Should The Dog "Industry" Be More Regulated?

[Ian]

We have the animal welfare act, the DDA and various legislation and yet the situation re strays, puppy farming, fatal attacks etc seems to never get any better.

 

There are breeders - good and bad, "proper", back yard and puppy farmer

 

There are rescues - good and bad :-

 

those doing it "by the book", all neutered, vaccinated, wormed & flea treated, vet checked etc

 

those doing the best they can with limited funds / resources

 

those who do none of the above ever

 

and possibly those who exist only to make what money they can, not animal lovers at all

 

There are owners, good and bad - pet owners, working dogs, fighting dogs etc

 

Though it's sad to say & certainly not what I expected when I arrived here (or on the various other forums) I no longer believe either that everyone involved with dogs is as altruistic as I'd like them to be or that you can believe all you read on the internet.

 

Is the answer to provide a more regulated (and policed) "industry", ie all who have an involvement with dogs - whether breeder, rescue, forum or even owner, is there some "middle ground" or should the status quo remain?

Edited December 6, 2009 by Ian

[cheryl33]

but who would you suggest regulate it? the KC? The RSPCA??

[Ian]

That would probably be my next question

 

Personally however, as I could think of fair criticisms of both I'd probably as a "gut reaction" be inclined to say neither - but some sort of Government or possibly Councils working to a national standard.

 

I know, question 3 would probably be who's going to pay for that then - though there is arguably no shortage of money going into the dog industry already

[cheryl33]

Can you imagine if a group of non-dog people from the government were to regulate it though? I fear it would be onlead walks and muzzles for all dogs I think.

 

And regards to paying for it, there would always be some who shirk out of paying for it. I can't see breeders welcoming to pay for it and nor rescues as I am sure they are struggling anyway.

 

Its a good idea in theory but I can't see how it would work

[Ian]

I know what you mean & don't think it would be easy by any means but as an analogy I'm thinking

 

When a car is first manufactured / sold it has to be registered. Again when sold on etc At any stage in that vehicles life (in theory at least) you should be able to identify who is responsible for that car & roughly where it is kept etc.

 

With a dog (or any other animal) they are born, may or may not be regiastered, may or may not be sold, may or may not stray, be rehomed, fostered (all who knows wehere) . Frequently noone knows who is responsible, to blame for any neglect etc

 

Supposing that, like it or not,

 

The breeder was required to chip the dog

Any rehomings required an update

If a dog were to be rehomed they must have had a vet check

If fostered a vet check within a reasonable period (eg 3 or 6 months for example)

That dogs must be neutered, or confirmed as vaccinated, wormed, flea treated before re-homing periodically by a vet etc

 

These are all just examples / thinking aloud really not cast iron suggestions. I would have expected not that the Government & none doggy people would impose anything but that "relevant bodies" might (ideally) come to some form of agreed decisionthat

 

there's no doubting that there is a very wide variety of what is currently happening.

[cheryl33]

I see what you are saying but I personally think it would make things so much worse.

 

With a car, it only has to be scanned when you go past a police car to see if its been robbed/damaged/not insured etc. The amount of time and effort it would do to that with dogs would be immense.

 

I reckon if we had to regulate it would go against all 'good' dogs owners who would have to fork out for licences, proving they are good dog owners etc and as much as I love my dogs, this would be an added expense for me that would probably take the enjoyment out of having dogs, if you see what I mean?

 

But then it would probably encourage breeders to breed in secret with 'illegal' dogs being on the streets (if all dogs were to be tagged, chipped etc etc) and more dogs getting dumped, with rescues having more pressure on them.

 

I do agree it needs to be regulated but I think its down the responsibilty of the Kennel Club, RPSCA, Dogs Trust etc to take control of it and support it more.

[krusewalker]

That would probably be my next question

 

Personally however, as I could think of fair criticisms of both I'd probably as a "gut reaction" be inclined to say neither - but some sort of Government or possibly Councils working to a national standard.

 

I know, question 3 would probably be who's going to pay for that then - though there is arguably no shortage of money going into the dog industry already

 

Then I would check out the CAWC Ian, thats near enough what's being worked on at the moment.