Also the AST has not been bred exclusively along AST lines for 75 years, its been bred that way for about 40 at best. The AKC re-opened its stud books to UKC APBT's as recently as 1973. Are they the same breed ? The answer to that is "sometimes". That is, an American Staffordshire Terrier is an American Pitbull Terrier, but an American Pitbull Terrier is not necessarily an American Staffordshire Terrier.

A tough situation boxerfamily. It sounds like you are on the right track good on you. I think you should keep the dog, like you say you have the other 3 kids to think about aswell, and now you will be getting your daughter the help she needs, she will be rid of this phobia for good and you all can be a "boxerfamily". I have known an adult in the past with this type of extreme, irrational fear of dogs, so I understand what you daughter must be like. Experts on phobias will have various methods and i'm sure they will be effective particularly because she is young.

60kg ???? There is no APBT anywhere even close to that. Even half that weight is near the upper end of the scale. My dog is about 18kg. Minimum weight in the UKC standard is about 13.5kg. I have personally not seen what I felt I could identify as a purebred APBT which looked like it weighed anymore than 33 - 34kg at most, and I have not seen a great deal that size. Pedigree AST's get that big alot more frequently than non AST's. My neighbour has one, crikey his a big unit. They seem to have lots like that in America. I don't know what they are but they sure are big. I think here in Australia the majority are 15 - 30kg. Certainly growing up around the St George area when I first learned of APBT's as a kid, the 15 - 20kg rednose was the most common APBT around, that is all I ever knew of APBT's for a long time.

Riot dog. "A strong interest in civic disorder" Much funnies. No kidding I did not know they did that good on them. Thats great I love it. Thanks for the pics

Absolutely not, perish the thought. I think its an outrage that people try and stand over pet owners and carry on about how they must de-sex their dogs Most people don't even know what they are talking about, they just repeat the same thing they heard some other guy say. My own dog is de-sexed. I had my reasons. I am not against de-sexing obviously in some circumstances, medical or otherwise, but I am strictly against the attitude of routine de-sexing.

At it again Abigail. I thought it was settled and you had learned something as of post number 145, obviously not.

My mums got a Golden Retriever was like that. Aside from bieng BIG, he is also dumb, overbearing, and very dominant to other males. He was like yours when he was younger, but he came across a few customers that were not going to take his crap so he soon learned. Unfortunatly, what he "learned" was infact not to back off, but to become aggressive. So he used to be a big oaf that bounded up to other dogs in a friendly way, now his a big oaf that bounds up to other dogs (large males) and tries to stand over them. So now he can't be taken anywhere offleash. It was his natural tempermant to kind of be this way, the dominance and not having a brain, but I think the aggressive edge was learned, and I think it was learned because he was allowed to intimidate other dogs when he was younger.

Yep, just a small detail

APBT's are relatively common in this particular town and are owned by people from all walks of life, from single guys like me, to young families, and older families. Most dogs here are much loved and well taken care of with very proud owners. I know what the western suburbs can be like I lived in Lalor Park for years. I'v got good knowledge of Mt Druitt and surrounding areas aswell. They are still the minority. I used to volunteer at SDH in St George, we had some fighting dogs come in there aswell, but again they were the small minority. Like I say, while a problem does exist, it is not directly linked to BSL it is seperate. Many breeds face similar issues with various pretend tough guys, and nearly all breeds are victim to some poor breeding practices. That is not a BSL issue, it is not an APBT issue, it is a dog issue.

Is the evidence there ? Do councils keep a record of how many dogs within a given breed statistic were ANKC registered ?

I dont think the ANKC will put up their argument in defense of the ANKC breeds only, because it wont work, and potentially could make things worse. The government is not going to listen to an argument that states that, for arguments sake, ANKC bred SBT's are different to byb SBT's. We need to have made alot more progress before the government would listen to something like that. They do not see the difference, they demonstrate that in the registration laws, reporting and identification laws, lack of any laws with respect to breed and pedigree regarding byb's, petshops, puppy farms, ect. "Too hard basket", that argument is pushing s up hill. The ANKC needs to continue a similar stance to what they have taken to date, except with a big load voice instead of a whisper.

