PaddyForever

Really- Who doesn't comment and speculate with others about current news worthy items? Isn't that what this thread is about, 'In The News', not 'In The News, But Case Now Closed, So Safe To Comment'?!!No offence, and I know laws should be abided by, but I thought, that in Aus, we would be allowed a little 'free speech'?

So very sad. :p Little one was lucky that you cared enough to post this Good-Bye. Pls don't feel so bad. I'm sure you showed him love and kindness, and that's why he stayed with you for so long.

Sweet dreams, darling Badger. for you, GB.

Sleep well, Chisel and Tara.

These tales of what some humans do to animals for their own entertainment, or, usually more often, to make money for themselves, is always sickening. No, I wouldn't be paying money to be entertained by an animal's suffering. And if I was a witness to it, my response wouldn't be polite, either.

I've been allowed to watch some procedures, too. And been entrusted to help on occasion. I also have a country vet, and I will stick with them as long as I can. I have lived in several towns, and always travel to take my dogs to the same clinic, or they come to me, as they did this week to vaccinate and microchip my current litter. Sure, I could have gotten it done a bit cheaper, but I owe my loyalty to my vet, and if enough of us feel that way, and reccomend them to our puppy buyers, then hopefully they won't go under if these chains become even more prolific...My vet has met me at midnight to perform a caesarian on one of my dogs on more than one occasion. He has come out at night to help me tube-feed a struggling, rejected litter, and shown me how to do it myself. He treated my darling old dog with dignity as he helped to end a long, wonderful life, when the time had come...Oh, yes, I owe my vet my loyalty.

Sorry guys I didn't see the other thread already started.. Just as upsetting, reading about it again!!! :p

Same. :p Me, too. Maybe would have gotten me into the poo, but I couldn't have stood by, either. ;)

This last comment was very clever, Poodlefan! And true. I am from an immediate family with several members in law inforcement, and the sick stories I have heard...!I totally agree with the observation re acts of cruelty towards animals raising a red flag towards the crimes these children could be heading towards...They need to receive adequate punishment NOW. If it looks as though the law considers them too young for time even in youth detention, hopefully the humiliation of making this disgusting crime public, will be a punishment of sorts. What sort of badge of honour could you hope to attain from torturing a helpless puppy?!!!It wouldn't have earnt any merit badges in my circle, I can tell you...!

I didn't disagree with the main gist of the new laws, except for the time allocated to the poor dog whose owners have gone away...!I hope they do a proper temperament test on the dogs involved, and not simply assume that they are OF A BREED which may be likely to attack! Surely, a dog that could pass a temperament test could be given a little more time for his owner to search for him, or be allowed to be possibly rehomed? I was shocked to see the size of the fines that could be involved, too. Doesn't really give some owners the incentive to stand up and admit that they own Fido, does it?! Another revenue raiser, me doth think...!

I hope this guy gets a decent punishment, so as to put unethical people off trying something similar. That's the trouble with depositing money based on an on-lign advertisement, but that is usually the only way to secure a popular or rarer-breed puppy. The breeder usually advertises early, and wants a reasonable deposit on a puppy, to know that people are genuine. The thing is, that we are afraid to give out our address prior to the deposit being paid, because someone might be after just that, to steal our puppies! They would still be worth a lot, even without papers. A hard thing to change, when there are so many unethical people out there...They give the good people, and the ethical breeders, a bad name...And pls people, don't put a deposit on a puppy who is not even on the ground yet!!!

