Alkhe

Yup, I totally agree with you.

I guess the issue is that, that assumes that there is a desire to improve, and recognition that there is a problem. Many pounds would say that they DON'T pts adoptable animals, so there isn't a problem. They just make 'adoptable' a broad, undefinable category. It's like the word 'healthy' - it's subjective. How healthy is healthy enough to be considered 'adoptable'? Depends who's making teh decision, where, and when.

Just because an organisation is in the animal welfare/management space, doesn't mean it has the same aims and views as people like you or I, who are involved in animal welfare from a different perspective. (That said, I'm involved both in shelter managemetn and a rescue group, so I get both sides)

Also, many pounds are more interested than donations than euthanasia figures, and one threatens the other. Of course low euthanasia rates will attract donations from people who know and care about those things. They'd rather not give air time or open a can of worms, by providing more data than strictly necessary.

Oh, I absolutely agree. I was actually at that conference too. But the problem is that pounds are reluctant to publish information with that level of detail, because it looks bad.

Of course there are some dogs that shouldn't be adopted if they have serious behavioural issues that make them unadoptable, or if their health issues are so serious that putting them down is euthanasia in the true sense of the word. Ie, not because it's inconvenient to house them until they are adopted or release them to a rescue group to be rehomed, or because they may take longer than some other dogs to adopt.

I totally agree with you, but I just don't think it's going to happen :/

It's the same for most (if not all) pounds and shelters - the line is that they rehome all "adoptable" pets (or all "healthy and rehomeable" or "treatable") pets.. words to that effect. The trouble is that the definition of 'rehomeable', 'adoptable' and 'healthy' is opaque at best. Some places have a much lower "healthy" threshold. Is a dog with a skin infection healthy? What about a dog with luxating patellas? They're decisions that are made behind closed doors, and the definitions aren't transparent or available.

Is a 13 year old "rehomeable"? I say so. Others may not (and I'd fervently disagree, but it's beside the point). What if it's got an ear infection? I'd say of course, treat the ear infection, and many people want to adopt older dogs.

Some pounds may have an an unofficial rule or policy that dogs over a certain age aren't adoptable, or dogs with a particular health or behavioural issue aren't adoptable.. therefore they are removed from the figures and unless you interrogate them, the figures look brilliant.

I'm not saying DAS isn't a great shelter - I've got no experience with them, and have no idea. I agree that those figures look pretty good, even with that reporting and filtering. But when a pound that does a great job and works wtih rescues, community, etc is up against the big guys who claim to adopt out ALL healthy and adoptable animals (when in reality that mean they euthanise an animal with a minor ailment that could be quickly and inexpensively fixed) - what hope have they got. It's an uphill battle.

.. just my thoughts :)

Hi PatchPuppy :)

Have you got any idea how long you're going to be in recovery mode? Is it likely to be a matter of weeks, or more like months/years? If you're able to stick it out for a few weeks that'd be great, but if it's a more long term thing and you're likely to be unable to meet his needs for a long period, I would suggest the following rescues: '

New Beginnings Animal Rescue

Noah's Bark

Forever Friends

Vic Dog Rescue

They're not local to the peninsula, but I would prioritise a good rescue rather than proximity :) Also, many rescues don't necessarily have a geographic location and their carers are based all over the place. My rescue (that I foster for) has a postal address at our vet clinic, but the carers are based all around the place, and none of us live that close to any of the others!

http://www.cootamundraherald.com.au/story/2019111/hundreds-of-dogs-saved/?cs=12

Is this you, mup? Go you!!

IN less than 18 months, Cootamundra’s Hannah Orr has managed to re-home close to 200 dogs from the Cootamundra, Harden and Gundagai Pounds.

A pet lover from way back, when Hannah moved to town from Clarence Town in the Hunter Valley she wanted to do something to ensure animals were not being euthanised wherever possible.

Hannah spends countless volunteer hours talking to rescue centres and local residents wanting to adopt a pet to ensure pound dogs find loving homes and have bright futures.

She promotes the dogs she has in the three pounds she works with via Dogs Online Forum and a Facebook page people can like by searching ‘Cootamundra Pound’.

“I saw there was a need out there and I wanted to do something, I love dogs and I want to find good homes for them,” Hannah said.

“To know an animal is now in a loving home is really satisfying,” she added.

She witnessed a spike in animals being dumped over Christmas with nine animals spending the festive season in the pound.

Of these dogs, new homes have been found for eight and one remains.

Hannah is keen to educate people about the benefits of rescue dogs.

She says often there is a stigma attached to animals in the pound that does not necessarily ring true with the nature of the animal.

