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11-16-2005, 06:26 PM | #1 |
Princess Poop A Lot Donating Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado
Posts: 6,728
| Interesting comments on Puppy Mills Interesting comments from the Best Friends yahoo group I belong to. http://bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/weeklyforum/ If you go to their website you can join their forums if you would like. I usually get 2 emails a day addressing the different issues they are talking about for the week.. Next weeks forum with be on animal vaccinations. Yvette Van Veen is with the Animal Rescue Foundation Ontario Question from Jason: Do you think that there are any particular breeds that call for more caution than others? For example, does the fact that those dogs in an earlier question were pit bulls point to the fact that 'we should have known' that there was a potential for dog-to-dog aggression? Response from Yvette Van Veen: In my heart of hearts, I know the answer to this is, "absolutely not." Here are the reasons I believe so passionately that breed has nothing to do with aggression: Each year I talk to hundreds of people with aggressive dogs. Because of all the calls and e-mails I receive, I know that all breeds are susceptible to showing aggression. Which means if you focus on the, "muscle/bully breeds of today," you probably won't see the tense Poodle who bites. Out of all the dogs I see each year, the vast majority are not pit bulls. Most are family friendly breeds. And most are the popular breed of the day. Locally I am seeing the something-a-poos, labradoodles and goldendoodles. Most are from puppy mills. And a trend to note is that many mills are cleaning up the sanitation of their facilities. Cross contamination prevention, sanitation, automatic feeders and so on. People see all of this and think, "Wow! What a great place!" What they do not know is that these animals are nearly devoid of human contact and socialization until they go to their home. The dog is already set up for phobias, fear and aggression. It can help to keep an eye on the trends in your community, and it can help to get educational material out as soon as you see a problem emerging. If I walk a two block area, there are six dogs that are an accident waiting to happen. Not one of them is a pit bull or a, "Thought to be aggressive," breed. How do I know there is a problem? Most are outdoors on chains or behind a barrier fence, fighting. They are outdoor dogs that daily feel the frustration of crashing a barrier. Two of the six go indoors, but have barrier frustration that you see when the dog is on a walk, or when the curtains are left open. There are far more obvious signs of aggression than breed alone. Muscle breeds of choice are known to change over time. When I was a child, Doberman Pinschers were the breed to be feared. I can clearly remember people talking about inbred, King Dobermans that would kill you in a minute. That problem was so pervasive that the stories made it to T.V. shows. Recently I saw an episode of a Quincy re-run which focused on Dobermans being trained for aggression and fed gun powder. I would love to see a major television program do an episode on dog fighting and Staffordshire Terriers. It has the potential to create an enormous ripple effect in the social perceptions of the general public. Breed banning does not help the matter. People choose another breed, and if you focus on the breed of today, you might miss seeing the first signs of the problem of tomorrow. Since I write a public column, I know that people are looking for replacement breeds. They have actually called and asked for suggestions. It breaks my heart. It only takes a few years to affect the genetic lines of a breed of animals. Within five or so years, breeders can absolutely change the characteristics of a breed. Despite having hundreds of years of fighting in their lines, a few years can change the standard. Studies on foxes have been done to see if they could be bred for sociability. It appears they can, and in no time at all. History combined with testing gives you two things that breed identification cannot. You can look for dogs that have been formerly chained. You can look for signs that an animal did not go through a bite prevention program. You can spot red flags. The test lets you look at each animal as they are, and breed will not cloud your judgement. Toy breeds have killed young children. Set breed aside. The dogs and the families that adopt them will have a far better chance if you take things one dog at a time. You will also have a better chance as you work with these animals. Cindy & The Gang |
Welcome Guest! | |
11-16-2005, 07:53 PM | #2 |
YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 2,484
| good post, Thanks! |
11-16-2005, 08:24 PM | #3 |
Puppy Luv Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Canada
Posts: 2,678
| Thanks for posting this. |
11-17-2005, 07:17 AM | #4 |
Princess Poop A Lot Donating Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado
Posts: 6,728
| I think next week's forum will be very interesting on pet vaccinations! I know there are alot of issues around this but I don't have a good feel for this yet. I will be tuning in. Thanks, Cindy & The Gang |
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