... received by the council. Doesn't mean neighbours weren't driven crazy by the yapping. Some councils are more responsive than others. If you're in Melbourne, compare the dog control information on the Boroondoara website to that on neighbouring Stonnington. The former is proactive regarding the problem, the latter couldn't care less. A few houses from me there is a dog that barks very night from 4pm to 9pm. It's a staccarto-like "arh, arh, arh, arh, arh, arh, arh.....". You can (seriously) hear it 500 metres away over the noise of the Monash Freeway. What's most aggravating is that the owners are home at the time. You can see their lights on. Clearly the barking annoys them, so they put the dog outside the annoy the neighbours. These people neeed to remember that they have neighbours who may work nightshift, or who may have a child who has to study in the afternoons. Perhaps a neighbour is prone to migraines or perhaps just wants to watch TV without this persistent aggravating background noise. Curiously it has been quiet the past couple of nights. Hopefully it's because their owners have watched the news and been alerted to the consequences of the selfishness (both in terms of their dog and their neighbours) of their couldn't-care-less attitude. Hopefully, the dog that has been barking and annoying you, but is now quiet, hasn't been stabbed by some brave human armed with a big knife! Seriously, how horrible is it that a dog could be STABBED of all things. I mean, other measures CAN be taken. If the dog was annoying someone, they could have tried speaking to the owner first, then to the council if this didn't yield results, or if they didn't want to do that, even an annonymous letter in a mail box. I know barking dogs can be annoying, but imagine taking a knife to one! And if it was an intruder with burglary or more in mind, it was pretty low to stab a small dog! I hope that if they catch this person, that he gets jail time. Probably not, in this country that is far too lenient on animal cruelty issues. Just as a side note, my poor old dog had a stroke 18 months ago, and cried often, whenever he was left alone, afterwards. I tried locking him inside the house, but he was doubly incontinant for a while and the mess was terrible. I spent a lot of money on a large dog run with a heated shed, but he would lie in the shed and bark. I tried a citranella collar, but this distressed him, and I had to remove it. I visited every neighbour around to inform them of the problem, and even though we were 200 metres from the nearest house, we still recieved a complaint from council, in the form of a visit and letter. Luckily, they understood the situation, and it helped that I am known locally, but it was upsetting. Should I have had him put to sleep earlier than this past January, because he developed some separation issues, and basically, a bit of canine dementia? Would you put down your aging Grandfather because he became a bit more difficult in older age? Other dogs bark for many reasons, most of which I agree, the owners could and should, try to rectify. But there can never be any excuse for this sort of response- with a poor dog being stabbed and left to die! RIP, Poor little Coco.

So sorry to hear of your loss. I lost my lovely old Goldie only last Jan. If Cloud was anything like my Paddy, then maybe they're running together along that distant beach, chasing seagulls until we come into view... to you at this sad time. I have to believe we'll meet those that we have loved again, one day.

Sleep well, darling little Patches. to those who loved you.

Not necessarily. Its a bit like stab wounds. In the movies, you see people covered in blood after a stabbing. In reality (info gleaned from forensics folk I know) much of the bleeding from an invasive puncture may be internal. A person can be fatally stabbed and have virtually no external bleeding. They can bleed out internally. I must admit that I have heard that about stabbing wounds myself, I just didn't think that most extensive bite wounds would be that neat? And there must have been at least a few bites, to produce over a hundred puncture marks? In my experience, there would be tearing injuries by side to side shaking during an attack, and for the doctors and nurses to have found the injuries so horrific, I would have thought more open wounds/obvious bleeding would have been involved. Then again, easy for me to make that ussumption without being an actual witness to the injuries, I guess. And maybe I'm just a bit too protective, but I've always checked my children over after a fall, and asked them if they were o.k., and I just didn't think that a child so badly injured would have been able to respond much at all. Of course, the father may have just assumed that she'd fallen back to sleep, if she was unresponsive, but I myself would have still wanted to check the child over, even if I was half asleep. I am a breast-feeding Mum and had 3 children under four, so I am cronically sleep deprived, which is why I'm usually on the forum at crazy hours! Still, if my child, who had a feeding tube inserted, fell out of bed, I would put a light on and check them over, and would not be satisfied to assume that they were o.k. until I'd done so. As a 'special' child, and under 2 yrs, this little girl may not have been verbally communicative much, as yet, but that would only have made me check her more thoroughly. That's just what I would do, mind you.

I pretty much agree with this. And what was done to this girl, that she doesn't have any empathy for these creatures, or is impervious to their suffering? My nine-year old would have been horrified by this story, so much so that I wouldn't share it with her. I know that she would have nightmares. Then again, she has been brought up to value the lives of all living things. I don't agree with a lynch-mob mentality, esp for a child who has some hope of being reformed, although it is hard to be too sympathetic, I must admit. There really does need to be more severe punishments for crimes against animals, here and overseas. And someone should look into the background of this child. MOST who do this kind of thing have been a victim of some sort of abuse. Personally, I think that not being raised to appreciate life, is a form of neglect, also.

