Episode 27 - should neutering be normal, is kissing dogs safe and more

The Dog News Show

Debbie opens the show with a news article from the London Dog Forum. The Blue Cross is asking whether the U.K. is still a nation of dog lovers. The charity has to deal with increasing numbers of dogs being abandoned, with more and more bitches coming into shelters pregnant. The charity is striving to make neutering the norm, and is hoping to change owners' attitudes. As an experienced rescuer, Debbie is incensed by the way some owners can't be bothered to neuter their dogs, while Julie reveals the reasons some of her dogs are and some aren't neutered. Is your dog neutered or entire, and do you think neutering most dogs would solve the problem of so many dogs in rescue?
Do you kiss your dog? In a bold - and probably foolish - move Julie yet again brings a news story featuring research for Debbie to point out the problems with. This time it's research done in Japan which shows that kissing your dog or letting it lick your mouth can result in an exchange of mouth bacteria that puts the dental health of both species at risk. But is kissing our dogs acceptable, and how can we safeguard our teeth and show our dogs affection at the same time? All this and more is discussed.
The RSPCA in New South Wales, Australia has come in for some criticism about the fact that it put around 40% of the dogs that came into its shelters during the last financial year to sleep - and that amounts to more than 4800 dogs being killed. Part of the issue raising concern is the assessment being used to decide whether dogs live or die. Dogs gain points for barking, trembling or jumping among other things, and any dogs accruing more than 100 points is deemed unadoptable, and euthanised. But is it fair that such natural and widespread behaviours count against a dog, and is the stressful environment of a kennel a suitable place to accurately assess a dog's character.
In the U.K. a very sad story hit the headlines when two young Border Collies were shot by a farmer while they were in the care of a boarding kennel. The dogs in question were a brother and sister of one and three years of age. They had stayed at the kennels before, and had climbed over the fence before but sadly on this occasion they made it to a field full of sheep where they pinned a sheep down and were fatally shot by the farmer. The owners were uneasy about leaving the dogs in an establishment from which they had already escaped, but received assurances the dogs would be supervised, so just what went wrong? The police have spoken to the farmer and no further action will be taken, although the RSPCA and other local authorities are investigating.
The penultimate story is almost worthy of rounding off the show as Schmaltz Corner, and is the tale of a Jack Russell Terrier who was poisoned and buried in France, only to survive the ordeal. In Charleville-Mezieres, 200 kilometers north east of Paris, poor Ethan the terrier was poisoned and buried, but a passerby noticed the earth "wiggling" and investigated. He discovered Ethan in a dreadful state, convulsing from the poison, and thanks to the man that dug him up, the firefighters who rushed the dog to a local vet, and of course to the vet himself who took time and trouble to get Ethan back to full health. All this happened on Ethan's third birthday, and he was identified thanks to his microchip - so what action will be taken against his owner?
Having had one happy ending, Schmaltz Corner brings you another, with the story of Haatchi, an Anatolian Shepherd Dog who was tied to a rail track, hit by a train and lost his leg and most of his tail as a result. Haatchi has become the best friend of seven year old Owen Howkins who suffers from Schwartz-Jampel syndrome and had become withdrawn and agoraphobic, but having a faithful dog at his side has changed his life. The power of a dog to change a life and trust again.