Little Gifts

Hi Taliecat. I must confess I stopped looking at any new posts in the Rainbow Bridge area after we lost Tempeh (almost 13 months ago now). I wasn't up for reliving the pain of losing a beloved dog, particularly when they were still at their prime. I am so very sorry for your loss and can tell you that even after all this time I still talk to Tempeh, feel her around me (she is happy) and also still sleep with one of her coats. It hurts noone and gives me comfort. It keeps me connected. I think about her now and smile because she feels happy and free of her demons. But seeing your post about Dozer also brings up some guilt because back in August my girl Stussy (12 and a stafford) had all these lumps come up suddenly and the ones I was worried about were nothing, but the one on her back was a low grade MCT. We had some issues post biopsy and she had to have it removed under more urgent circumstances but she sailed through it and her recovery. She has also been losing a little weight and getting a few brain farts since but there are no signs of it showing anywhere else inside or out. At the same time as Stussy was having her surgery another famous stafford, Tonka the Concreter (almost 9) had the same issue and surgery. He didn't survive his either. His family were devastated and the community who follows him were also devastated. I don't know why cancer takes some babies and not others. I really don't. And I don't know why great doggos get hit with such awful illnesses that they don't deserve. I wish our love was enough to save them all. So I'm very sorry for your loss as it hits close to home. All I can do is hug Stussy a little bit tighter in Dozer's honour. X

And you can work so bloody hard and use all your knowledge on a case and still not have a positive outcome. If you were a hairdresser and even 1% of your customers left your salon crying and grieving every day imagine how that would affect your psyche. I often think too after people lose an animal in difficult circumstances that they no longer want to deal with that vet, because it is easier to blame someone for a loss. And people talk so perhaps others avoid that vet too over another. So all your training and skill and career success is dependant on always having good outcomes, which is not realistic. They deal with life and death every day but they also deal with the different values owners place on those lives. They also see the irresponsibility impact too. A very demanding career choice but glad the rates are dropping - perhaps due to the exposure the issue has had.

Sorry, I know I am late posting. I have had fosters here very unmotivated by food (due to stress) but in need of some very basic training still. I think T put me on to lamb puffs and they always worked! I have fostered a breed of dog with some dietary do's and don'ts and we had no issue with the lamb puffs with any of them. You can break it into smaller pieces too and I like that it is dry so your hands don't get so yucky as it would with wet food.

Yes not really a financial win and certainly not a win for all the animals who lost their lives but it sets a legal precedent for other cases at least because we know it has happened before like this. I'd really love to hear from an RSPCA worker you know. I'm sure many of them have to be animal lovers and it can't be an easy job seeing neglect and abuse. Maybe they stay hoping to be part of creating internal change? Maybe they try to do their best in amongst all the bureacracy and bullshit? I have my own personal experiences having volunteered cleaning, feeding and interacting at one of the old shelters and also fostering for them. The longer I volunteered the more the gloss came off and I could see a very non-animal focused culture. Everything to do with animals with extra needs was just too much of an effort. Lots of bad memories and I've never understood why it was allowed to get like that and even get worse.

A win against the RSPCA. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/court-finds-rspca-inspector-negligent-in-shooting-of-131-pure-bred-cattle-20150526-gh9yia.html?fbclid=IwAR1Hy--zEiTUgMbHbqMCevTwIFAe45fQHMf25KalD9sEuruBe_gyAxoaCmI

T and Asal - all the things I was thinking. I don't want it to be true but sadly I can see them doing it. I wonder why it hasn't been picked up out here?

*WARNING* Distressing video footage and photos in this link. Unsure if this is true but it doesn't sound that far fetched to me, having seen first hand how they treat dogs who were black tagged at one of their old and largest shelters in QLD. If an animal was not going to be rehomed or needed for a court case it immediately lost value and no efforts were made to provide it comfort or care - it had no value to them. Why would they change now? Shameful if it is true. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7733227/RSPCA-admits-sends-NSW-thoroughbreds-slaughterhouses-shocking-claims-racing-cruelty.html?fbclid=IwAR3aOKU8M32EIcBBcJgKMDD49h0-xiEZrTm9ksFTJfh_FC3zaC5QDB5EG5U

That is very true Moosmum. There are so many little bits of information that will make life so much better for animals with first time owners. Many of us have learnt it accidentally or the hard way over years of pet ownership. But imagine someone sharing all this knowledge so others didn't make the same mistakes, rather than just punishing after mistakes are made? The animals would certainly be better off for it and shouldn't that really be what we are aiming for anyway? I've also had Storybook Farm on my mind of late - a rescue that focused on animals with serious disabilities. I remember it being reported that the owner said some of the mess the RSPCA found from the raid was simply because special needs animals make more mess and that their area had not yet been cleaned. Then too shouldn't it be that special needs animals need a higher level of care? Same with breeding facilities. The risk to life of the mother and newborn pups is critical during whelping. Shouldn't that require a higher standard of care and skilled staff coverage? Instead we have basic bottom lines that don't necessarily meet every animal's basic care needs. If the RSPCA want to be leaders in preventative education for at least the general pet buying public then they could develop a program that could be localised and run in council areas so the information could be better targeted. But I guess it is what they see as their core business? Currently it seems to be fundraising.