How could the child have such horrific injuries but that the father didn't notice anything wrong when he placed the child back in her bed? Surely her clothes would have been soaked in blood, saliva and torn from some of those 100 bites? The child must also have been distressed or gasping for breathe is she had chronic lung disease and had suffered that sort of trauma. Poor child. I wondered about that too......even in the dark you would think he would notice something amiss. Yeah, I wondered a bit about this, too. Even if it was 100 puncture wounds and not bites, there should have been a lot of blood. Personally, as a Mum of four, I would have turned on a light to inspect the child for damage, even from a suspected topple from bed. Whether they were crying, or strangely silent. The other night, I thought I heard something from my room, and went to check the children. My two-year old was uncovered, and as I went to cover her, I felt wetness. I turned on a lamp and realised that she had vomited, even though she was already back asleep, so unfortunately, I had to wake her to change both her and her cot bedding. Even if a child was disabled enough not to be able to cry out during an attack, and even if the dog was strangely silent during it, I would have thought the parent would have checked the child over, or noticed blood on his hands from picking the child up, especially if the child lost so much blood as to go into cardiac arrest, which usually occurs from blood loss...I hate to say it, but I think there's something a bit odd here...And I'm sorry for sounding suspicious if it's all a genuine accident...Poor little darling.

In other words, you would not have done what these parents did. You too, would have acted differently. Show me a breed bred to use its teeth in its work and I'll show you a breed with a lower than average trigger to bite and/or potentially a lower than average bite inhibition. Sure all dogs can bite but some bite more than others. Breed DOES matter. What matters more is socialisation and supervision with children. END QUOTE. I'm all for socialisation and supervision with children. Isn't that what my post was about?! What I am saying is that it's easy to point the finger AFTER an incident occurs, and state with a rather superior attitude that it would never have happened with us because we are more vigilant/our dogs are better socialised/we own a more child-friendly breed, etc. I learnt whilst a rep for The Responsible Pet Ed Program of Vic, visiting kinders and schools, that it is dangerous to extol the virtues of one breed over another, as being less likely to cause 'an incident', or of being more 'child-friendly. As 'dog-people', many of us know which breeds we would be more likely to reccomend to families with children, or which breeds of dog might be faster to react negatively in certain situations. We are aware of what the different breeds were bred for. Still, that doesn't mean that a Gundog breed wouldn't be capable of reacting in a negative way, or that a Terrier breed will always react in any certain way. I am all for vigilance, but still know the importance of socialisation, which is why I allow supervised interaction between my children and my dogs. And yes, perhaps it could be said that I then contradicted myself by saying that I would not allow a crawling baby near a dog, because of the fingers, etc. It was just a thought of my own. You are also assuming that these people allowed a close interaction. The dog could have run forward and an adult may have been watching, but COULD HAVE flicked their gaze away for an instant. What I was saying is that the parents of the child COULD have been being extremely vigilant, and an incident COULD STILL have occured. We all need to promote vigilance around ALL breeds of dog, but obviously still allow some socialisation between child and canine, or no knowledge either side could ever even hope to be gained. And I really don't think personally, that many dogs are capable of storing up jelous feelings of rage towards a child, to the extent where they could be 'planning an attack.' These are human emotions and conotations which are dangerous to put on dogs. Dogs tend to act more on the spur of the moment with how they are feeling at the time, threatened, stood over, etc, IN MY REASONABLY LEARNED OPINION. I am a dog trainer, and instructor at a dog club. I have trained and trialled many different breeds, and worked with problem dogs, and of course, certain breeds were more prone to certain behaviours, but some breeds which are not generally known for certain problems or behaviours, can still exhibit them. I have known individual dogs who were capable of some extraordinary behaviours, and I like to think that I have seen a fair bit, and that I have an excellent knowledge of dog body language/behaviour. But I still don't know it all, and never will. I just send my best wishes to this child, and the parents, and the owner of the dog. Because as an owner of dogs, and as a parent of children, I can feel empathy for both(even if one and the same)over this unfortunate incident. Cheers to you all for your opinions, and for caring enough to post them. Inc you, Poodlefan.

