DEATHROWPETS

Unfortunately the number of animals being taken to rescue centres is increasing every year.

Why are pets being abandoned or relinquished?
The reasons for this are varied and include the owner experiencing financial or personal difficulties, moving into rented accommodation not allowing pets, changes in circumstance resulting in not enough time for the pet, the pet becoming ill or having behavioural problems, new children in the household, owners developing pet allergies, a new pet not getting on with existing pets. Unfortunately, sometimes people just buy pets on a whim and then realise a few months later that they made a mistake and take the pet for re homing.
Pets being taken to rescue centres are often young and not neutered (de-sexed), usually having only been owned for 7-12months. Many of these pets are taken on from friends with unwanted animals, often they have never been to a vet and many of the dogs have never had any obedience training.
In my opinion, not training and neutering your pet is just a sign of being irresponsible.
Rescue centres obviously make a huge effort to rehome these pets in a responsible fashion.
However the sad truth is that many are just on 'death row' and end up being euthanased. Often euthanasia boils down to inadequate funds to look after the animals rather then the animals having uncorrectable behavioural or veterinary problems.
My friends at 'DeathrowPets.net' are raising awareness of the plight of many animals in rescue centres that are ultimately waiting to die in cages in a rescue centre through no fault of their own.

Please be responsible, make informed decisions before getting a pet and make looking after them for their whole lifespan a priority.

You can find out everything you need to know BEFORE you buy a PUPPY in my ebook 'Puppy Power'.

'Compassion for animals, passion for nature'

Harvey the docked puppy

Despite the recent change in legislation in England which should mean an end to docked dogs, I recently had a docked puppy presented to me at work. He is a cocker spaniel named Harvey and he is very cute! His owner had purchased him in Dunstable from Mr Whelan, a licensed registered breeder with the Kennel Club.
Harvey's owner didn't want a docked dog and didn't realise Harvey had been docked. She was also under the impression that Harvey had been born in Dunstable. Unfortunately the legislation in Ireland allows docking and in fact Harvey had been born there and then transported all the way to England for sale.
SO- there was no way that we can know the environment Harvey was born into or what age he was removed from his mum. Was he born on a puppy farm?
I have spoken to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and they say that it is impossible to do anything if the puppy was docked in Ireland, as Mr Whelan says he was, because it is still legal there.
I have spoken to Mr Whelan and he says he thinks ALL working dogs should be docked. He doesn't care if they are in fact going to be pets and docks them anyway. He actually told me 'he doesn't care what happens to them after he has sold them and got his money'.
I asked him to consider that some people actually want to buy puppies with natural length tails and could he consider NOT docking! Hopefully he will think about this.
Mr Whelan says he has many breeding bitches but is not a puppy farm. Who knows the truth?
If YOU want to buy a puppy with a full length tail, please make it your business to ask questions about your future puppy and make sure he or she is NOT docked before you buy. YOU HOLD THE POWER TO CHANGE THE MINDS OF PEOPLE LIKE Mr WHELAN.
As Mr Whelan is registered with the Kennel Club I want to ask them their opinion of what is actually happening. I am waiting to speak with someone and will let you know the outcome.....

Please see my post 'Dogs with tails!' from May 2008 and my ebook 'Puppy Power- everything you need to know BEFORE you buy a puppy' for more information.

'Compassion for animals, passion for nature'

chickens

It's odd- suddenly I'm seeing quite a few chickens at work! After 'Spirit' the cockerel I saw a little ex-battery hen called 'Esmerelda'.
I don't know how much you know about chicken and egg production so I'll just outline the basics- There are two distinct types of chickens- 1) broiler chickens which grow very rapidly and have a lot of meat on them and are slaughtered young for us to eat and 2) egg-producing chickens which are quite scrawny and are kept purely for their eggs, they are slaughtered at the end of their productive lives and go into pet food.
In western countries both of these types are generally reared intensively on massive farms in their hundreds.
It is difficult to tell what type of system broiler chickens have been raised in because even if they are organic it does not mean they have been raised in an extensive way. The RSPCA is starting to label some supermarket chickens to help the consumer identify which broiler chickens have been raised in a more welfare conscious way. See links below.
At the supermarket eggs are labelled as battery, barn or free range. Without seeing the actual facilities I am always a bit skeptical about the labelling! That's just me! Free range should be the best in respect to welfare and battery the worst- battery chickens are kept in very small cages and often are unable to even stretch out their wings. Personally I'm dubious about the welfare of chickens kept in barns.
All types of intensive farming have their problems with respect to animal welfare. Unfortunately chickens fare poorly in the welfare stakes.
Because chickens aren't mammals, it is easy to not feel as sympathetic as you might towards a cute calf or lamb.
Personally I have been reminded, by seeing Spirit and Esmerelda, just how beautiful chickens actually are.
Whenever possible I get my eggs from friends or small local farms where the chickens truly are free-range. As soon as I can, I will get some ex-battery hens myself. The RSPCA re home ex-battery hens to afford them at least a bit of quality life before they die. Unfortunately they often only live for about a year after they have been rescued from battery cages because they are often completely physically exhausted.
check out more info here-
http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=chickens
http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=consumerhomepage
Please make an informed decision the next time you buy chicken or eggs....