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Daddy's Woofs and Wags

Where I stand on pet-related issues

I'm currently suffering from a bout of insomnia tonight/this morning and I've been meaning to get around to this post anyhow, so here goes nothing.

I tend to be one of those people that gets misunderstood a lot on message boards/forums which is why I generally tend to avoid them and only belong to this one and one really good one about the pet rodents we have, unless you count the few social networking groups I occasionally post on. I'll admit that in most cases it's probably my fault, although it is extremely hard to convey a tone of voice over the internet so what one person reads one way, another may read the complete opposite way. I did not writing this because I think highly of myself because I don't have an ego (quite the opposite actually although I know I'm not stupid), merely because I get misunderstood a lot. I've even been told by people that they know how I feel on any given subject, and I haven't felt the way they thought I did. To hopefully help clear up any confusion here is a list of where I stand on pet issues; if I missed anything I apologize in advance. The list is in no particular order, just whatever comes to me first.

Altering:

Voluntary - I strongly support voluntary altering (spaying, neutering), but I also believe that every case should be handled individually except in the case of shelters that do not have the funds or time to thoroughly screen potential owners since every dog is an individual and more research suggests that in the case of some dogs it may be best to wait until full maturity to alter or in a few cases to forgo it altogether. I think in most cases it comes down to "when to alter" rather than "whether or not to alter" unless there is a specific health problem that would prevent the dog/cat from going under for surgery. Because of their ability to procreate so frequently and ease of escape, I support people altering any pet cat around 6 months of age as long as said cat does not have health issues that would prevent it, in which case the cat should never be allowed outdoors without a harness and lead and very strict owner supervision. I've seen far too often the effects of people's intact cats getting loose or being allowed to roam, of people dumping their females in heat outside instead of taking advantage of a local subsidized spay program because "she's so loud/annoying", or dumping their reproductively capable male cat outside because "we don't want him marking in the house".

Mandatory (MSN) - I am against mandatory altering laws for several reasons. For one, the places where it has been implemented back fired resulting in higher euthanasia rates in shelters the complete opposite of what they are supposed to accomplish, rabies outbreaks from people avoiding the law and not vaccinating their dogs, lower licensing rates, and no information available shows a decrease in dog bites where it has been implemented. Another reason is that they tend to affect even the most reputable breeders, the main reason being that the majority of back yard breeders or puppy millers aren't going to follow these laws anyway, some MSN laws have actually had loopholes that puppy mills have taken advantage of. MSN laws also raise animal control costs which is no doubt a large problem in places where animal control facilities are already underfunded. Admittedly, there are times like when I see yet another pregnant feral/stray cat wander onto our property to give birth, someone abandons yet another animal on our or an acquaintance's property, I see the intact female dogs from the back yard breeder in the neighborhood running loose most likely in search of a mate, that I wish mandatory altering would be work and be implemented, especially with cats, but then I realize that it just doesn't work and it does affect the good breeders who do actually do right by their breed of choice.

The only form of mandatory altering I support is allowing shelters to alter dogs or cats that are impounded three or more times due to reasons other than natural disaster, and being able to charge the owner with the cost of surgery.

Early age - Generally speaking I am not in support of early age altering for any animal because the hormones testosterone and estrogen are not just reproductive hormones but they also play an important role in proper growth and development. Puppies are at higher risk of problems associated with being put under anesthesia than healthy pubescent dogs or non-elderly dogs. I am highly against laws that mandate pet owners to alter dogs prior to 5 1/2 months of age, when the dog or cat at that age is not even capable of reproduction.


Breed Specific Laws/Legislation - I am against breed-specific laws for any breed of dog. Breed Specific laws do not make owners more responsible, and since banning or putting a "dangerous/vicious" label on any give breed or size of dog makes criminals and people looking for a tough image want them even more, it may even encourage poor ownership of the banned/restricted breed. Based even on what supposed "statistics", inaccurate and misleading as they are, are available on dog bites, over 98% of all dogs will never bite or attack a person, regardless of breed. Statistically you are more likely to die of lightening strike, drowning/falling in a bath tub, neglect or abuse from a parent/caretaker, smoking, falling victim to a drunk driver, falling, spousal abuse or intentional murder by another person than you are to be deathly or even very seriously attacked by a dog of any breed, let alone one with a responsible owner. Even the CDC themselves state that "While at times informative, statistics on fatal dog attacks can also be misleading. For example, a number of cases where a Pit Bull, Rottweiler or German Shepherd Dog were counted as causing a human fatality, in reality the direct result was from gross human negligence or criminal intent. There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill."