Why is it that everyone else always assumes that they would have reacted differently, or been able to prevent, such an incident?! Most of us know, or should know, that young children, indeed up probably into their teens in some cases, cannot interperete a dog's body language correctly. Some dog owners cannot read said body language either. Just as some dogs do not give many warning signs before an attack and their interpretation of a child's inadvertant body language can often not be foreseen, either. A dog who has given no previous signs of aggression, may react to a suddenly perceived threat, such as a squealing, crawling, child. It does not mean that there was any jelousy involved, or that the dog was just 'waiting for the right time to attack', or that it was because the dog was a terrier breed! It does not mean that the parents were not vigilant, or that they were not right there when it happened. A dog can bite several times before a person could even hope to react. And a young child's face is usually the unfortunate recipient of an attack, because their face is at the dog's level. Usually, an attack will just be a 'back off, you're scaring me!' warning, but this can also cause quite a bit of damage! The only way to totally prevent such an incident, is to never allow children in close proximity to any dog, including our own. And how many of us have never allowed our children to be around our dogs? I know that I have, and I try to be as vigilant as possible. My dogs are breeds that are reknowned for their excellent temperaments, but that does not mean that an incident could not occur. Children are unpredictable. I never allow contact between my dogs and a crawling baby, because babies have grabbing fingers that could hurt the dog and cause an unfavourable reaction, and as even tempered as my dogs are, it is not worth the risk. Still, if something bad happened, I would hope that I wouldn't be blasted for being 'careless', or 'ignorant', when I am not, knowing that no-one could be more upset than me about it. I was once observing my four-year-old at play with my dogs, outside, when she ran past my old dog, who was almost deaf and fast asleep. As she ran past, she tripped, and fell beside him. Startled, probably by feeling the vibration through the ground, as she hadn't yet touched him, he turned with a snarl, and grabbed her on the arm. He let go just as quickly, but as I swept her up into my arms, her arm was already bruising, and his teeth had just broken the surface of her skin. My husband came running out of the house, hearing our daughter screaming and crying, and when I explained, he was hollering about how I should have been watching and about that 'stupid, nasty old so and so.' Well, I had been watching, and I know for certain that the dog would never have bitten my daughter if he'd been aware of what had been happening. In his pre-deaf days, he had never, ever, bitten anybody, animal or human, or ever shown any aggression towards anything. It had been an accident, and when my husband calmed down, he realised that. Afterwards, I locked my old dog away when the children played outside, although my daughter was a lot more careful never to run too close to a dog in future. That was something I had always warned against, but it was sad that she had to learn that way. Just please, let us not jump to conclusions and blame the parents, who must be feeling terrible. I know that I cried for the day after what happened to my daughter, and that the bruise on her arm that lasted weeks, kept reminding me that something far worse could have happened. And between a dog that I loved(I lost him a short while later, at a grand old age) almost as much as a child, even though I knew he was a dog and treated him as such, and a little girl that I would give my life to keep safe.

I agree with that. Our laws are just not tough enough when it comes to animal cruelty. I don't agree with penis burning, etc, but major fines and a reasonable stint in jail may be more of a deterent. The 7-year sentence sounded pretty reasonable to me. Here in Aus, I wouldn't have been surprised if it was 7 months, if any jail time was allocated at all. Also, perhaps an order of compensation towards the animal's owners or a hefty 'donation' to the RSPCA or equivilent, could be included in the punishment. I know in this case, the perpetrator was the son of the animal's owner, but a fine that goes towards the treatment of animals in such cases, could only be a good thing. Hope life is kinder to you throughout the rest of your days, Louis.

This is was such a sad story. RIP, poor old cat. What is wrong with some people that they feel empowered by behaving so cruelly towards vulnerable animals? Like that woman who dropped the cat in the garbage bin? Totally sick. These sorts of stories also make me so angry! ;) We all know what will happen when/if they find the perpetrator/s of the cat murder/mutilation. They will get a rap over the knuckles, a fine, maybe a small amount of jail time. If they made the punishments for animal cruelty more severe, then these cowardly scum might think twice! At least with the woman who dropped the cat in the bin, she was publicly shamed. Hopefully, she'll think twice before doing something like that again! Well, we can hope. ;)

Thanks, Monah, Just got home from 2 days in hospital, with my baby suffering 'bronchialitis', so have to admit it was wonderful having family support helping look after my other 3 children, 3 adult dogs and 10 6wk old Golden Retriever puppies! Qld would be just a little too far away, but thank you for the thought!

