fragusa saying 4th july like our 5th nov

[Anonymous]

Kiz: Reminds me of our July 4 Independence Day. People start w/noise makers during afternoon & continue til after midnight. dog organizations say more dogs lost July 4 than any other day, yr after yr cuz too many folks leave their dogs in back yard (garden) & get so freaked out they escape by digging under fence or even climbing fence that they don’ t normally climb. Some folks who lose their dogs say dog has never climbed fence before. Apparently dogs just that terrified. Some never find their dogs. About 2 July 4’s ago real sad story. Shitzue(sp) escaped yd while owner on vacation (hol). Neighbor was letting shitzue & GSD out into back yard for potty. When he came back just few minutes later, shitzue was gone, GSD still there. Looked all over, could not find. Called owner who came back immediately. I met her while walking my dogs July 5. She & 2 grown kids walking up & down street after street, calling for her & posting “LOST” signs. I called her a few days later to ask if found her. Was shocked what she told me. Said another lady called her to ask why signs still up, “wasn’t your dog returned?” Lady told owner she saw dog go up to young women in laundromat parking lot 4 blocks from owners house afternoon of July 4. They picked her up, petted, made fuss over pretty dog. Lady caller said she went over & petted dog also. When lady left, her understanding from young women was they were going to return her via info on county license tag or vets phone # or address which was on rabies tag. Could have even called animal control which is 1/2 mile from laundermat. Vet’s office was on next block across the street from laundermat! Everything right there together. What could be easier?  Poor owner couldn’t believe what she was hearing cuz had been few days & no shitzue! Lady described to owner exactly what dog looked like down to her “eyelashes” as owner stated to me ( not sure what she meant, but not important). Lady also described tags that dog had on (different people put dif tags on their dogs–some just rabies tag, some ID tag, some county license tag, some no tag). So owner knew lady caller legit. Lady described SUV young women got out of but hadn’t seen any reason to write down vehicle license plate #. She had no idea young women would steal dog, but that’s what happened cuz owner never got dog back. Owner even spent next 3 Saturdays (July 4 was on Sat. that yr) sitting in her car at laundermat parking lot for 8 hours each Sat.  Owner really loved dog & desperately wanted her back. Shame on young women to do that. Dog was clean, groomed–had very obviously just now escaped. Very obviously cared for & loved. Totally heartless! A year later I asked owner’s neighbor if owner ever had dog returned to her–said no. I had even told owner to find out if laundermat had security camera (they didn’t) & to take sign to all vets in county & tell them dog was stolen & to call her or police if new dog was brought in fitting description & photo & age. Still, no dog. Very sad. Has made me even more protective of my dogs than I was before. Won’t even run errand w/dogs in fenced back yard. Have heard of purebred dogs snatched from back yards. What is wrong with people?  OK, end of rant.

[*Lassie*]

Are dogs micro-chipped in the USA?
A few years ago an elderly Westie was stolen from a car parked outside a shop in town,dog was on daily medication, never found 🙁

[Anonymous]

Some dogs are chipped here, is becoming more common. Even some of the rescues are chipping before releasing dog to adopter. The very well run private shelter I adopted Fraggle from in 2004 wasn’t chipping at the time so I had it done soon after even tho I know it’s no guarantee. I have ID tag with my phone # & address + rabies tag which has vet’s phone # & address on both dogs. Carry county tag in purse in case stopped by officer on walk. Don’t remember if shitzue was chipped. As I see it, problem in case like that is when thief brings stolen dog to a vet for care or rabies booster, vet won’t know to scan for chip to see if dog is stolen. He/she would just assume dog belongs to person bringing dog in. That is why I advised owner to go to every vet in county & explain dog is stolen & to keep pic & description on hand in case dog would be brought in to their office one day. Perhaps solution would be for every vet to take new client’s dog in other room & discreetly have tech scan dog while weighing, etc.  That way new client not offended & every so often a dog would be returned to his loving, heartbroken owner. What do you think about this, Lassie?  Any ideas or thoughts? Wonder what it would take to get vets to do this?  Over here, dogs must be vaccinated for rabies every 1 – 3 yrs, depending on state law. Must have proof of rabies vac in order to get county license tag. If caught with no rabies vac–big fine. If no county tag–another big fine. So most people keep up w/these things which ultimately gives vet opportunity to return stolen dogs to owners.  Just need to get vets to do their part. This is how I see it. As much as we pay vets, think this not too much to ask, esp if they love dogs which I would hope they do. Oh & Fraggle’s shelter now has chipping events where anyone can bring their dog in to have them chipped for about 1/4th what I paid for vet to do it. Can’t say enuf about this one shelter.

[kizkiznobite]

my turn frag for the over the pond differences… ;D

county tag in purse???  what is this ?? and how does it work ??

is there no tattoing of dogs over there instead of chipping?

[*Lassie*]

Would help if all vets check the identity of the dog when bought in be it by tags, chips or tattoo. Save a lot of heartache and only take seconds to do.

