keri66
Well-Known Member
That's the kind of thing I mean Stormox
Aa
I need to correct you on several wrong assumptions you have made and also to defend the poor Stafford. Firstly, Battersea cannot take on every dog that needs help and we are physically unable to deal with the vast number of unwanted dogs in this country. If you genuinely believe that every unwanted dog will find a space like Battersea, you are sadly very very wrong. Estimates stand that around 80 healthy dogs are PTS every single day in the UK alone. Secondly, there are very very few proper Staffords in rescue. They are a small breed and are subject to appalling cross and backstreet breeding. A correct Stafford dog is a max of 16" at the shoulder and a bitch is only 14". If you particularly wanted a specific breed then there are a lot of breed rescues around. My first 2 Staffords are true to type and the latter 2 would be deemed to be crosses.
It's a lovely thing to help animals overseas, but please PLEASE don't do it believing we have our own rescue situation sorted out over here. I can't comment on the equine side as I want to compete and have bought accordingly.
There is a rescue in Ireland, AHAR,which actually BUYS horses at fairs,they bought a good few at Ballinasloe for example, then has them on their page needing homes and some go to UK. Thats dealing, not rescuing!
My local rescue here in Ireland (Hungry Horse Outside) re-homes to the UK and Europe (mostly Germany), basically anywhere they have a suitable volunteer for home checks. I think it is good on them for finding homes for their rescues, the cost of transport from Ireland to the UK is minimal, less than the re-homing fee from many UK charities. They also have different rules to many UK rescues (e.g. re-homing a donkey as a pony companion), and I believe many UK rescues only re-home locally so plenty of people in the UK will struggle to find something suitable from a UK rescue.
I don't agree with importing a group of poor quality cobs into a UK rescue from an Irish one with no immediate homes for them, but it is a bit much to suggest that just because someone will offer a home to a specific horse or pony in an Irish rescue they would automatically take a UK rescue if the Irish one wasn't available. That basically assumes that all rescue horses or ponies are identical, interchangeable and essentially worthless There is a thread on here about someone coming over here to look at horses to buy, no-one is jumping on them saying they have to buy in the UK since the UK already has too many horses.
My local rescue isn't just full of poor quality cobs (though there are certainly plenty of those!), the recent economic climate has led to the abandonment of perfectly nice animals. Last time I was there two class 1 Connemara broodmares came in (they later gave birth to mules having been dumped near some donkeys ).
HHO Max (re-homed to France, 12.2 competing @ 1.40m):
You have also made several assumptions about me. I know full well the extent of the unwanted animal problem here in the UK. However there are appropriate laws here and charities that operate on a huge scale to deal with this. The local council dog pounds around the UK, whilst no doubt are depressing places for a dog to be, will have four walls, a roof and the dogs will be fed and watered. I choose to help in countries where none of this exists, where it is a common sight for dogs to die on city pavements and pedestrians step over them like they are an inconvenient piece of discarded litter. Where there are no laws to stop you chopping your dog's limbs off whilst they are alive and chucking them in a rubbish bin because you can't be bothered to feed it anymore. Where a dog being tortured like the poor dog that's been all over Facebook doesn't cause a national outpouring of outrage against the perpetrators but is seen as normal life for a pest like a dog. If I had the space to do so, I would take 100 dogs out a country like that before I would adopt from the UK because the odds of absolutely despicable things happening to them are much higher in those countries than here. At worst a dog here will be humanely put to sleep and cruelty can be dealt with by the law. I defy anyone to read this page of a charity I support financially, and think that this man shouldn't be helping these dogs and instead be worrying about the ones in his home country.
https://m.facebook.com/animalhopeandwellness/
As you say, the majority of Staffie type dogs in rescue are not pure bred but crosses. No matter, they look a certain type and unfortunately due to the less desirable connotations with the breed, I'm sure many people don't want to own one including me. It's horses for courses if you will excuse the pun, just like i don't believe someone won't buy a warmblood dressage horse and instead adopt a gypsy cob from Ada Cole instead because there is an overload of horses in rescue. People like what they like which is why cute, small dogs always get adopted first, a majority of people don't want the Staffie cross bred dogs.
