Will irresponsible attitudes to pet ownership in Ireland ever improve?

Pumpkinseeds

I did a flag day collection in a shopping centre with a local animal rescue today. Some of the volunteers brought their dogs and gorgeous dogs they are too. Having the dogs encouraged lots of people to stop and chat about their own cats and dogs, many of them had animals they'd adopted from this rescue.
Some of the stories people were telling me seemed appalling. I had 1 lady tell me how heartbroken she was when her dog was killed by 2 of her neighbours dogs, something that could have been avoided if neither she or the neighbour allowed their dogs to roam.

Another lady told me that her grandkids live next door to her and she feeds a stray female cat that the grandkids have taken a liking to, however she went on to say that she hoped the cat doesn't get pregnant. When I suggested that she have her spayed she said oh no, it's far too expensive for a stray cat Now I know bloody well that in a couple of months the same woman will be ringing the rescue looking for them to take a litter of kittens:mad:

I was shocked at how many people are happy to have their dogs in the house but never allow the cats indoors. Then there were the ones who put their cats out at night as 'it's only natural for cats to be outdoors at night:(

So basically it seems that even in the 21st century this old fashioned mentality of cats should be outdoors, at least at night and it's fine to allow your dogs to roam. I just find it so frustrating that this attitude is still so prevelant and with so many people

angelfire9

A lady contacted the rescue I foster for today looking to adopt one of my three but wouldn't consider paying a fee for her because it was essentially a stray cat she was taking in!!
A stray that I have socialised into a lap cat, wormed, vaccinated, treated for cat flu and gotten chipped (all out of my own pocket) neutered by the rescue as well

Grrr

On a side note I got all three chipped & registered to me so if they end up straying or in the pound they will come back to me.. I'm too soft!!!

mosi

I think that the large animal charities - and the councils - need to do a big campaign about allowing dogs to roam. When the media reports on pound and rescue statistics, the emphasis is on dogs being abandoned. I would say that a lot of people who allow dogs to roam don't see it as bad ownership and probably would not place themselves alongside those who abandon dogs on the side of the road. Some people even seem to think it is cruel not to allow a dog to roam.
A camapign, alongside animal welfare classes in the school curriculum would help. I'm sure responsible pet ownership could be taught in CPSE classes, although it should start at primary level.

mymo

The place I work has a preschool in it and the local SPCA guy is coming in to chat to the kids about looking after pets. It's difficult with 3-4yr olds (that's the older group, younger ones are too young) but he's going to tell the about pets being friends and what makes them happy and sad, and how to keep them safe.
I think it's a great idea, looking forward to hearing how it goes. This is being brought into the program as they are learning about pets, farm animals, sea creatures, etc over the next 6 weeks.

It needs to start young and continue, education is the only way.

Pumpkinseeds

angelfire9 wrote: »

A lady contacted the rescue I foster for today looking to adopt one of my three but wouldn't consider paying a fee for her because it was essentially a stray cat she was taking in!!
A stray that I have socialised into a lap cat, wormed, vaccinated, treated for cat flu and gotten chipped (all out of my own pocket) neutered by the rescue as well

Grrr

On a side note I got all three chipped & registered to me so if they end up straying or in the pound they will come back to me.. I'm too soft!!!

I know how you feel, we had our foster kitten Molly vaccinated, chipped and spayed at our own expense. The rescue would have paid for it but we wanted to do it ourselves. The chip is registered to us as well. I just don't trust people.

Pumpkinseeds

mosi wrote: »

I think that the large animal charities - and the councils - need to do a big campaign about allowing dogs to roam. When the media reports on pound and rescue statistics, the emphasis is on dogs being abandoned. I would say that a lot of people who allow dogs to roam don't see it as bad ownership and probably would not place themselves alongside those who abandon dogs on the side of the road. Some people even seem to think it is cruel not to allow a dog to roam.
A camapign, alongside animal welfare classes in the school curriculum would help. I'm sure responsible pet ownership could be taught in CPSE classes, although it should start at primary level.

The problem is that people allow their dogs to roam because they can't be bothered to walk them, amongst other reasons and I don't think any number of campaigns will change that mentality. We phoned the dog warden about 2 dogs that roam every day, both belong to people who are related to each other. One of the dogs herds traffic and I'm afraid he'll go under the wheels of a car one of these days, the other is a big dog that's slightly aggressive and roams all over the town.

We reported it over a year ago and one of the dogs was missing for a couple of weeks but both are still roaming the streets every day.