Ear cropping - I do not support ear cropping for cosmetic reasons, but I do not support entire bans on it because there are sometimes medical reasons for it such as necrosis of the tissue on the ear(s) or damage to an ear/the ears that is irreparable, and it is thought that for some dogs with chronic ear infections, cropping can be beneficial. I do think that ear cropping should only be legal for licenses veterinarians, anyone who is not should be charged with animal cruelty for performing the surgery at home as they are often botched or cause the animal unnecessary pain and suffering.

Tail docking - I feel the same on tail docking as ear cropping, although I think that it should only be done when absolutely necessary, if done wrong it can cause serious problems with the dog and I know of one case where this happened even though it was done by a vet, the dog had problems sitting down properly for a long time and it may have contributed to back problems in a breed that already had a elongated back.

Licensing laws - I support voluntary pet licensing laws as they can aid in reuniting lost pets with their owners and can help raise funds for shelters. I am however against mandatory pet licensing laws because like MSN, they will primarily effect only responsible owners and irresponsible owners and breeders can easily evade them by not microchipping/tatooing their pets or taking them in for vaccinations, or even foregoing vet care altogether. Then there are otherwise responsible people who may fight it because they don't like the mandatory aspect of it and feel it intrudes upon their rights.

Leash laws - I am in support of leash laws as long as they pertain to all dogs regardless of breed or size and provide the dog with adequate walking room while still keeping them from becoming a nuisance to others.

Debarking - I am currently on the fence when it comes to this issue, but for the most part I am not a big supporter of it. I believe that research should be done before even considering this operation, some breeds of dog are prone to being more vocal or louder than others when they bark, this should be taken into consideration before a person obtains a dog or several dogs of this breed if they live in an apartment or within close proximity to their neighbors; this alone would eliminate the need/desire for a good number of debarking surgeries.

Equal protection/anti-cruelty laws for all pets - I believe that all pets should have equal protection laws from cruelty and neglect. Too often pets like those commonly sold in pet stores (birds, rodents, guinea pigs, reptiles and amphibians) are overlooked when abuse or neglect laws are passed, and many states do not have laws protecting pet store sold animals other than puppies, there are few if any laws regarding other pet mills that do not involve dogs; there are pet mills even for rodents/rodent type pets (primarily larger rodents like rabbits and guinea pigs) and birds, this among other irresponsible breeders are where most pet store animals are obtained. I have had first hand experience with all sorts of animals from small and furry to feathered to coldblooded and scaly, I've seen all forms of them suffer and I can tell you that a reptile, bird, rodent does not suffer any less from abuse or neglect than a dog, cat or horse.

Animals kept for consumption - I believe that animals kept for food should be kept as humanely as possible, the conditions of most factory farms are deplorable at best. This goes along with equal protection from uneccesary pain/suffering or neglect/abuse for all pets, just because they are intended for human or pet consumption does not mean these animals are incapable of suffering. Keeping food animals in clean, healthy and adequately sized conditions also provides benefits to the humans or animals consuming the meat produced from "food animals".

Hunting for "sport" - I'll be brutally honest, I think that anyone hunting just to kill something or hand something's head on their wall is pretty sick in the head, no caring human being enjoys ending another life or killing "for the sheer joy of killing".

Hunting for sustenance - I see nothing wrong with hunting for sustenance as long as humane methods are used. In fact, in most cases it may be less cruel than obtaining an animal from a factory farm where they may be kept in cramped cages or worse, here the animal has had a chance to live out their life as nature intended and death by a human who uses humane quick methods is a lot less painful or fear inducing than being killed by most non human predators.

Breeding dogs that display aggressive behavior - I do not believe in breeding any dog of any breed that displays aggressive behavior towards humans or dangerous behavior towards other animals. Some people feel it is alright to breed dogs with aggressive tendencies because "it's a part of their history", I strongly disagree with this, some dogs have horrible aspects of their history that should never be encouraged such as being pitted against much larger animals or other dogs, or being used as personal attack dogs upon other people, "history" or not, aggressiveness should not be tolerated or encouraged by reputable breeders.

Culling of dogs not up to breed standard - I am extremely against culling, as in killing, of dogs that do not fit the breed standard. In some cases, dogs like Ridgebacks and Dalmations are healthier when they do not fit the breed standards of having ridges or black-only spots, yet there are breeders that will euthanize these puppies, and at least one kennel club, based in the United Kingdom, encourages and recommends the euthanasia of perfectly healthy dogs if they are not up to standard.