“I believe sometimes people think rescues are somehow faulty because they have ended up in the pound but that is not the case,” Hannah said.

“The majority of dogs which end up in the pound are not there for anything they have done, nine times out of ten it is down to the owners,” she said.

Hannah encouraged people to think carefully about taking on a dog and to be realistic about their expectations and obligations.

“It is a lifetime responsibility,” Hannah said.

She said most of the dogs she comes across have been taken on by owners who later realise they can not look after the animal or people move and can not take their dog with them. Increasingly Hannah is seeing failed working dogs being dumped at the pound.

“People don’t always think their choices through,” Hannah said.

She also blames “indiscriminate breeding” for dogs ending up in the pound saying dogs have puppies and rather than responsibly finding homes for the puppies they are taken to the pound.

Hannah says the most common breeds of dogs in the pound are working dog mixes, small fluffy dogs and Jack Russells.

Hannah has four rescue dogs herself and loves them all to bits.

Hannah’s love of dogs is something she is hoping to turn into a career. She is currently studying to be a vet nurse and does regular work experience as part of her studies at the Cooper Street Veterinary Hospital.

See your ad here

When she’s not studying or looking after her dogs, Hannah also works at the Long Track Pantry in Jugiong.

If you are interested in a dog from the Cootamundra Pound check out the Facebook page or contact Cootamundra Shire Council on 6940 2100.

I'd rather people pay $615 for a bitsa from the pound than $3000 for a designer dog from a website!

I don't think they're hurting the dogs' chances of finding a home at all - they're only 'high value' dogs because they're ones that are highly adoptable, and will be easily adopted. If people wouldn't pay it, they wouldn't put the price up like that. And I agree with kirty, the aim of the shelter is surely to get more dogs adopted, and some will require more money and treatment to get to that point. So getting some dogs' adoption fees to cover the cost of other dogs' treatment is fine to me. I don't have a problem with it at all.

Oh, she is just gorgeous!

Fergal!

That's what she's saying SM

Yep. I'm saying that it's NOT like anyone is forced to live in a CBD apartment. It's a choice. This is NOT a situation like someone losing their house and having to move to rental accommodation where they can't keep their dogs, or any number of other scenarios where you're stuck against your will, between a rock and a hard place, eg for financial concerns. If financial concerns were an issue, rather than convenience, it might be more understandable.

If the end result of whatever this situation is means you end up in a CBD apartment, this is not a situation where you don't have any other options.

I just don't understand why anyone would HAVE to move to a CBD apartment. It's not like if you're moving to an apartment in the CBD, you're doing it because you can't afford to live somewhere where you can keep the dog.

And flip it the other way - would you agree to take on a dog if you knew their former owners would be wanting to be in your life forever? I wouldn't. I can't think of many people who would. There's no use rehashing the things people have already mentioned here. If you are going to responsibly rehome your dog, fine - but you have to be prepared for some backlash, and you have to give your dog the best possible opportunity to thrive and adapt. That means sucking it up sometimes, and letting him go; you can't have your cake and eat it too.

My current foster is the first dog from RSPCA NSW to come to Rescued With Love

It doesn't even seem like she actually WANTS the dog. I'd be tempted to not respond, but get the feeling that that would just lead to more emails, - Ams's wording is great!

I just have to put my 2c in here - I have been watching Leema's work with Bandit on facebook for the entire 6 months, and trust me, it's not like she hasn't done all the right things 10 times over, evaluated what she's been doing, asked for people's opinions on photos/ads/tactics and taken advice on board..

Sometimes it just takes time for the right home - I had my last foster for nearly 5 months with no bites, and he was perfect, and a SWF. Sometimes despite ticking all the boxes, the right home just doesn't quite find them yet. There's no rhyme or reason :/

I'm not very good at making videos either, but I am more than happy to make one for you tonight if you want to send me some pics and videos? I just use some crap program that I downloaded for free and scroll pics and videos in front of an upbeat happy song (no Sarah McLachlan type crap here!) and put snippets of info in there. It didn't work for Harro (he stayed for months afterwards) but one video I made for another carer's dog ended up getting her adopted, they told us that it was the video that made them enquire about her. This was a beautiful little dog who was in care for 8 months and just had no enquiries for god knows what reason. She was bloody hard to take good photos of, but a lovely dog, no vices or medical issues at all!

Yes, I regularly browse through all the available dogs - I am a rescuer and like to know what's out there as I get quite a few enquiries from people overwhelmed by the amount of dogs available so I try and help them and have rehomed quite a few dogs from other rescue groups in this way.

I'm tempted myself when looking at dogs with other groups but usually manage to resist ... pound sites are a different matter!

