.com Forum · Australian Forum

I was looking at a couple of web sites the other day and I was appauled at the number of dogs that desperately need homes.
Many of these dogs are cross breeds and though I find nothing wrong with these, I wondered where they all came from.
Many would be accidental litters, people who havn't bothered to hace their dog neutered and end up with pups;
but what about the pet shop pups?
many of them are little more than over priced mongrels.
These "designer dogs" are often such a mix of breeds that it is imposable to predict what the outcome will be, creating a potentially dangerous situation with dogs of unknown temperament and charicteristics in innexperienced families.
How many of the dog attacks each year could be traced back to pet shops?
These places sell pups to anybody, without questioning how the dog will be raised, who will care for it, even if the people understand what a responsiblity that they have taken on.
They are only interested in making money.
It is mainly for the "pet shop" trade that puppy mills exist.
The pet shops who happily buy poorly breed pups who could have any genetic desease under the sun, coupled with unkown temperement and you have the potential for disaster.
With a pure bred, you have a fair idea of what you're getting; a lab will be calm and easy going, a boxer an exuberant jumping bean on steroids, whatever. and (good) breeders tend to ask people about the life that the pup may have.
But by far the biggest crime perptrated by the pet shops in my eyes, is the lack of desexing.
None of their pups or kittens are desexed.
Those "cute little balls of fluf" that turn into a bothersome anoyance and are dumped or surrendered, to breed more dogs or wait for a home that may never come.
And if it is kept, what will happen if that pup becomes pregnent?
A single bitch can be resposible, for a final total of over two hundred dogs, all decended from her. Childern who have children who have children who have children who have children and so on and so forth into eternity.
all decended from one bitch who nobody bothered to desex.
I have seen some beautiful dogs at shelters, who I would have loved to own had I the space, but I live with my own dog and my Mums little bitch, both of whom are desexed, and it would take a deal of thought on wether we could easily cope with a third dog at the moment.
But can you imagen how many future lives would be saved if pet shops had to desex their pups? if people went to the local RSPCA or animal shelter to get their dog? If people thought about it for longer than "oh she's sooooo cuutee!"
What a world it would be.

Its so sad when you see on websites how many dogs are up for adpotion at the pounds.....

A few years ago my dog got seized as someone claimed he was savage......the council basically laughed and said he was the biggest sook they had ever seen - but for procedure our dobie had to stay at the pound for the weekend - We were so happy they had broken the rules and released him too us instead of going through all the motions with the person that claimed our dog was savage - that shortly after we were at Animal Aid taking in blankets and treats for all the dogs at the pound - I came across a 6? month old rottie and her brother - they had ran away from a farm together and were both so cute sitting in the pound together - I had to get one of them - was the most stupid decision of my life in some ways - I didnt even bother to think if this pup would get along with my dobie or if we could afford to look after her properly - plus we had only just lost our ridgeback puppy at the time.

It turns out she is the best dog I have ever had in my life - a few things she is terrified of (Hate to think what was done to her by the original owners - they docked her tail with a rubber band - goes to show there are some people with no brains or compassion).

I dont think pet shops should have to sell dogs who are already desexed - but perhaps the idea people are always talking about - where people should have a permit to actually own animlas is a good idea -
Besides the RSPCA wouldnt refuse me a permit when they saw what a life of luxury my dogs lead - so the whole permit thing doesnt bother me - and Im sure nobody who is a good responsible and loving animal owner would mind having to get a permit if it meant that idiots who are only going to mistreat or dump a dog wouldnt eb able to have a pet in the first place.

The permit is a good idea.
My Mum thinks that people should have to do a sort of licence, just like a drivers licence, to own a dog or cat; so that you have to do a test to make sure that you know how to care for them.
I just get so angry when I see people who have no idea what they are doing, owning dogs and having the dog and the family suffer because of it.
I wish that people would see it as the huge problem that it is, rather than some hobby of animal lovers who have too much time on their hands.
Wouldn't it be great if some of these ploiticians would try to help this country in practical ways instead of running around overseas, preocupied with Iraq?
Nobody with real influence seems to care, unless it bacame a huge political bargaining chip, the pollies want nothing to do with it.
And that is truely sad.

People who wont buy any animals from shelters really annoy me.
In some cases the puppies from shelters, come from pet shops in the first place. if you want a pedigree puppy then go to a breeder and have the decency to have it desexed if you arent a breeder yourself. I am soon goign to get some pups from the pound. i have my own experiences with cats.
Once i had a pedigree cat, and she was gorgeous she just hated humans, we got her from a breeder, but she has died of old age. Once my mum had a cat (from a pet shop) but he was awful always bit and scratched, one day he bit her and she put him outside and he ran away. Now we have my gorgeous girl, silver tabby cross. My Charli. She is the most beautiful thing ever. All i am saying is sometimes the ones in the punds have better temperaments and are easier to look after. If you dont want to get your dog or cat desexed, make sure they stay in and dont get pregnant unless you want to raise the puppies and sell them, not surrender them!!

