Appeal re dogs

[Jux]

Just been listening to a piece on Sky news about abandoned dogs, warning about all sorts things like high vet bills, demanding pet, but what really got me was what people do when they no longer want the dog they have. Resale if it's still young enough or abandonment.

I do understand that MOST people do not do this and are responsible and lovinig owners, I really do.

But shelters are over-run anyway. Is it time to bring back dog licences?

I honestly don't think that dog licenses would do anything to combat it.

I think some people do think of puppies as cute little things and disposable when they turn out to be hard work.

Don't get me wrong I honestly regretted getting mine when he was a bitey peeing pooing demanding monster puppy but it was my decision to get him and I wouldn't have got rid of him just for being a puppy as it would have been irresponsible and bloody unfair on him. However, as the internet shows unfortunately quite a few people don't feel the same way.

What really makes me angry is when people get rid of a puppy as it's hard work but then get another one and do the same. Making a mistake once is bad enough but to repeat history is unforgivable.

(There are occasions when it is the correct decision to rehome but when I read 'circumstances have changed' I do think it means 'I didn't expect a dog to behave like a dog and need training')

To add to the misery I heard that before Christmas is a big time for dumping dogs. This is to make way for the Xmas puppy. I cannot get my head round it.

Omg, fessmess that is appalling.

I'm not a dog owner despite pleas from dd when she was younger as I can't walk them - and I'd want a biiiig one!

I just can't think of a way to make it harder for people who don't deserve to have dogs while still allowing reasonable people to have them.

I know someone who took on an older rescue.

The history was that the dog was found and was micro chipped but when the rescue center contacted previous owners they said they didn't want the old dog back as they now had a puppy. I can't imagine abandoning a faithful old dog just to make way for a cute puppy. You will never stop that unfortunately as some people simply don't care.

I've seen a return to dog licences suggested as a solution to all sorts of pet ownership issues, but you have to remember what it was - it was a piece of paper from the Post Office that cost 37p. You paid your money, completed the form, and Doris behind the county gave it an official stamp.

So when you talk about bringing back dog licences @Jux - what do you actually mean?

Ah well, now you ask.... I had no idea that was what dog licences were like! I had thought you had to attend a reputable (authorised?) "how to look after your dog" type thing, maybe agree to attend dog training classes once you'd got the dog. Maybe run by RSPCA or such like? Then qualified dog-knowing-experts would have an idea whether you were a dog-on-a-string-keep-it-for-fighting type person and could send inspectors round occasionally to make sure dog is safe and well, and you (as a responsible dog owner) would have someone to contact if you had a worry. I thought they cost enough to make people think before getting a dog, and I thought it was a serious thing if you were found to have a dog but no licence.

Sorry. I really, honestly thought they were worth something.

Mind you, 37p was nearly 7s 6d back then, which could be almost a week's wages!

Mind you, 37p was nearly 7s 6d back then, which could be almost a week's wages!
It was only 1987!

Pet ownership laws are not a public priority, the cost of enforcing them would be very high and there's no authority with the capacity to take it on. You suggest the RSPCA, but they're not without critics.

Micro-chipping is compulsory (has been since 2016), but it's not fully complied with and the registered ownership data is very poor quality. We rescued an older dog almost a couple of years ago and she was unchipped and picked up as a stray - no means of tracing. Vetting for taking a rescue dog was a basic face-to-face Q&A to make sure we had reasonable expectations and a check that the garden was secure.

Dog license prevented nothing. Puppies and dogs are abandoned for so many reasons. Lots of things need to change. Puppy farms and back yard breeders would be at the fore front. There needs to e a huge crack down on both. Which needs money and the general public to work.

Puppies farms are closed down, but often move somewhere else. Back yard breeders often just dont care. I would love to see back yard breeding banned. Not sure how feasible that is.

Then there are the issues of people not taking animal care seriously. Who loves a dog its whole life and gets rid of it for a puppy? They didnt love the dog. I am animal obsessed but I cant see an animal being adequately cared for if theres no mind between owner and animal. Nmbasic needs may be taken care of, but nothing further.

I have just rescued a dog through a rescue I work with. Its breed specific and they throughly check that you have knowledge about the breed not just dogs. They rarely outright refuse people but are very careful about which dogs you could have, according to the information you give them.

The other problem is seemingly decent people with animal experience still abandon dogs. I know someone who bought a choc lab. He is a millionaire. His wife is a house wife, kids are 11 and older. They have a housekeeper, employed a dog sitter to do nights while ut was toilet trained and a dog Walker during the day. They have other animals. The wife found it too much and they rehomed after 12 weeks. I was flabbergasted that with all the help they still couldnt cope. I dont believe they even began to understand what having a dog meant.

I'm in Northern Ireland where dog licences are the law. It means nothing other than a small income stream for the local council- I do mine online in 2 mins. It's a five for a neutered dog.
Equally, microchipping is the law here, and has been for some time. How many stray dogs picked up actually have a microchip? Not many. How many BYBs or puppy farmers microchip their pups before selling ( also a legal requirement) ? I've yet to hear of one.
The only way forward is education, and making breeders take responsibility.

OK, thank you all for educating me. Licences, compulsory microchipping etc, none of it is adequate clearly. It makes me so angry that we are supposed to be a civilised country, first bloody world, and yet we are so irresponsible as a society. Not just with dogs, either. With people too.

Btw, re 37p was quoted, I just assumed that was back in the early 70s/late 60s. No idea why I thought that [idiot that I am!]

I'm sorry anyway. The first thing needed is the will and the means, and atm the State appears to have neither.