I used to be obsessed with trawling PetRescue and a few rescues' websites too, but I think fostering has cured me the need. But I also keep tabs on a few places because people (friends, friends of friends, friends' parents etc.. people who know me as the weird dog lady) often ask me if I know of any dogs that might suit them or fit their needs. Yesterday someone told me their friend wanted a poodle, and could I help.. my head is full of otherwise useless info, like which rescues currently have poodles and what have you! :laugh:

Nyaw, just a few! I didn't end up liking most of them :/

241013_029 by allkhe, on Flickr

241013_016 by allkhe, on Flickr

241013_014 by allkhe, on Flickr

one thing with animal shots - when you are getting a face, the first thing someone will look at is the eyes. If they are out of focus, or "dead", then it makes the subject less interesting. The way to avoid this is to get cathlights in the eyes - the little bit of light that helps add a sparkle to the eye. SO before you start shooting, look for the direction of light, and you can do this easiest if you are unsure by having the model sit, then see where they need to be for the light to be hitting their eyes. One you know the direction, makes sure they are running at you from that direction.

There is no substitute for practice, and one thing I would suggest to make it easier in learning the camera is to start with a static object - play around with that under different settings, shoot the same thing at different times of day, with the different lens etc - you will very soon come back to learning the ISO / shutter speed / aperture relationship. And the practice means you are not fiddling for settings or only using presets

Tikira - a lot of "photographers" may indeed use presets, however I and any professionals I know certainly do not, except perhaps presets I have set up myself - why would I use the cameras presets which are calculated to turn the image into 18% grey - not what I want if shooting a black cat or a white cat, when I want my black objects black, and my white ones white, not grey. The camera will only do what it is programmed to do. I instead rely on my knowledge (and practice), at knowing exactly what settings will achieve the look I want, know how to read the light to know what ISO I am going to need to use to get that look under almost any conditions, and also know how to work out what I need to base my settings on to get the correct exposure (plus know how to use the compensation settings, and also read the histogram. Why on earth would I let my camera determine all of that for me - I may as well then not even use an SLR if that was what I wanted

How do you read the light you may ask - easy - you know bright sunny means ISO 100. Overcast is generally going to mean ISO 400 or maybe 800, indoors no flash may even need to be up to ISO 3200. I will check by putting the camera onto the ISO I have chosen, and check it using the shutter I want, and seeing whether the camera can cope with that. If a test shot shows underexposure or overexposure, I will then adjust as necessary

Linda that is so helpful, thank you so much!! I have been watching youtube tutorials etc which go through different apeture settings and as I was at the zoo yesterday, I was thinking through what the differnet apertures did to the kermit the frog statue from the video I watched.. :laugh: so I'm sure like driving, it'll become second nature at some point, after lots and lots fo practice!!

Oh yes! I'm flickr.com/photos/allerix :D

Ok, I am now convinced that it's totally ok to get my awesome dog action shots at the park using preset modes. :laugh: I'm such a bloody perfectionist, I think I just have to remember that the reason I wanted to get this camera in teh first place was to be able to get great shots of my dogs and fosters, and that wanting to know and understand more about photography is also an aim, but kind of beside the point if I'm not getting the shots I want.

I also went to the zoo yesterday and got some great shots, some on auto and some on manual, and I'm completely astounded at how great the auto ones are!

I actually had no idea about the difference between jpg and RAW, and that jpg automatically adjusts like that. I haven't yet got any postprocessing software, though it's something I'm going to get asap. Exciting!

It really differs from pound to pound, unfortunately. Some have staff who are more qualified than others, or who have more knowledge about particular dogs, and who are available to chat with potential adopters. Other pounds will have volunteers speaking to potential adopters who have little knowledge of them. It also depends on the actual time of day that people go in to look at the dogs and who's on duty, etc etc.

Oh god I love him, he is beautiful! Ahh, seniors, they're always my favourites :laugh:

I feel like a cheat for using sport mode, but I used it for these today at the park :D It was still difficult to throw the ball then crouch down and find and focus on the dog! :laugh:

Ohhh you DO have the same Flowering Plum as me! I remember from the spring thread :D

How did you go today in sunlight?

Don't underestimate the presets your camera has just because you want to play with manual settings... sometimes it helps to use them to get the basic settings the camera expects for the scene you are trying to capture - then you can fiddle with those settings in manual to get the shots you want later...

T.

Unfortunately I missed allllll the sunlight today - I was at work until 6:30 and didn't get home for another hour But tomorrow I am going to the zoo with my sister! And hopefully the forecast is totally wrong..

Very good point about adjusting the settings later.. I still need to get some good editing software, that's next payday!

and another