mita

Another Maltese breed. Kelb Tal-Kacca Bred specifically as a gundog to retrieve birds. So has a very soft mouth.

Found the small dog breed of Malta. Kelb tal-But, translates as Pocket Dog. Might have been brought to Malta by the Carthaginians around 700 BC. The Kelb tal-But, has become a common sight in Maltese villages ever since one can remember. It has been a Maltese tradition to breed them. Most of the best dogs are Black in colour but Tans and Chocolates are quite popular. The Kelf tal-But appears on Maltese stamps.

My favourite rare breed is the Damchi of Bhutan. Slightly like the Tibetan Spaniel from nearby Tibet, but a bit bigger, not quite so 'toy' looking. Bhutan is protective of its culture which would include their dog breed, the King owns a Damchi and they appear on stamps. I'd love, tho', to see Damchis brought to Australia. I believe some Europeans (Germany?) have imported Damchis.

I'd never heard of Podengos. But they're so cute! Interesting that they're the national dog of Portugal. There's also a small dog breed in Malta (no, not the familiar Maltese) that I've heard about. It's not the national dog there...the Pharaoh Hound is. Must try find.

Aw.....Rufus is a spunk!

I also have a friend who lives a block away. Shall let her know. Very suss that the van's registration plates seem to have been previously removed.

My own first hand account of witnessing dogs acting aggressively to people (as in actually biting them), pulls up a Small White Fluffy (crossbreed) & a bunch of Chihuahuas (no evidence if p/b or not). That's not surprising from a stats point of view.... because there's lots of SWFs and Chihuahuas (p/b or not) in the dog population. Statistically, the odds are against my witnessing one of the rarer breeds doing likewise. And the more there are of certain breeds, pure or not, so will the numbers of owners who don't do all the things the US CDC recommends for preventing dog bites/attacks. It's for such reasons that the AVMA....with statistical tools on hand...stated that slating home breed as first cause can't be substantiated.

The US Centre for Disease Control, would support this. Among their main tips for avoiding children being bitten by dogs: .Spend time with a dog before buying or adopting it. Use caution when bringing a dog into a household with an infant or toddler. .Never leave infants or young children alone with a dog. .Don’t play aggressive games with your dog (e.g., wrestling). .Properly socialize and train any dog entering your household. .Immediately seek professional advice (e.g., from veterinarians, animal behaviorists, or responsible breeders) if the dog develops aggressive or undesirable behaviors.

Great idea - maybe you could write and suggest it to them Wonderful idea. I did some googling to try to find the name of the US soldier. But every source said that he can only be known as 'John' for security reasons. Maybe it's because he's still serving in Afghanistan. So we're out of luck that he'd be able to come to Oz to be beside Sarbi. But he shouldn't be forgotten. Perhaps one day, when he's done his US army tour of duty, he could still get an invitation. There's an Australian Army War Dogs Association....good people. They might tuck the idea away for the near future. (They put on a lovely memorial service for Herbie, the Australian Army bomb detection dog killed in Afghanistan alongside his handler.)

Agree.

My 2 tibbie girls get bathed in a baby bath that I got from an Op Shop. Also the neighbour at the back owns greyhounds & has his own hydrobath. He always offers to bath our tibbies & the tibbie next door. He does the little dogs first, while a queue of greyhounds wait for their turn. Here's a pic of first two into the hydrobath:

I reckon that the US soldier who found Sarbi & recognised her qualities as a trained dog, should get recognition, too. Maybe a free trip to Australia to stand by Sarbi & her handler's side, when she's awarded with her Purple Cross. Click on Gallery, for 21 pics of Sarbi, taken by defence personnel in Afghanistan & in Dubai where she's in quarantine (& getting visited by Australian Air Force personnel for games of ball): http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/artic..._newsphoto.html

Trouble is that so many of the 'authority'-type documents about dogs, ask people to nominate Primary Breed & Secondary Breed. They don't record the dog simply as Mixed Breed. So someone who usually hasn't a clue about the dog's origins, nominates Cattle Dog for Primary Breed and maybe Border Collie for Secondary Breed. (And that can be an owner as much as a victim or a witness.) It must be some lame way the authorities hope to get some kind of 'visual' of the dog. But when these dogs are pulled out of the data base, they're described as whatever was given for the Primary Breed. Like, Cattle Dog. In one fell swoop, a mixed-breed dog (of indeterminate origins) is turned into a purebred. If only dogs that are Mixed Breed were recorded simply as that....interesting to see the stats for being involved in dog bites. Or if pure breeds, with documented pedigree papers, were described/listed as such....like Australian Cattle Dog/P. Then stats collected on how many of these were involved in serious bites/attacks. Good support from the US Government's Centres for Disease Control (CDC) & the American Veterinary Medicine Association AVMA): The CDC has never issued a report or press release naming "the types of dogs most likely to bite," nor has the CDC ever released a list of dogs they consider "highest risk." From the CDC: "There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill." From the AVMA: "There are several reasons why it is not possible to calculate a bite rate for a breed or to compare rates between breeds. First, the breed of the biting dog may not be accurately recorded, and mixed-breed dogs are commonly described as if they were purebreds. Second, the actual number of bites that occur in a community is not known, especially if they did not result in serious injury. Third, the number of dogs of a particular breed or combination of breeds in a community is not known, because it is rare for all dogs in a community to be licensed, and existing licensing data is then incomplete. [source: AVMA Task Force on Canine Aggression]

Yes, this is why I'd have thought I wasn't contravening the law, carrying the tiny-sized dog in the same circumstances (& being on the move!). So I'd have found myself in the same position as the dog's owners. But seems like the ranger thought otherwise & interpreted the law as a dog, any dog, having a presence on the beach (carried or not). Which would have copped me a fine, too. My only difference is that I wouldn't have fought the case in court, knowing how literally the law is interpreted by authority. So I'd have thought it too much of a risk of costing me more money, by challenging it. I'd have just paid the original fine, putting it down to another situation where the letter of the law (the little dog was present on the beach) outclasses the spirit of the law (my little dog was not physically touching the beach!).

