I survived the whole rant, and completely agree with all that has been said.
Pet owners, by which i mean dog and cat owners, need to take more responsibility.
Pet shops should only be alowed to sell dogs and cats that have been desexed, pretty sure the RSPCA has to desex the animals before they get re-homed, so the other sellers should be aswell.
I also believe puppy training should be mandatory, I'm working as a delivery driver and have been bitten twice (not broken skin but still) by dogs the owners said are "well trained" just seconds ago as it came bounding out towards be barking its head off.
And as for cats I won't go any further into it then; they shouldn't be alowed free reign of the street, and especialy it shouldn't be alowed for them to be outside at night.
Back to you Amy
I agree with all of that.
Yes the RSPCA desexes all their animals before sale, it should compulsory in most circumstances unless permission grants otherwise.
I think when people presume their dog is well trained it's really as long as THEY get along with their dog then everyone else should deal with it. If someone says otherwise owners probably only deny it because they don't want to admit they don't have a dog that has any manners.
When I was younger I was terrified of dogs (I mean to the point that I wouldn't go to people's houses if they had a dog and I'd have to ask them if they had one before I came over). I've got over most of my fear and know how to react now but I still have those nerves from when I was younger. I never knew how to react so I always ran, and I ended up in a few bad experiences. Now I know better and I've never been bitten since. But even so, I don't want a dog I've never met racing after me, whenever I see a dog off it's leash I think 'crap...'. Owners should be mindful of people who are afraid of dogs, it doesn't matter if THEY think they're dog won't bite, how am I supposed to know that?
As for cats I don't hate them, I do actually like them (feel free to bite my head off I truly don't care). But they should be kept indoors. An animal is an animal and a cat is going to be a cat. We brought them here therefore we need to take responsibility of what they can do the wildlife. You can train a cat to walk on a leash, you can build an enclosure- it's not as though they can NEVER venture outside. I used to live next to a vet nurse who used to walk her cat around the yard on a harness and it was really cute. Owners just need to be mindful of their instincts, cats are not 'domesticated' in the way a dog is. And on top of that people need to stop hating them for having these insticts, they should mad at the owners who allow these animals to make use of these instincts on native animals.
Unfortunately, you can't legislate that people think hard about the animal's requirements before they get a dog. I teach dog training at a club which only uses positive reinforcement. Once we told a man he was not allowed to hit his dog during class. He said "Why not? I hit my kids, too!" He was asked not to return. I take heart from the people who come along and really work hard to train their dogs to be good, healthy pets. Yes, we cover health issues during training, too. Given that we are in a public park in a paralysis tick area, I tell class members about ticks and parvo every class.
Some people really make you wonder...
If you think you already know how to work with your dog then why the hell dog to a dog training class, you know? And what kind of respect does he have for his kids if he punishes them in the same way as an animal?
