Dumped Staffies :-(

[ladyt25]

Just saw this article as i was coming out of Hotmail

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=155867122

It's just so sad that dogs continue to be dumped and that the amount of dumped staffies in particular seems to be increasing. I wonder if there is ever going to be anything that can be done. Does there need to be a more high profile campaign made? The Dogs Trust (NCDL's) old "A dog is for life not just for christmas" just doesn't seem to be heard anymore - was it ever?

Do people need to be educated more from an early age or are there always going to be these people who don't care and just assume someone else with "take care" of the dog when they can't be bothered to?

Is having to have a licence to have a dog the answer or will that just mean the caring, law abiding citizens will adhere to it but the 'other's would just ignore it anyway??

It just makes me sad and so angry that so many dogs (and other animals) suffer so needlessly or have their lives cut short because these charities and dog pounds are just bursting at the seams.

 

[CAYLA]

It maddens me, how they cheap they are and they hands they commonly fall into, they then grow sturdy and get boisterous and they of course rarely bother to socialise them with dogs, and decide )more commonly when they are not so cute) that it's time to rid
The rescues then have a hyper, dog aggressive staff to rehome that is destructive and cannot be crate trained because they shred them in minutes when they have never been in one.

All for the sake of puting some time and effort in and training them, to help them become the lovely family pets they are and can be.

 

[ladyt25]

Makes you despair. It just seems for every wonderful person who rescues a dog there's another 10 who dump some. Rescues are just fighting a losing battle aren't they.

 

[CAYLA]

Makes you despair. It just seems for every wonderful person who rescues a dog there's another 10 who dump some. Rescues are just fighting a losing battle aren't they.

Oh yes, I always say to my mam "whay do we bother, we are but a meer drop in the ocean in this world in regard to trying to make a difference, rehome dogs, educate re ownership and not breeding because the bitch was blessed with a vagina and someones/anyones dog had balls" as some days the anger/frustration gets the better of me.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

It would really help if the bigger rescues eg RSPCA would stop making ridiculous demands on prospective owners like being at home 24/7. Crazy. I'm sure lots more people would adopt if the rules were relaxed a bit.

 

[prosefullstop]

Don't get me wrong, New York has a shocking problem with homeless and dumped dogs, but there have been small steps made by responsible individuals/groups to "re-brand" the image of shelter dogs, and in particular Pit Bulls.

Our local shelter made a conscious effort not to look like your typical dog shelter. It has an attached boutique, and a massive indoor playroom (120 feet by 50) available for agility classes, general obedience and a play hour for small dogs (my two were there today, in fact). It has a famous dog trainer on its board, who appears on morning TV shows with adoptable dogs, many of them Pit Bulls, in order to show that they can be excellent family pets. Because of this shelter's work, it is now common to see Pit Bulls in my area being walked by families or elderly people etc. The shelter does everything possible, in fact, to stem the image of Pits owned by the typical demographic.

So yes, I do think that Staffies need a positive ad campaign in their favour, preferably supplemented by well-known, responsible Staffie owners speaking up on the breed's behalf.

 

[prosefullstop]

It would really help if the bigger rescues eg RSPCA would stop making ridiculous demands on prospective owners like being at home 24/7. Crazy. I'm sure lots more people would adopt if the rules were relaxed a bit.

Agreed. The shelter I mentioned requires adopters of pups to put their dog through an obedience class, and strongly advises those adopting lively/young dogs to employ the services of a walker, but they have no issues re-homing to people who work/people whose homes don't have gardens/people with young children in the household. I don't think the RSPCA is at all realistic.

 

[I_am_a_cucumber]

Oh yes, I always say to my mam "whay do we bother, we are but a meer drop in the ocean in this world in regard to trying to make a difference, rehome dogs, educate re ownership and not breeding because the bitch was blessed with a vagina and someones/anyones dog had balls" as some days the anger/frustration gets the better of me.

I understand how you feel, Cayla. I sometimes feel like that with regard to my (part-time) job (which has nothing to do with animal rescue!). Have you heard the starfish story?

While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water. He came closer still and called out, "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean." The old man smiled, and said, "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!" The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

So even if you can't save them all and can't prevent mindless breeding, you make an enormous difference to the individual dogs you help.

 

[Luci07]

Very very sad. Staffies are really not a lot different from any other terrier breed, good and bad. We have always had staff's and they were never treated any differently from the other dogs. We did have them as pups which did help, but they were expected to socialise with other dogs, accept dog training etc etc. The problem we always had with them was their stubborness - not aggressiveness!. Now having been around and had rescue dogs the worst problem is the idiots who let a staff have a fight "to sort it out themselves". Absolute stupidity. A staff has a memory like an elephant and once attacked will frequently then be more "on guard". The dog puppy my sister had was never castrated, mixed with dog club/dog classes and never misbehaved .. but he was NEVER EVER allowed to "sort" things out as other people kept advising my BIL to do. Alfie, little ball of muscle could be taken everywhere with no problems at all. My own dog is a little more guardy having been badly attacked by a bigger dog as a 4 month old puppy, nearly losing his eye. His tolerance to large bouncy dogs is not great but I knew that when I took him on and act accordingly.

Can't wait till staffs are no longer a popular breed. Sadly this just means that another breed will go through this.