That is so well planned & written. Something there for anyone & everyone to do.

And a good thing, too, Ams. I welcomed hearing your perspective. You have insider knowledge as a result of working with the Brisbane pounds. Actually, our puss-cat came from a Brisbane pound, rescued by the UQ Adoption Program.

It's been said numerous times on DOL forums that the law enforcement role of the RSPCA should be a separate entity from the advocacy/rescue role. Under Qld law, the police will sometimes accompany RSPCA inspectors to a 'hairy' situation, because police officers and DPI (has a new name, now) inspectors have the same responsibility to take action in cases of abuse/neglect of animals. So there's already a 'place' from which a 'public service' animal law enforcement force could have its genesis. Not long back, the CEO RSPCA Qld, made the same proposal, publicly, re governments' separating out of law enforcement from the RSPCA. But, it's unlikely to be picked up by those who frame the laws... our state parliaments. Because picking up the total tab for animal law enforcement, would require a substantial & full budget for such a public service. The number of 'enforcers' (inspectors) would have to be increased substantially to match the numbers of animals that the law covers....companion, native, pastoral & farming, working etc. Count the heads of all these animals & you'd have more than the total number of humans. (Yet, compare the current number of RSPCA inspectors with the numbers of police officers.) Then there'd be the costs associated with public prosecution. We live in the age of out-sourcing as much government 'services' as possible....to charities & private providers. Cheaper. It suits government to have animal law enforcement delegated to the RSPCA charity, while only passing over a modest sum from the parliamentary budget each year. (Yet that actually has some significance.) It's also interesting to look hard at the present laws about policing animal law in each state. Each one has significantly different 'flavours'....the Victorian one was a big surprise to me. But all share one thing in common. The person ultimately responsible for the actions re animal cruelty law enforcement is the relevant government minister. So there's a good case for lobbying by the public to have the role & process of animal law enforcement reviewed. We support our state's RSPCA, just as we also support our state's AWL. Christina, you wrote 'I would donate your money elsewhere'. No, you don't donate my money. I make my decisions... & leave others to do the same. I agree decision-making is based on a person's checking thro' pros & cons. To each their own summary.

I think the AWL would pick up a heap of supporters & volunteers in the Brisbane area, if it managed to pick up the running of Brisbane pounds (there are 2, I think). The special thing about AWL is how much they work on prevention, too. I'll be phoning Cr Knapp's office to state my support for AWL's bid. I once had to contact her office, to help me sort out a rego enquiry about one of our tibs. The secretary was extremely helpful, even sending me some additional documents to make things clearer. Delightful lady who had a chat about dogs & told me about her neighbours' tibs who ride on the horses.

We always had working breeds. First border collies, then as lifestyle changed, we had shelties. One year, I went to look at shelties at a Royal Brisbane Show & toy breeds were 'on' downstairs. I've never been a small dog person, but I had a look. Then I saw a row of beautiful small dogs that were so different. No twittering or twitching. They just sat calmly & looked me straight in the eye as if assessing me. I asked what they were. Tibetan Spaniels. Within a couple of months I came to own one. And we've owned tibbies ever since. Biggest change was the total difference in thinking-type. The working breeds were trained because they were eager to obey. But the tibbies looked at me coolly to work thro' this process. First, they had to think for themselves...'.Yes, this person I would accept' (& when they do, the reward is the most loving loyalty). Second, they had to have a think about 'requests' to obey something....the.tibbie attitude is ... 'And the point of this, is?' But once they decide it makes sense to them, you never have to 'tell' them again. They cotton on to the context. Like the tibbies soon learn that all good things come to them after they've been asked to 'Sit'. From then on, I found the tibbies would automatically 'Sit' when that context occurred. I didn't have to tell them. (Yes, in their clever way, they'd figured out how to do reverse obedience. )

Public record includes print newspapers. And that's what I meant in this case. I originally read about it in the Courier Mail newspaper where it got attention when the case was presented & when an outcome was reported. So tracking back newspaper archives for around 2004, would find it. You could phone the Courier Mail & ask how you could access their archived copies. Also, sometimes, the librarians in local council libraries can be very good in helping you track down information.

Yes, stormie, which is why I've said it's important to find & read the full details of that case as they were presented. There was action by the Veterinary Board. All of that would be on the public record somewhere. And people involved in it, directly, would also likely be still around.

That article by Helen Wellings seems to have been written BEFORE the outcome of the case. So it doesn't mention that it was successful. You really need to find info about the case as it was actually heard & what was the outcome.

Can't thank you enuf!!! As I said, it also mentions the name of the pet owner who was involved. She's got an unusual name so you might be able to track her down to learn from her experience re the bringing of action for negligence here in Qld. In that case, successful. Also the newspapers are archived so you could also look up Courier-Mails for 2004.

Look back to my original post. I managed to find the reference to the near-Brisbane case. In that article, it also mentions the name of the pet owner. You might be able to track her down to get her experience on bringing about some action successfully. It certainly caused a splash at the time....as I said, making the newspapers.

Few years back, there was a case involving a vet just outside the Brisbane area. There was a successful outcome for the pet dog's owners. Sorry, I can't remember the details, but it was reported in newspapers, so it'd have to be archived somewhere. Found it. Mentioned in a 2004 article by Helen Wellings on Pet Owners' Rights. http://www.7perth.com.au/view/today-tonigh...20050607142928/