SpaceTime

A friend of mine was attacked by a roaming dog (very badly) and is terrified of them ever since.
She's regularly late for work because she's so terrified of roaming dogs and will actually take long detours to avoid them!

It's totally unfair on passers by and other animals to allow dogs to roam. They can and do attack.

Attitudes will only change with hefty fines and proper enforcement.

Pumpkinseeds

SpaceTime wrote: »

A friend of mine was attacked by a roaming dog (very badly) and is terrifies of them ever since.
She's regularly late for work because she's so terrified of roaming dogs and will actually take long detours to avoid them!

It's totally unfair on passers by and other animals to allow dogs to roam. They can and do attack.

Attitudes will only change with hefty fines and proper enforcement.

It's totally unfair to dogs to allow them to roam as well as to people. That's before you factor in the cost to rescues of caring for dogs that kind people find roaming and hand in to them as strays. Those dogs then have to be fed and sheltered until the owners are found. That eats into the badly needed resources of the rescue all because so many people not only allow their dogs to roam but they don't bother to put an id tag on the dogs or microchip them.

aonb

The whole thing here is down to irresponsible owners.
Why do these people have a pet that they are not responsible enough to take care of?!
I guess the world is divided into animal lovers - those who take care of their pets health, welfare and needs, and basically love their animal and have a relationship with that animal.
Then the there's the people who should never be allowed to keep an animal - the ones who dont neuter, lets their pets stray (because they are dumped outside the house), dont care about the health, safety or wellbeing of their animal, and think feeding it is all they have to do. Why do these people bother to have an animal in the first place?!?!?

I dont know what the solution to this is, but it makes me crazy to see these people with their lousy attitude. I know we cant all be softy animal lovers, but I really believe there are people who are born without some gene or at the very least any empathy when it comes to animals.

Tranceypoo

mosi wrote: »

I would say that a lot of people who allow dogs to roam don't see it as bad ownership and probably would not place themselves alongside those who abandon dogs on the side of the road. Some people even seem to think it is cruel not to allow a dog to roam.
.

You know I think you're absolutely spot on with this comment.
I won't even say anything else because I'll be on here all day ranting!
Some days I totally despair.

Pumpkinseeds

I called over to see my parents today. They have 2 cats of their own and they feed 2 others. A neighbour of theirs moved into the area a few months ago and she's just had kittens as 'they wanted to let her have a litter before she's spayed':(:mad: That is such an outdated mentality. The cat didn't need to have a litter. They're keeping 2, i've no idea how many kittens the cat had. Hopefully none are female or no doubt they'll be having litters too.

boomerang

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

A neighbour of theirs moved into the area a few months ago and she's just had kittens as 'they wanted to let her have a litter before she's spayed

I just don't get that attitude. Why not be honest with yourself and admit it was you wanted the kittens, not the cat.

It amazes me how owners never consider the pain and suffering their cat goes through in birthing and rearing litters.

And what about the fly-by-night dad? I'm sure it never occurs to such owners that he might have given FIV or FeLV to their cat *and* the kittens.

Pumpkinseeds

boomerang wrote: »

I just don't get that attitude. Why not be honest with yourself and admit it was you wanted the kittens, not the cat.

It amazes me how owners never consider the pain and suffering their cat goes through in birthing and rearing litters.

And what about the fly-by-night dad? I'm sure it never occurs to such owners that he might have given FIV or FeLV to their cat *and* the kittens.

It seems to be an attitude that's not confined to Ireland, these people are Russian.

Pretzill

I do think attitudes in the main are changing...but there are still some ignorant owners out there. Cats left unspayed/uncastrated and then litters left to fend for themselves. Female dogs abandoned near to whelping or worse pups dispatched in some awful way.

There are responsible pet owners and right minded animal lovers to balance some of this but for every animal rescued there's another awful case.

I think starting at the bottom we need to put a hold on the puppy/kitten minded people who seem to have this need for a cute cuddly thing without realising the time, energy, money never mind love and dedication that our domestic pets need.

The 'a puppy's not just for christmas' quote should be 'a puppy's not just for puppyhood'

Personally I love seeing my dogs grow out of the difficult puppy phase and become happy dogs and then adorable geriatrics all with their own unique personalities. It's a privilage to have a companion in life for 12+ years.

Puppy farms need to be better policed - A working dog is not livestock. Cats are great pets not mousers. Whatever you feel about spaying if you don't want to responsibly breed pups/kittens and you don't have your pet within grasping distance when they heat and you haven't a place for their offspring - don't add another case to the rescue centre/pound etc.

Nowadays people should know that vet bills are not a shock. A vet should be the first other person outside the home your puppy/kitten meets.