Bullstaff found

Priori

Hi,

A bullstaff found its way to my friend's house about a week ago, and settled in the backgarden. He hung around the outside of the house (it was open to the road so he could have wandered had he wanted to) while they fed him and went out to him occasionally. He had no collar, tended to flinch at any sudden movements (as if he expected to be walloped) and was altogether very timid. He was also afraid of entering the house.

My friend knew she couldn't keep him, as a few others in the (rented) house objected, as did the landlord. One night he followed me home, I don't live too far away. I decided to keep him, so at the moment he's with me.

Here's my dilemma: I brought him to the vet yesterday. Turns out he's about a year old at the most, is in great nick, and the vet expressed doubt that he had been abandoned (he had lost his timidity as the days went by, and now would happily lick anyone's face, apart from children - he's still afraid of them).

The vet suggested I call the gardai before deciding for sure to keep him, just in case somebody is looking for him, as the owners would have a 'right' to him. Now, I wouldn't be enthusiastic about such owners reclaiming him: 1, he showed signs of having been abused, 2, he's about a year old and hadn't been neutred, so he's probably never been to a vet, 3, when I walked him, it seemed he was unused to being walked, as he kept stopping and looking at me, and crossing my path so I'd nearly trip over him! He also doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'play' - fetch and tug of war with a sock are completely foreign to the poor fella (although maybe this is more to do with his breed?).

He's really lovely, I'm mad about him already, but am reluctant to even tell the gardai in case his former owners do come forward. Do I have a point, or am I wrongfully getting in the way?

pokertalk

well if you put his picture up on the LOST AND FOUND thread the chances are that if the owners do contact you then he must be missed but if he was abandoned then they wont come forward so its worth giving it a try

wetdogsmell

Priori wrote: »

Hi,

A bullstaff found its way to my friend's house about a week ago, and settled in the backgarden. He hung around the outside of the house (it was open to the road so he could have wandered had he wanted to) while they fed him and went out to him occasionally. He had no collar, tended to flinch at any sudden movements (as if he expected to be walloped) and was altogether very timid. He was also afraid of entering the house.

My friend knew she couldn't keep him, as a few others in the (rented) house objected, as did the landlord. One night he followed me home, I don't live too far away. I decided to keep him, so at the moment he's with me.

Here's my dilemma: I brought him to the vet yesterday. Turns out he's about a year old at the most, is in great nick, and the vet expressed doubt that he had been abandoned (he had lost his timidity as the days went by, and now would happily lick anyone's face, apart from children - he's still afraid of them).

The vet suggested I call the gardai before deciding for sure to keep him, just in case somebody is looking for him, as the owners would have a 'right' to him. Now, I wouldn't be enthusiastic about such owners reclaiming him: 1, he showed signs of having been abused, 2, he's about a year old and hadn't been neutred, so he's probably never been to a vet, 3, when I walked him, it seemed he was unused to being walked, as he kept stopping and looking at me, and crossing my path so I'd nearly trip over him! He also doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'play' - fetch and tug of war with a sock are completely foreign to the poor fella (although maybe this is more to do with his breed?).

He's really lovely, I'm mad about him already, but am reluctant to even tell the gardai in case his former owners do come forward. Do I have a point, or am I wrongfully getting in the way?

to me it sounds completely selfish on your part, you want to keep the dog so you are trying to justify it to yourself,, if the dog is only a year old it could still be shy and frightened of people it does'nt know, dose'nt mean he was beaten
and because its not neutred does'nt mean anything, maybe the owner was planing on breeding from it,
the simple fact is its not your place to decide,

Priori

wetdogsmell wrote: »

to me it sounds completely selfish on your part, you want to keep the dog so you are trying to justify it to yourself,, if the dog is only a year old it could still be shy and frightened of people it does'nt know, dose'nt mean he was beaten
and because its not neutred does'nt mean anything, maybe the owner was planing on breeding from it,
the simple fact is its not your place to decide,

No need to be argumentative wetdogsmell, my post wasn't merely my own conclusion, but reached by about five of us at a time when I hadn't even thought of keeping him. There are several reasons why it's incredibly inconvenient for me to keep him, part of me would be relieved if I felt decent owners would come forward. I resent your accusation of selfishness; you are jumping to conclusions, and everyone I've sought advice from thus far has certainly not seen that motive in me. He was beaten, of that I can assure you; this isn't my own conclusion, and having described his initial behaviour to a vet (which went far beyond shyness/obsequiesness, and lasted a good four days), she was inclined to agree. However, that is not to say that the actual owners beat him; in the midst of wandering, he may simply have come across some mean kids.