Hi, again, We are in Drouin, we were out at Drouin West at the time of the fires, which came over from the Bunyip Ridge/Labertouche fires. My husband is a truck driver in Melbourne, and we are quite willing to move for the right property. We just want a property where we are able to keep our children, dogs, and have our 1/2 litters a year. I show and do competitive obedience, and I have been a rep for The Responsible Pet Ed Program Of Vic, and plan to return when my baby is a little older. Our dogs are dearly loved family members first and foremost, but I also do a lot with them. Finding a place that will allow them, when you are up against 10 other applicants, has been so hard. I know in person that I come across well, but when you are submitting your application to an agency, who places a heap of them in front of a landlord who hasn't even met you, and your application is the one with several dogs as well as four children...! We do know Woori-Yallock well, my lovely old dog who I just lost came from there 16 years ago. I would be very grateful if you would keep us in mind. Pls feel free to contact me through a personal message or as a friend.

Snopaws- The description of your rental would have seemed too good to be true to us. I am only pretty new to the forums, but have been a member of DOL for a couple of years now, and have owned pedigree dogs forever. You may have seen my post re having to move after Black Saturday. My landlord of the time offered to give us an excellent refference, as did our previous landlord, who was an actual real estate agent. Despite that, we were unable to find a property that would allow our 5 dogs, one of which could have been and ended up, homed with my mother. Due to being pregnant with our fourth child, I had to agree to move into a rental that allowed only 3 dogs and I had to rehome a six-year-old, extremely well-behaved Golden Retriever. Recently, after having been in this home for over a year, we put in a request to please have the rear decking fixed, as there were holes developing due to rotting wood, and I was afraid either one of my dogs, or children, would trip. The landlord actually called and introduced himself, and we explained that we had been given some spare wood by my brother, who had recently built his own patio, if the landlord would like to use that. He took us up on the offer quite gratefully, and came around to spend the day re-decking, along with my husband, who helped him all day just to get it done. The landlord was most impressed with our dogs, remarking on their temperaments, and we voluntarily pointed out that our new young Gordon Setter had put a few holes in the fly-wire on the back screen door, and made a few scratches, all of which would be repaired. His reply was "No problem, dogs will be dogs, you should have seen the mess the last tenant's children made!" We also told him that we only breed once or twice a year and that puppies would be raised in the laundry, if that was alright, and his reply was "Of Course- Fine." Shortly after, we had a litter of puppies, which were enclosed with their mother, in a whelping box with a C-Crate over the top, in the laundry. The house-inspection came around two weeks later. The agent rep was very pleased with the condition of the house, remarking on how spotless it all was, despite our four children. Before she got to the laundry, we informed her of the puppies, and that we had run them by the landlord, who was fine with it. Although obviously not a 'dog person', particullarly, the rep remarked on how gorgeous the mother and pups were. She left, with the comment that all was 'great', but the following day we recieved a call. The rep informed us that the landlord wished us to sign another year's lease, as our year had recently come up. I reminded her that I had told her before that we would prefer a property hopefully out of town, that would allow more dogs. Her next comment was that she had some bad news. She had told the landlord about the puppies, and he wanted them out of the house, NOW. He was, to quote again, "Already unhappy about the destruction one of our dogs had caused to the back door, and he would prefer only two dogs in a dog run." I responded that the puppies were only two weeks old, and couldn't be moved, that they were in the box and not even touching anything in the laundry. I told her the intention was to move them out into our own 3x3m shed, with floor, with the dog run around the front, as soon as they were approx 4 weeks. She replied that she would take this to the landlord. She called, after I had had a rather sleepless night, the following day, to say that the landlord was o.k. with it all if we moved the puppies by the end of the week, and was o.k. with the other dogs, as long as we would agree to sign for another year's lease! I thanked her, and told her I'd discuss it with my husband and let her know. I was left feeling that it was almost blackmail! We recently lost our oldest dog at the age of nearly 16, and would like to get another dog at some stage(one of our other dogs has now been returned to us), and so would like to keep looking for property that will allow us to do that. We also wish to be allowed to openly have our one/two litters a year, and firmly believe that young puppies belong inside. Our current litter were in until 5 weeks, because of the dreadful weather. They are aged 6 weeks now, and are happily outside. All were spoken for by 4 weeks, and will go to their new homes at 8 weeks of age. Our landlord also told the rep that he wants us to repair any damage done by the shed and dog-run, to his grass, which is fair enough, although grass will not grow instantly when you remove a shed, so this is a worry. We once had a landlord demand instant turf, because we, along with the dogs, had left a path in the grass between the driveway and the back door. There was no other path, and the clothes line was along the same line! Still, the landlord back then demanded $600, and we didn't want to argue, and wanted good refferences, so we paid up. Since then, we have always gotten back all of our bond, and have always left a property in excellent condition. With this property, we have even put in a dishwasher, which we have agreed to leave, along with being given permission to put it in! We have placed an add on Dogzonline for accomodation, with no replies at all, and are hunting desperately for dog-friendly accomodation within an hour of melbourne, that will allow children, dogs, and the occasional litter of well-bred puppies. If anyone out there is looking for great tenants, who are house-proud and very reliable with rent, you know where to look...! :D