This is part of the job I don't think they do well either. Lots of people don't seem to understand the difference between discipline and abuse, between meeting basic care needs and neglect or between attending to basic medical needs and it will heal on its own, but once informed, if they continue their behaviour they should be prosecuted. Once you know what is expected legally, if you knowingly break that law it is on you. This formal advice practise from 'authorities' has a purpose towards avoiding future harms. Same with pet ownership education - it is needed across the country as part of prevention but doesn't exist. Maybe councils would be better positioned to offer it but given how some run their pounds that's also a problematic solution. Imagine the offer of free council registration for one year if a person attended an honest and practical Pet Ownership workshop BEFORE purchasing a pet. A lot of minds could be changed or informed and resources for responsible pet sourcing could be provided. A lot of money could be saved by council, rescue and pet owners and pets and their owners might have a chance at better lives together. Surely the RSPCA has a spare mill it could put into developing that?

In QLD pokie money has paid for all the new shelters and offices. How many other charities out there have been so fortunate and still can't attend to their core business?

Wherever your expenditure is the greatest tells you what a large organisation is really all about. Used to see it in govt all the time. There will be more staff in their media and communications unit than than their will be inspectors, all housed in schmick facilities with modern technology while there are dogs lying in old hot/cold facilities somewhere still.

PETA actually sound like a voice you want to get behind there. Proactive rather than reactive is exactly how I feel too. Why all the crazy then? I agree with pretty much everything they said except the underfunding. RSPCA is the only charitable animal welfare organisation in the black and perhaps they should be diverting some of their pennies into prevention and prosecution rather than spending so much on their media and communications budget?

I did the survey T linked to on the other page. I was clear in that even though I live in QLD I was basing it on my experiences with them over a NSW based matter. Oh I hope it makes a difference! We just need someone doing some actual bloody preventative and effective investigation and prosecution that benefits animals! I don't care who does it as long as they do it with some skill, speed, insight and passion! ! It's not too much to ask!

Oh my! I'm not really a small white fluffy kind of girl but Esme looks like she has loads of personality and is a happy girl! And what a great way for her to grow up around your pack! She is going to make some family very happy! Thank you for sharing with us again!!!!

What a beautiful looking dog!

Oh Grumpette I am so sorry. He was a beautiful boy inside and out and I will miss seeing his smiling face and hearing about him. Sending a warm hug your way while you get through this. XXX

What a gorgeous story!

Grass Puppy!!!! He is very handsome!

What could be cheaper is getting a new screen door made with a larger sized dog door in it. Seems a lot of security screen companies make these now but they don't like to do them in existing doors.

My current stafford, Stussy was at the vet recently and my vet hadn't seen her for a while. I was telling her since we moved to the new house (back then she was an only dog for the first time) she developed some anxiety when left alone, over some noises (like the oven timer, scissors and card punches) and had become destructive when left alone like back in her puppy days. My vet said this is the age (around 12) it often starts. Makes me sad to think she is starting this young. I don't want her to be old!

Cannibal I had an old stafford who lived to three months shy of 17. She still could've kept going physically but her mind made her dangerous. She'd often end up in a strange spot just standing there thinking 'how the hell did I get here?' My fear at that stage was that we'd be out and she'd be stuck somewhere unsafe for hours without any brain power to trouble shoot her situation. She was blind, deaf, incontinent (in that as soon as she stood up she'd toilet thinking she was outside so wore a nappy at all times) and she had cancerous lumps all over her. Yet every day she still thought she was head of the doggy pack and was in amongst it. No signs of pain or discomfort and still stubbornly wanting to do everything the other dogs were doing. No lying around sleeping for her! Very hard decision to make in knowing when it was time to let her go.

Bloody terrible.

I don't want to put anyone out to roast but I do want an effective animal protection and welfare agency in this country. If they are found to be too far from the acceptable mark on those two single points then they need to go. I'm actively following the Storybook case through the courts here in QLD. Seizures happened in March and the case has just been scheduled for mention every single month since. How do they not have enough evidence gathered to prosecute a case in 6 months? That's 6 months where a potential abuser can do more harm to animals OR it is 6 months where an innocent persons life is turned on its head. Either way it can sometimes mean 6 months in limbo for an abused animal being kept as evidence too. And what is the point of it all when even if a conviction is made the penalties are paltry? Things have to change.

Watch for any weeping from the eye too - that will give you a good indication of whether the eye has been injured or irritated in any way too and it should be already weeping if affected.

That's part of my point T - you breed a dog with genetic health issues it is the poor animal that suffers the most - a life full of breathing or joint or heart issues or skin issues and visits to the vet. Why is that ok for companion animals? Multiply that by the hundreds of dogs that might be deliberately bred from one bitch and stud who are a poor genetic match or who are passing on congenital issues and that is a lot of animals suffering needlessly and a lot of out of pocket expenses for owners. It probably also drives up pet insurance premiums for some breeds. But the puppy farmers don't care about any of that, least of all the ongoing health of their puppies. They are only worried about lining their pockets. We wouldn't tolerate any other business selling poor quality products at top dollar so I don't get why it is ok with living things? As for popular breeds not being in the pounds - I think that is because rescue (breed specific rescue in particular) tend to grab them so they can at least get the care they need and be rehomed to a more suitable owner. They don't want them to end up in the wrong hands and used for breeding. I see it pretty much every day with shar pei rescue. Seeing Frenchies with serious health issues pop up too more frequently in rescue now as surrenders.