Thanks pokertalk, I have posted to the LOST AND FOUND thread.

I will make every effort to find the owners, and will also contact the gardai I have now decided.

EDIT: I have contaced the gardai in the meantime, and no reports of it missing, but I'll also contact the warden and the dogs' home.

wetdogsmell

Priori wrote: »

No need to be argumentative wetdogsmell, my post wasn't merely my own conclusion, but reached by about five of us at a time when I hadn't even thought of keeping him. There are several reasons why it's incredibly inconvenient for me to keep him, part of me would be relieved if I felt decent owners would come forward. I resent your accusation of selfishness; you are jumping to conclusions. He was beaten, of that I can assure you. I also know a thing of two about abused dogs. However, that is not to say that the actual owners beat him; in the midst of wandering, he may simply have come across some mean kids.

Thanks pokertalk, I have posted to the LOST AND FOUND thread.

I will make every effort to find the owners, and will also contact the gardai I have now decided.

i was'nt trying to be arguementative, but it seemed to me you were jumping to conclusions about neutering and the dog being beaten, my main point was it is not your place to decide the fate of the dog, it could have a loving family missing it, but as you have said it could have been beaten by kids
sorry if i came across aggressively

arybvtcw0eolkf

Priori wrote: »

He's really lovely, I'm mad about him already, but am reluctant to even tell the gardai in case his former owners do come forward. Do I have a point, or am I wrongfully getting in the way?

Honestly, you know what you should do don't you?.. Try return the lad to its owner's.

Priori

wetdogsmell wrote:

sorry if i came across aggressively

Well I think I was getting over-defensive, so sorry too.

Dorian Gray Side wrote:

Try return the lad to its owner's.

Appreciate the input Dorian Gray Side, I'm on it. Honest to God, the very last thing I would want to do is deprive a loving family of this dog. Having owned and lost (for only a day) our own family dog before (long time ago now), I know how completely devastating it would be.

I can appreciate the somewhat skewn logic of my initial post; surely if somebody does come forward, they won't be the kind to be abusive. Right?

arybvtcw0eolkf

Priori wrote: »

I can appreciate the somewhat skewn logic of my initial post; surely if somebody does come forward, they won't be the kind to be abusive. Right?

Right!.

Listen, I fall in love with dog's in a heart beat too. I can completely understand how your feeling.

I'd a ten month old pitbull in the house a few days ago, and I'm still talking about what a lovely dog he is and making excuse's why I really should have a third one!.

If you really want to give an abused dog a break there are loads in pounds all over the country waiting for rescue - and its hugely satisfying, I got my older lad 'Richo out of Ashtown literally minutes before he was to be killed simply because of his breed.

pokertalk

Priori wrote: »

Well I think I was getting over-defensive, so sorry too.



Appreciate the input Makikomi, I'm on it. Honest to God, the very last thing I would want to do is deprive a loving family of this dog. Having owned and lost (for only a day) our own family dog before (long time ago now), I know how completely devastating it would be.

I can appreciate the somewhat skewn logic of my initial post; surely if somebody does come forward, they won't be the kind to be abusive. Right?

yeah ring the local pound and see what the crack is but dont give him to them.your the guardian for now and if your best efforts in finding the new owners comes to nothing then you could keep him then again you might get people claiming to be the owner and they are not so take a note of some of the characteristics of the dog and dont put them in the photo then again they might have paperwork for the dog best of luck with it which ever way it goes

pokertalk

Dorian Gray Side wrote: »

Right!.