I have a cat too.
His name is Chevy, we found him at the local tip when he was only about 3-4 weeks old.
He had the flu, he was dehydrated and malnourished, but he was the cutest tinniest little thing.
He's a beautiful silver tabby, his stripes are sort of spotted, and I've had british and European breeders say that he has the most beautiful colouring that they have ever seen.
As for him being nice? Well, he is extreemely playfull, and can spend the entire afternoon vaulting from the cupboard to the fridge to the bench to the couch to the chair off the wall and up and down the hall. He could probably include the ceiling too if he was bothered.
I have scars from his teeth and claws when he plays, and he chases our dogs and runs away from my cockateils. Loon.
He throws himself on the floor and yowls, trying to convince everyone that he's just STARVING to death, and if you didn't know better you'd think just that, the con artist
But he can occasionally be sweet and cute, he chases his tail on occasion and wakes you up by gently licking your cheak, and if you don't get up fast eneough, then he punshes you, and it does feel like a punch too. but no claws.
He a star shape in his left eye, so I call him Chevy star eyes and kitten when he's being nice, otherwise he gets called Furball when he's not.
He hates other cats, but seems to have a strange relationship with my fish, and he loves dates, penutbutter and mushroom but dislikes sardeens and apples.
He constantly brought home snakes when we lived on our block in QLD, including a fully grown LIVE brown snake!! which caused a comotion when he delivered it to us I can tell you! LOL!!
We had never intended to get a cat, but when we saw him at the tip for the seccond time (we'd seen him a few days before but thought that maybee he had a mum) we just couldn't find it in our hearts to leave him there.
And once we'd had him for a month or so, we couldn't rehome him, we all loved him too much.
And so we have a cat, and when I oneday get another cat, which won't be while Chevy still lives, I wouldn't go anywhere else but the pound or rescue shelter.
It just makes you feel so good to look at a happy little animal and know that you are the reason he is happy and healty and alive.
I'd better go now, I've rambled on long eneough, so I suppose you can tell I love my little furball hey?
Best Regards

Omg i have just realised your cat and my cat have a fair bit in common!!
My gorgueous girl loves peanut butter, but hates cats. i have a few stories about her and other cats but anyway, some times the best pets arent pedigree

Aren't they looking at banning live pet sales of puppies and kittens in petshops? That will make it harder for the backyard/ puppymill people to get rid of their"stock".

***RANT ALERT***RANT ALERT***RANT ALERT***

For me a real designer dog is one from a reputable show kennel, champ bloodlines, with papers, usually a couple of zero's on the pricetag.

The so called designer dogs being sold at petshops are MONGRELS, CROSSBRED, MUTTS....

When you think designer, you think of people like Versace, CK, get what I mean? not cocker f***ing poo's.

I have owned purebred showdogs and pet dogs, it depends what you want to do with a dog, like show, companion to what you buy.

Designer dogs my rear end, i just want to kick people who declare I have a designer dog like its so bloody special, you can't do anything with it, it can never be a champion, it is a crossbreed mutt- family pet only. It is NOT SPECIAL!!!!

"it can never be a champion, it is a crossbreed mutt- family pet only. It is NOT SPECIAL!!!!"


to my understanding a designer dog is a specific cross, like a cockerpoo, "designed" as opposed to pedigree.
I have a heafty dose of respect for these pedigree dogs and their breeders, they are dogs that have been bred for a purpose for, somethimes, thousands of years. I only find issue with these breeders when they take the dog to extremes in the name of aesthetics, as in the case of the bulldog, which has changed so much from the origional, that it sufferes from seveire respitory problems, has trouble walking properly and has a drasticly shortened lifespan.

I detest the "puppy mills" that pump out pups to sell for ridiculous prices to gullible folk, and they should be stoped and more people made to desex their animals.
But I also have a strong dose of respect for all "mongrels" since these are the humble orrigines that many breeds can trace themselves back to.
And though they may be humble, they be mighty.
Every dog is in its own way special, just as every person is.
There will always be tough little mongrells with attitude and loyalty.
There is nothing we can do to stop them from happening on occasion, since dogs will show remarcable tenacity in managing to find themselves the most inapropriate mate. what we can stop is the ones intentionally mass bred for the petshops, and the backyard births that could have been prevented with a simple trip to the vet.

This is where the problem stems from, this is where the "designer dogs" come from.

I am going to stick my foot in it here, I was bought up with proper pedigreed dogs, show dogs, that reguarly took home placings etc, win or loose, they always came home as my special friend.

Right now I have ONE xbred, mongrel etc, and the slack i have copped from 'show' people is horrendus. She was dumped in bushland, in the middle of no-where and we gave her a home, she is VERY SPECIAL to me, no she can never be a show dog, win those ribbons for me etc, but she gives me great love and companionship, and thats what owning animals is about.

NO i am not for cross breeding dogs, and I completely agree with the idea of carefully bred dogs, but if any animal enters someones life and gives them happiness and joy, thats what its all about