Linda K

saw the signs out yesterday, hope she is found soon

what I was meaning is that companion animal is a PETA term - they are pets The more people PETA get using their terminology, the more insidiously their doctrine starts to creep in

first of all, would drop the PETA line in calling the companion animals, they are pets. Rant over. I think generally though, most people that get a horse don;t go in blindly like they might with a dog, the kid may have done riding lessons, or go and get them once they have the horse, do the whole pony club thing and generally learn how to behave around horses, whereas with dogs, as has already been said, you can have this interaction just from walking down the street or on a park - a horse is not generally going to come bursting up to you in a park, and then lunge and attack/ I also disagree with the comment about cats getting away with more too - if the owner is responsible, then the cats are either indoor only, or in enclosures, and not wandering around free, and they also are not likely to run up and attack.

Possibly because it shows that what the gov is doing was purely knee jerk and would not have prevented this, which would be very much egg on face for them, and the same reason that dog attacks where it is not a dog that fits the press ideal (ie "pit bull"), gets very little press. This dog being a mastiff cross I think I heard mentioned once, and then was buried under all Big Teds trumpeting about how his new laws were the answer to everything. As the Herald Sun is very much a lib friendly paper, I don't think they would be about to publish anything to make the Libs look bad. Our ranger agreed that the speed they put this through, and the very broad "standard" meant anything that ranged in look from a boxer to a Staffy or anything in-between could be made to fit the standard if so desired.

interestingly enough, talking to our council ranger today (not Brimbank), who said that under the new guides, the dog that did this would not be classed as a restricted breed as it was too big and too fat to fit the standard. She also said that she will be busy for the next 6 months following up all the calls they have gotten for dogs dobbed in within their area, but most of the calls they have done have involved dogs which hadn't been registerd at all, let alone as an attempt to disguise the breed, housed in appalling conditions (sometimes kept under the home or in a cage all the time, underweight to the point of emaciation, and very poorly socialised, has had dogs thrown over the fence at them and the owners then drive off etc, and that when they do these calls, they need to go with warrant and police officer, as they have been threatened - in our area a lot of the people who have these dogs are involved in drugs or other things, so not the best type to have angry at you - she could count on one hand the no she has gone to that have been well kept and well socialised, that are loved family members, as those are not the ones she has been getting the call about. The good thing is that she also said they do have a followup protocol they use to weed out vexacious complaints, so they are not acting purely on the basis of a call without any previous attempts at problem notification. She also said that in the Ayen case, the actual owner of the dog, the 31 year old, fled the state after retrieving the dog and returning it back to his home, fled, leaving his elderly father to front the charges. So wonder what bearing that will have if he is not the actual dog owner, but the one left holding the bag.

common sense here, but Baillieu won't take any notice, he's too busy onto the microchips and hounding breeders, in his mind, he has solved the dangerous dog thing, and now he he is onto the next thing, bandaiding everywhere he goes

another who thinks the comment under your name is a bit OTT - I don't like people telling me what I MUST do - I am more than happy to buy purebreds, as I know what I am getting then rather than a genetic and behavioural lucky dip, and as a breeder of purebred cats, I also encourage buying from reputable breeders, both of dogs and cats. It is not my doing that so may animals end up in shelters, and I refuse to accept any guilt for that by where I choose to buy mine from. I also don;t have an issue with advertising on Gumtree or the like, it is a good means to advertise Australia wide, and shows buyers a choice from buying from petshops / BYB which may be the only places they assume they can get them

just the thing (NOT), reputable breeders need at a time when our gov here is already forming its knee jerk policies. Sadly people like this make me so for the poor animals involved, who did not have a choice and have had little or no love or interaction in their lives, just being kept in appalling conditions under misguided and damaging intentions. No pity at all for these people though

exactly, and all those heralding how wonderful this is, and how fantastically progressive Victoria is (OMFG are they serious ) this is the start of the end of the dog and cat breeding hobby farmers, you will only get the designer breeds now foisted on you by the mills. And don't think because you are in another state you are immune, wait to see the other states fall in line with Vic once they too become Lib states again

they had an interview with a channel 9 journo on the ABC this morning about the attack - the journo said that the dog owner had 2 staffies, one of which he came home to find 1 mauled & he thought dead, felt a pulse, rushed him to the vet but too late. The owner claimed the 3 dogs next door were either pit bull or pit bull X, he had had issues with the dogs before, and had repeatedly asked the neighbour to address the fencing on his side by putting a barrier next to the fence as the dogs were gnawing at the wood and trying to get through the fence. Apparently these dogs are now in custody of Darebin council, and may or may not be returned to the owner.

congrats, and strongly suggest though if you have to make any changes around the home, do it well in advance of bubs arrival, so she does not associate these changes with the baby

about the same,but guess it depends on whether they are going to bump up the price with GST etc - at least DPI will have it cheaper!!!!

Ohio is apparently one of 4 states that has no restriction on this type of thing, they hold exotic animal auctions, and people do not have any requirement to have a permit or licence to keep them, there are no guidelines, property inspections etc. Would be nice f this changed, but not holding my breath

and only $6800 USD

love meerkats, they are always on my must see list anytime we are at the zoo, at least that will be a great distraction for the kids at the hospital

was also going to recommend Scott Kelby books - he makes it simple to understand what he is on about, and plenty of screen shots to help you along the way.

RIP poor little puppy

View PostMrs Rusty Bucket, on 03 October 2011 - 10:20 PM, said: Zara under the current victorian law I cannot bring my dog from SA for training seminars, because she has a short coat and musclely build and is sometimes mistaken for a "staffy cross". She is registered in SA, but not Victoria and I would have difficulty registering her in Victoria because she is a cross breed, and I don't live in Victoria. That's your own fault, you are a victim of your own choices, if you'd chosen one of the others of hundreds of breeds available to you, instead of a derivative of a "bull" breed you wouldn't have this restriction. Your situation is a result of your own choices, stop trying to blame some-one else Oh yes, she was pyschic and just knew when she chose this dog that some bozos in Vic would gain office and make such stupid knee jerk laws like this.

you wouldn't find anything in Bulla (it is not that big), but I know there is a caravan park on the Hume Highway at Campbellfield / Craigieburn

the add I heard just said if there was a dog you thought was dangerous, call this no - no guidelines though for what it had to do for you to think it was dangerous, so what I might think was dangerous might be totally different to someone else. Totally useless, and I think will become a vexacious complaining no.

just try parking in Flemington and pushing a trolley full of cat cages, together with all the grooming gear (which persians need a ton of) up and down that hill - at least the dogs can walk!!!!

Mickleham Road, Yuroke (just near Craigieburn), and I drive past his place everyday on the way to work, often see his daughter walking the greyhounds

I live just near George, and have seen dog trailers back out the front of his place again, so guessing that means he is working again

told my OH when he said how they had not mentioned the dog breed at all that I bet you find it is a lab or GR or some similar dog that does not fit the media's mould of an aggressive dog - sad to say that was obviously correct

wont take long, they are doing that this morning