Listen, I fall in love with dog's in a heart beat too. I can completely understand how your feeling.

I'd a ten month old pitbull in the house a few days ago, and I'm still talking about what a lovely dog he is and making excuse's why I really should have a third one!.

If you really want to give an abused dog a break there are loads in pounds all over the country waiting for rescue - and its hugely satisfying, I got my older lad 'Richo out of Ashtown literally minutes before he was to be killed simply because of his breed.

since when do they have a kill policy in ashton

arybvtcw0eolkf

pokertalk wrote: »

since when do they have a kill policy in ashton

Your joking, right?.

pokertalk

Dorian Gray Side wrote: »

Your joking, right?.

no

arybvtcw0eolkf

pokertalk wrote: »

no

Well its been well covered in this forum, and on various radio talk show's.

Tbh, if you wish to dig it all out work away. Its not a discussion I've the stomach for again.

pokertalk

Dorian Gray Side wrote: »

Well its been well covered in this forum, and on various radio talk show's.

Tbh, if you wish to dig it all out work away. Its not a discussion I've the stomach for again.

i would not work there if they did soz volunteer i mean.they will not pts a healthy dog anymore i i had a conversation with a staff paid staff member 5 weeks ago he said "i would not work here if they put healthy dogs to sleep

toadfly

pokertalk wrote: »

i would not work there if they did soz volunteer i mean.they will not pts a healthy dog anymore i i had a conversation with a staff paid staff member 5 weeks ago he said "i would not work here if they put healthy dogs to sleep

Yes they will ESP bull breeds. DID had a urgent appeal for donations for kennel fees and foster homes a few weeks ago, 12 dogs were due to be PTS. I got my second dog from them 7 months ago and was told at the time that they can put a dog down after 5 days (1day if surrendered) if the pound was full. No pound in this country have a no kill policy.

pokertalk

TillyGirl wrote: »

Yes they will ESP bull breeds. DID had a urgent appeal for donations for kennel fees and foster homes a few weeks ago, 12 dogs were due to be PTS. I got my second dog from them 7 months ago and was told at the time that they can put a dog down after 5 days (1day if surrendered) if the pound was full. No pound in this country have a no kill policy.

i rescued my second off them there the other day she said that most of the rb s get sent to england by the sounds of it england is the name of there cemetery. think they have being teling me some porkies

wetdogsmell

a friend of mine's girlfriend, worked in ashtown a few years ago and hated bull breeds, she new we kept some of them and said there horrible dogs and was bragging about putting them down as soon as they came in, one time sticks in my mind when she was talking about putting down an english bull bitch and pup, with a smile on her face

this was a few years ago,

pokertalk

wetdogsmell wrote: »

a friend of mine's girlfriend, worked in ashtown a few years ago and hated bull breeds, she new we kept some of them and said there horrible dogs and was bragging about putting them down as soon as they came in, one time sticks in my mind when she was talking about putting down an english bull bitch and pup, with a smile on her face

this was a few years ago,

makes you think wtf she was doing working with dogs

arybvtcw0eolkf

pokertalk wrote: »

i rescued my second off them there the other day she said that most of the rb s get sent to england by the sounds of it england is the name of there cemetery. think they have being teling me some porkies

Dogs in Distress send dogs oversea's, thereby saving their lives.

Dogs in Distress is NOT Ashtown pound.

My sis-in-law was working with DiD when I got richo, she knew I was looking for a bull breed and the phonecall word for word went like this..

"Martin, there's a ten week old pitbull just after coming in. Donal is putting him down shortly but we have him hid. Do you want him?".

I drove like crazy to get over and the dog was rescued under a coat.

If you want to take the time to search there's a Joe Duffy podcast about the Ashtowns policy of putting down dogs on the restricted breeds like - and more specifically Staffies, EBT's & Pitbull's.

lrushe

Priori wrote: »

Hi,

A bullstaff found its way to my friend's house about a week ago, and settled in the backgarden. He hung around the outside of the house (it was open to the road so he could have wandered had he wanted to) while they fed him and went out to him occasionally. He had no collar, tended to flinch at any sudden movements (as if he expected to be walloped) and was altogether very timid. He was also afraid of entering the house.