Its not about that. Like I keep saying, folks do not seem to get it. APBT's are probably involved in their fair share of attacks, nothing more nothing less. BSL did not come in because of APBT attacks, nor has it been added to because of APBT attacks. It all comes back to ignorance in the government, a government that doesn't have the answers, looking for a scape goat to appease the public, and a public which has been brainwashed by the government and the media. If all Pitbulls disappeared tomorrow, the reports of attacks involving Pitbulls would continue just the same, would not make a scrap of difference. Re their breeding, a very important issue, but not one which is directly related to BSL in this country.

Holland put BSL behind them a few years ago, I dont think Sweden ever had BSL, if they did its long gone. I also understand Italy has dropped BSL. I know they have more powers in Sweden than we do here re banning people from owning dogs, early intervention, ect but unfortunately alot of it is written in Swedish so I lack details.

BSL will be overturned, it is logical progression. It is a pattern we have seen in foreign countries who have been there, done that and dropped BSL. The world wide momentum is moving away from BSL. Australia ofcourse is behind but we will catch on. We have done it, its not working. They will continue to make fools of themselves, nothing will change, they will be under pressure, the public will start asking why their laws are not working, why are other countries moving on, ect We have a big recent win with the RSPCA being back on side. The ANKC has always opposed BSL, but now that it seems atleast one of their breeds is threatened they hopefully will man up for us aswell and be a little more vocal. The majority of major welfare organizations here and overseas are speaking out against BSL. I think QLD has been showing signs of conceding failure for years, in my opinion NSW is showing signs of weakness now aswell. What we need is people to stay tough, stay resolute, keep loving your dogs and keep fighting until this is over.

I don't know, but i'd imagine that you might find examples of such things in countries which are more socially and politically advanced than we are, places like Holland, Sweden, and Canada.

Wow great photos everyone much funnies

That may be true, but the way SBT's are beginning to be represented in stats and the media has little to do with incidents involving actual SBT's, thats why their breeding is an important but separate issue. As with Pitbulls, if the breed disappeared tomorrow, reports of attacks involving alleged Pitbulls would continue at the same rate, guaranteed. edited for clarity

Exactly, like you say, and like I have been saying for years, people really need to keep their wits about them continue to work on facts, because i'v seen dog people, APBT supporters, get brainwashed over time, I have seen a gradual change in attitude from people you would not expect. The government and media bullshit machine is firing on 13 cylinders and its catching people napping and sweeping them away. And yes now the SBT is coming into focus. I don't think we need to be looking at the dogs and the breeders. There is nothing wrong with the temperament of the vast majority of these dogs. Focusing on that is missing the point. This is based on hype, bias, ignorance, and misinformation, NOT on reality, so looking at how to better breed the dogs has nothing to do with it. Bad breeders are are a plague which affect everyone and every breed, its always an issue that needs attention but it is not directly related to any of this.

Thats right, they are mis identified ATLEAST 90% of the time. Someone presents at the vet or medical centre, they say the incident involved a "Pitbull", or "Staffy" and then thats it there it is, facts are unimportant, chalk another one up for those breeds. That is what is in their psyche, that is what they are going to say. Not only that, when its left upto the council to determine breed, that is what is in their psyche and on their agenda, that is what they are going to put down. Last one I saw, a womens Papillion was attacked down the beach by Pointer type x breed, the woman was rushing away with the dog in her hands telling everyone her dog was attacked by a Pitbull.

QLD councils have been doing it for a few years now since they moved on from Pitbulls. Reports I have seen indicate few or no attacks by Pitbulls, and NO attacks from Bull Arabs, even though they are one of the most common breeds. These days they are defaulting to the poor Staffy for everything. NSW is coming into a stage were they know they have lost the Pitbull fight, but they will pretend they have won by being seen to move on and starting to report high bite stats in some other breed. I think a pattern of Staffy related high bite statistics and media reports in this state has already begun, and I think we will see an increase over the next year or so.

Well you agree she is ignorant of dogs, and yet she insists she knows what she is talking about. She is ignorant of Staffies, but she has heard a story of some guy that was bitten by one, so her logic follows, that all Staffies are like that. Like I say, I guarantee if that is how she comes to one conclusion, in this case about Staffies, then its beyond any reasonable doubt as far as i'm concerned that she follows similar procedure to come to many others on an ongoing basis.

Most of those problems are reflected here aswell. I hope they can work on improving peoples attitudes toward rescue dogs.