Breeding for looks - Breeding any animal solely for looks is a known disaster; for dogs it has caused genetic defects such as cardiovascular issues, a high risk of urine stones, an increased or high risk of seizures, and brain disorders to list a few. In guinea pigs it has created a new type called lethals that are born with debilitating health issues including no or extremely fragile teeth (disastrous for an animal that must eat constantly to prevent the digestive tract from shutting down), weak immune systems, blindness or missing eyes, early death, deafness, and neurological disorders for a start, and breeding for looks has also produced a breed that almost inneviteably has skin conditions and is more prone to skin infections, all of this for the sake of looks and show-bred guinea pigs. In rats it has caused rats lacking hind legs or partial spines, skin conditions, and megacolon which is generally fatal. These are just a few examples, any animal can be negatively affected when they are bred solely for appearance.

Animal shows and breeding animals for show - I cannot say I am completely for or against animal shows because it depends on the animal. Showing small animals and prey animals in most cases causes them undue stress and often the basis for breeding these non-canine show animals is looks alone with little regard for health of the animal or future offspring, so for these animals I do not recommend showing.

Breeding exotic animals - I do not generally support any breeding of exotic animals because there are so few reputable breeders of them, and most people do not know how to adequately care for even the simplest exotic pet, let alone one such as a big cat/bear/etc. Even pet birds, considered exotics amongst veterinarians and many pet owners, are kept in inadequately sized cages and pet stores tout that these cages are fine even though they do not give the bird room to fly or sometimes even stretch the wings, completely ignoring the fact that in the wild these animals spend a good part of their time flying and foraging. I do support the few reputable breeders of small and mostly non-dangerous "exotic" animals that only place animals in responsible educated homes that will provide adequately sized cages or aviaries where applicable and that are capable and understand the importance of seeing an exotics veterinarian for the needs of these pets. I do support reputable sanctuaries for any exotic that cannot or should not be released into the wild.

Animals as food - As you may have already figured out, I am not against animals being used for consumption by humans or pets because scientific research seems to show that humans are omnivores and do need some amount of meat to survive (obvious by the fact that people can rarely derive adequate amounts certain nutrients such as iron from plant sources, or omega 3's unless the plant product is ground up finely and even then the body still utilizes omega 3 fatty acids better from animal, especially fish, sources). As long as the animals are kept and culled humanely.

Wolf hybrids - I do not believe in breeding wolf hybrid dogs, wolves are not pets and cannot be expected to act like domestic dogs; they require so much more than most pet owners are capable of providing. How a wolf hybrid will turn out is completely unpredictable, they may turn out to act more like a dog than a wolf, but then they could also turn out with the intense prey drive and distrust of humans that naturally occurs in wolves. I do support reputable sanctuaries for wolf-hybrids. So many things can go wrong when breeding wild animals to domestic pets. I do not support laws that would require euthanasia of already existing wolf-hybrids, but if the owner has a history of not being able to care for the wolf-hybrid, I believe it should be mandatory that the wolf hybrid be handed over to a sanctuary or rescue group that has the means to care for them.

Oh noes I've been tagged!

Tag You're IT!!!!

RULES OF THE GAME: (copy and paste)

Daddy has been tagged by the cute puppy Chewbacca (the Boxer):

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves.
Dogs who are tagged need to post in their diary the rules and their 7 pawsome facts.

Then choose some dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged.


1. Daddy just learned today to go potty in the cat box!

2. Daddy's favorite "dog foods" are prey-model raw diet (chicken, beef and pork ribs are the favorites, not so big on organs but he will eat them), and Nature's Variety Instinct kibble.

3. Daddy thinks anything that can be turned into a toy IS a toy.

4. Daddy made a German Shepherd friend at the vet's office about 3 weeks ago.

5. He likes to lay on people's laps and thinks he's a 70 pound lap dog.

6. Daddy was named Eeyore before we got him, but we changed his name because he's very happy-go-lucky and full of life, quite the opposite of the character he was named after.

7. Getting hit with his wagging tail is like getting hit with a frozen stick and has been the source of many spills, but we don't have the heart to have him docked.


DOG PAL I'M TAGGING:

Zelda

Daddy's youtube page, education and anti-BSL videos.

Daddy now has his own youtube page. So far this page only has three videos up, but I am currently working on three more videos (one may take awhile because I am getting permission to use pictures of people's dogs for a special video). If you want to use any videos for educational purposes or to help fight any form of anti pet/anti pet owner legislations, feel free to do so but please put the link to Daddy's youtube site or dogster account somewhere, I did put a good amount of time making these videos, and some of them I even did the photography for (like the first Pit Bull Myths video, almost all of the pictures of the dogs in that video are by me or my fiance).

Here's the link to his youtube page: www.youtube.com/user/DaddysSpace


Thanks for looking!