My friend knew she couldn't keep him, as a few others in the (rented) house objected, as did the landlord. One night he followed me home, I don't live too far away. I decided to keep him, so at the moment he's with me.

Here's my dilemma: I brought him to the vet yesterday. Turns out he's about a year old at the most, is in great nick, and the vet expressed doubt that he had been abandoned (he had lost his timidity as the days went by, and now would happily lick anyone's face, apart from children - he's still afraid of them).

The vet suggested I call the gardai before deciding for sure to keep him, just in case somebody is looking for him, as the owners would have a 'right' to him. Now, I wouldn't be enthusiastic about such owners reclaiming him: 1, he showed signs of having been abused, 2, he's about a year old and hadn't been neutred, so he's probably never been to a vet, 3, when I walked him, it seemed he was unused to being walked, as he kept stopping and looking at me, and crossing my path so I'd nearly trip over him! He also doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'play' - fetch and tug of war with a sock are completely foreign to the poor fella (although maybe this is more to do with his breed?).

He's really lovely, I'm mad about him already, but am reluctant to even tell the gardai in case his former owners do come forward. Do I have a point, or am I wrongfully getting in the way?

If I were you I would at least try to find the dogs owner. I would be pretty positive there is one out there for this dog, not just because he is in good condition but becasue they are expensive dogs to buy so less likely to be just abandoned.
My 14 month old Rottie isn't spayed, that doesn't mean she's never seen a vet, also at a year old this dog is still v.much still a pup and therefore his leash manners might not be 100%, plus large breeds are known for being that bit more clumsy and I've also nearly fallen over mine more than once:) As for him being a bit stand offish, this is a breed trait, they can be a bit aloof at first with strangers so I wouldn't be overly concerned by that.
If you try to find his owner and fail at least you can the keep this dog in good faith knowing you did all you could, imagine if the shoe was on the other foot, I'm sure you would like someone to do the same for you.

Zapperzy

There could be a number of reasons why he was a shy when you found him. He could be a rescue dog with an unknown past and a loving family out there looking for him.
The way I see it is if his owner was abusive towards the dog then they aren't going to make much of an effort to find him, if a family is going out of their mind looking for him they will be searching the internet, local papers, radio stations and would have put up posters. The dog could also have been picked up from the other side of the country (or indeed from the UK) and dumped for whatever reason so make sure you search lost and found websites and not just the local paper and shops.
Personally I would look for his owners and if none came forward keep him, I would not live with myself if a family was broken hearted and never knew the fate of their lost dog, if my dog got lost I would hope he was returned to me.

Priori

Zapperzy wrote: »

Personally I would look for his owners and if none came forward keep him, I would not live with myself if a family was broken hearted and never knew the fate of their lost dog, if my dog got lost I would hope he was returned to me.

Absolutely. As I said in my previous post

Priori wrote:

Honest to God, the very last thing I would want to do is deprive a loving family of this dog. Having owned and lost (for only a day) our own family dog before (long time ago now), I know how completely devastating it would be.

Thanks for the advice guys. I assure you I will make every effort to avoid such a heartbreaking possiblity.

pokertalk

Dorian Gray Side wrote: »

Dogs in Distress send dogs oversea's, thereby saving their lives.

Dogs in Distress is NOT Ashtown pound.

My sis-in-law was working with DiD when I got richo, she knew I was looking for a bull breed and the phonecall word for word went like this..

"Martin, there's a ten week old pitbull just after coming in. Donal is putting him down shortly but we have him hid. Do you want him?".

I drove like crazy to get over and the dog was rescued under a coat.

If you want to take the time to search there's a Joe Duffy podcast about the Ashtowns policy of putting down dogs on the restricted breeds like - and more specifically Staffies, EBT's & Pitbull's.

i know DID is not ashton pound. i believe you. im just worried as to y they told me lies