I have owned Goldens, or more accurately, they have owned me, for over 16 years now. I lost my beautiful boy, Patrick(Paddy) on 25/1/10, aged nearly 16 years. I own his Grandson, Bozwell, aged 4 1/2 years and at the moment have a litter of 10 Paddy Grand-babies. Patrick was C.D.X. obedience titled, was a working animal actor, and a rep for The Responsible Pet Ed Program Of Vic. I am a dog trainer of many years experience, an obedience instructor and trial competitor with several different breeds, and I have found the Golden, in general, one of the easiest breeds to train. I have four children, who I supervise at all times with the dogs, but the Goldens that I have are by far the gentlest breed with them. It is more my children that I have to be the most vigilant with, kids can do some really strange things...! Patrick was an incredibly naughty puppy, who destroyed just about everything I owned, including ring-barking trees, and who, despite his C.D.X. title and Best In Trial titles, would take off at almost every opportunity when I wasn't looking! Boz is bigger, quieter and impeccably well-behaved, though no-where near the obedience dog Paddy was, he's too laid back. As far as large dogs go, they are probably the first breed that I would reccomend for people with children. All dogs need obedience training and need to be taught 'acceptable' behaviours. Likewise, children need to be supervised AT LEAST up to their teens with any dog, and need to be taught the correct responses to a dog's behaviour, and to be instructed by the adult in charge on how to interact with the dog, correct commands, etc. Children are never as good at reading a dog's body language and also need constant reminding by a vigilant adult as to what the dog may be trying to tell them. That being said, all of my Goldens have been excellent with my children, and that includes the dogs that I have bred which have come to visit from time to time. This is a breed reknowned for it's gentle temperament. Yes, they grow very quickly, as does any large-breed puppy, and most will go through a 'Testing' stage, usually between the ages of 6-15 months in my experience. At this time, they may jump all over you with big teen-age paws, test you in obedience training, probably consider not coming back off-lead. But most breeds will go through something similar. They do not TEND to be a very dominant breed, although there are exceptions, and good socialisation from birth is as important with them as any other breed. Mine have all been excellent with dogs of other breeds, and are well-known locally by the people in my community. They have all been very people-orientated. Although Paddy was very independant, he adored people and loved to be the centre of attention. Paddy prefered to be an out-side dog, though he came in more towards the end of his life. My others have all prefered to be inside, although they love to be outside throughout the day, and all have been active. Every dog, regardless of breed, will be an individual with his/her own personality traits, and the Golden is no exception. Potential buyers need to be aware that despite a breed's deservably good reputation, that all dogs will need care and training, and that this takes a varying degree of time to produce the desired results. I have been lucky, so far, with good hip/elbow/eye results, but these are something a prospective owner should be mindful of. The parents should have had their hips/elbow xrays done, with good low scores, and you should ask a vet AND the breed club, if you are unsure about what is 'good'. Any dog can have eye problems, so parents eyes should have tested clear, and many breeders are having heart-testing done now, too. The best thing about Goldens is probably how well they usually interact with children and other animals, and if an owner is willing to put in the time and training any dog needs, then I cannot reccomend this breed highly enough.