While there is money to be made from breeding even x bred dogs people will keep breeding them, and I agree a good Staffie is just as much a family pet as a golden retriever.My assumptions would appear to be correct. You are not correctly informed. These dog pounds you refer to have a 7 day wait time for the dog to be collected or taken to rescue. Some pounds really try to get the dogs out but for the majority, it is 7 days and then the dog is destroyed. We are over run wth unwanted dogs in the UK and I have no idea where you get the idea from that we have a strong working structure to take care of all the unwanted dogs. Most charities are run on a shoestring and people working unpaid on top of their own commitements and family. There is simply no room or money. Battersea is overwhelmed and can't take on every dog people want to give to them.
The more people pander t the media hype about Staffords, the more I will stand in their corner. We had Staffords in our nice Surrey household before they were embraced by the scum who are ruining our breed. No one gave us a second glance and the puppies were snapped up quickly. The dogs haven't changed and while I fully accept people want different things I won't accept the hype around these poor dogs. Here is what the media doesn't push. Staffords are energetic, bright and fun little dogs who adore people. Great yard dogs, big characters. My point was that we are absolutely spoiled fr choice for dogs over here and if you want a breed, you can find one through breed rescue. People may choose to buy a pup but the people I know who do this normally have a specific reason and know their dogs. Mine are "just" pets..
While there is money to be made from breeding even x bred dogs people will keep breeding them, and I agree a good Staffie is just as much a family pet as a golden retriever.
I know two people who would not class themselves as breeders, both have happy accidents on a regular basis, sell the cross bred pups with no vaccinations started or insurance vets checks etc, and manage to sell them for £250-£350, the last litter had 10 pups. Even after feeding you make 50% profit its tempting for people on a low income.
My last dog I rehomed direct from its buyer at six months, it cost me nothing and I have a lovely dog, a Rotti X, she was out of a litter of 10. I do wonder where the rest are.
My assumptions would appear to be correct. You are not correctly informed. These dog pounds you refer to have a 7 day wait time for the dog to be collected or taken to rescue. Some pounds really try to get the dogs out but for the majority, it is 7 days and then the dog is destroyed. We are over run wth unwanted dogs in the UK and I have no idea where you get the idea from that we have a strong working structure to take care of all the unwanted dogs. Most charities are run on a shoestring and people working unpaid on top of their own commitements and family. There is simply no room or money. Battersea is overwhelmed and can't take on every dog people want to give to them.
I have no idea why these little black and white cobs are still being bred, I suppose because its like a lottery and the mares have no care, they are kept on scrub land and their is always a chance they will sell a nicely marked one for a couple of hundred pounds.
we called dogs trust about a dog we really liked, explained our current dog and our situation and they said he is absolutely fine, just pulls on the lead a bit but would be great with our
There is a rescue in Ireland, AHAR,which actually BUYS horses at fairs,they bought a good few at Ballinasloe for example, then has them on their page needing homes and some go to UK. Thats dealing, not rescuing!
As far as I know AHAR are not actually a charity, they are horse dealers who have a rather unique technique! Last I heard they were taking on a mortgage for an equestrian centre, which pretty much says it all since I can't see any bank lending money without a business plan for paying it back. It's unfortunate that they also have a very flashy website and a good publicity machine (probably due to having the funds!) so they take money away from the real rescue centres.
Its also unfortunate that the publicity around them tends to tar others with the same brush (HHO is an "actual" rescue, i.e. a registered charity who take in horses as a last resort, usually impounded animals from the authorities and occasionally gifted by the owner).
Interesting, I also had a terrible experience with dogs trust a few years ago (when still in the UK). They had clearly mis-represented the dog and then made us out to be monsters when we returned it after one week as completely un-suitable.
For general interest, there's been another large intake of horses for our UK charities to deal with, this time from Sussex. They've been taken to WHW rescue centres in Somerset and Norfolk, but the WHW, Redwings, RSPCA and the Donkey Sanctuary all coordinated their efforts in removing the horses from the site. Not coloured cobs, either.
http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/Ar...gether-to-Safeguard-Welfare-of-Over-40-Horses
Thanks. It's a lot to take on all at once, isn't it. They look in fairly good nick in the photos but they are apparently all unhandled, which brings its own challenges in getting them ready for re homing. I've recently become a member of WHW to help support their work.How sad. I will make a donation this evening because 40 horses is a huge financial burden to take on.