[Anonymous]

Kiz: All counties. & cities that I know of require dog owners to register their dogs with them. Fees vary from $10/yr to at least $28/yr that I know of. Of course there are so many counties & cities in America I couldn’t say that some might not be higher.  The reasons given for this requirement vary. Some localities say the fees help finance the county run animal control facilities which consist of kill shelters & animal control officers & their vehicles to pick up stray animals & conduct other business. Some say it pays for county-issued tags that dogs are supposed to wear in case they get lost or escape & bite someone. Since you can only get a county issued tag w/proof of rabies vac, dogs who bite & are recognized or identified by their county tag (assuming they are caught or recognized by victim or witness) can be determined as to whether they have up-to-date rabies vac. If they are up-to-date they usually are quarantined for 10 – 14 days (sometimes longer) depending on local or state law (I forget which). They say this is done to make sure vac was effective in case dog recently came in contact w/rabid animal (usually wild animal that has wondered onto owners property–raccoons, skunks & foxes most often, but also feral cats). If biter is OK after designated time period, dog is released to owner & owner pays for room & board. However, if biting dog is not up-to-date  w/vac or if dog cannot be found, there is big problem. TV news shows make announcement to try to get public’s help in locating dog. If not found, victim must have series of painful shots since rabies almost always fatal. It used to be very long series in the abdomen–said to be very painful, even if small child. And since children more often are the victims of dog bites, situation was bad. There was & is enuf rabies in this country that parents could not take chance of child dying. Neither could adult victims. If unvaccinated dog was found, I’ve read of dif courses of action including quarantining dog for long period of time–sometimes victim getting shots in meantime. After long time if dog doesn’t show rabies, he released to owners w/huge boarding bill. Some owners, when told how long dog has to stay at animal control shelter & how big bill will be, consent to have dogs head cut off to test for presence of rabies. It sometimes
matter of finances. But personally I believe it most often matter of not really being attached to dog emotionally–not bonded as family member. In my case, as 9 yr old child bitten by pit bull (back when you rarely saw pit bulls or staffies in my neighborhood), the dog had just gotten out of quarantine for biting someone else & owners still allowed him to run lose. Third day of running lose he chased me down on my bike & bit me. Totally traumatized me. Would panic any time any dog got near me for yrs. Stopped riding bike for long while which had been daily after school play since 6 yrs old. Could not touch any dog no matter how “friendly” until a grown women. Still start to hyperventilate when any bully breed comes near me. Nothing against board members with bully breeds. In fact I admire & appreciate your working w/your dogs to socialize, train & show love. Thank you for that. As for my phobia of bully breeds, don’t think will ever go away. Trauma was just too great. I think I believed he was going to kill me. But back to rabies, rabid cat went after sheltie on next street from mine 2 summers ago. Cat had no tags or tatoo so animal control had head cut off & tested positive for rabies. I talked to owner of sheltie–said vac was up-to-date but her vet had her come in for booster. Know vacs aren’t always popular on Dog Board & I agree with a lot of what’s said, but I can’t blame elderly lady for doing everything possible to ensure her sheltie’s life. Have read when human gets rabies, they are placed in coma so will not feel horiffic, agonizing & terrifying (patient becomes very paranoid & loses mind cuz rabies brain/central nervous system disease) symptoms. A teenage girl somehow survived rabies a few yrs back & was big, BIG news cuz nearly unheard of. Oh & vets are now required to report to our county every dog they vac for rabies, then county sends you a bill. Send in check, county sends you tag. Reason I keep tag in purse instead of on dog, they already have 2 noise making tags each. Third would wake me at night for sure every time they shake. Already annoys me during day if have headache or feeling little stressed. Just hate that sound. If checked by officer at park where we walk will have county tag in car. Then no fine. As to tatoos, have seen only 1–on a dog trainers coton de’ tulear (sp). Must be others out there, but have not heard or read of them. None of my vets ever mentioned it either. Sounds like good idea, maybe just hasn’t been promoted the way chips have been. And chips have been very strongly promoted in last few yrs. Kiz, I’m sure you already knew some of this, but didn’t know which part so just told everything I knew LOL. So no offense intended if I over explained. Everybody knows you the go-to person for dog info. That’s why I PM’d you & thanks for answering!! Oh also am reading your “rant” about dog food–will take a while to read all of it & “d-i-g-e-s-t” it. HeHe, couldn’t help myself.                               

[kizkiznobite]

thanks for the info  🙂

we used to have dog licensing in the uk but it was abolished in 1987 as many folk ignored them…if i remember correctly it used to cost 37 pence lol or 7 shillings and sixpence in pre decimal currency ..and cost more to collect than it was worth and wasnt policed… .Northern Ireland have them..they cost £12.50 a year with reductions for pensioners and owners of neutered dogs. but i don’t know how or if it is policed.
our dogs have to wear a tag or engraved collar with owners name and address on…any other information on them is not legally required but many folk put on telephone numbers and dogs name…but gun dogs are exempt.

but of course we dont have the rabies problem here like you do over there.

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