Dog News Australia

OUTRAGE AT DRACONIAN DOG LAWS

Canine Profiling in Europe

Europe spawned the breed specific regulations that have made canine profiling a matter of law in a growing number of continental countries.

New aggressive dog laws and additions to 'banned breeds' lists have Australian dog owners and breeders both outraged and worried.

Still reeling from the ruling in the Supreme Court of Queensland in April, that the American Staffordshire Terrier was the same breed as the restricted American Pit Bull Terrier, owners of Amstaffs are now seeing the breed being banned in Denmark.

In Australia restricted breeds are the American Pit Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino (Argentinian fighting dog), Fila Brasileiro (Brazilian fighting dog), Japanese Tosa, and the Perro de Presa Canario. Of these, the Pit Bull Terrier and the Perro de Presa Canario are the only breeds currently known to be in the country.

Owners of breeds continually threatened with inclusion on 'banned lists' in Europe, such as Staffordshire Bull Terriers, watch every move by lawmakers nervously.

Coining the phrase 'watched breeds' or 'under surveillance' has given supporters of canine profiling on the continent the opportunity to put breeds on notice that they may be next on the list.

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WORLD WIDE RABIES VACCINE SHORTAGE

A global shortage of canine rabies vaccine is giving Australian breeders, who want to send dogs to the UK, Europe or any other country requiring rabies vaccinations, a serious problem.

Exporters will have to shop around to find an AQIS accredited vet who still has supplies. SA correspondent Elle Maitland, of Dogtainers Adelaide, said they had been advised that, due to a continued manufacturing issue with the Nobivac Rabies vaccine, supplies of the vaccine, which is imported into Australia by Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, have unfortunately again been depleted world wide.

Limited stock available is allocated to those countries where rabies is an endemic disease and a potential threat to human health if vaccination is not maintained in the domestic animal population.

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A LESSON IN CANINE PUBLIC RELATIONS

By Tui Dixon

Before I go into detail on the many possibilities for the promotion of dogs, and those which my club have used, I feel I should explain just why we must promote dogs.

Firstly, to state the obvious. Items or subjects that receive the most publicity or promotion are the ones most understood by the general public, and therefore the ones that succeed. Therefore any publicity given to the establishment, in the eyes of the public, of a healthy, enjoyable sport which includes the love of healthy, affectionate, well tempered, well understood and well controlled dogs, can go a long way to defeat the oft publicised, so-called, dog attacks. With promotion automatically comes education for the ordinary being. If this had been the norm earlier, there most certainly would have been greater understanding and may be not so much made of the more notorious happenings, which after all are only a drop in the bucket compared with other disasters such as traffic accidents. BUT IT IS NEVER TOO LATE.

Do you want the sport to still be around in 20 years? Where are the younger generations to carry on from us older ones ? Where are the new, younger participants - not just our own children? You and your club can help put this right.

The Toy Dog Club of North Queensland has, during its 6 years of existence tried to fulfill its aims to promote dogs, and seems to have had great success.

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MOVEMENT AND SOUNDNESS

By Andrew Brace (UK)

It is often a puzzle to interested onlookers that the standard of movement seen in the show ring is less than impressive, especially in the working and sporting breeds. Frequently we witness alarmingly widely carried limbs coming on and corresponding closeness behind.

If you watch a pack of hounds of any nomenclature following a huntsman, study Greyhounds before a race or Border Collies at a sheepdog trial, the chances are that you will seldom see a dog that appears to move badly.

Given that dogs in the show ring have been produced by conscientious breeders who these days have huge advantages in the advances that have been made in scientific nutrition and husbandry, one may conclude that said advances have not been significantly successful.

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GLAUCOMA IN DOGS

A VET'S VIEW by Dr Rebekah Day

Glaucoma is a term used to describe an increase in the pressure (IOP) inside the eye due to the build up of fluid. It is a complex and difficult disease that eventually leads to blindness due to pressure damage of the optic nerve and retina.

Glaucoma may occur for a number of reasons and is classified as primary or secondary. Primary glaucoma is an inherited condition that afflicts several breeds including Bassets, Cattle Dogs & Sibes, to name a few, and is due to developmental abnormalities (goniodysgenesis) causing an inability to drain fluid from the eye. It is generally seen later in life, as the internal angle of the eye changes as dogs (and humans) age and it eventually blocks fluid outflow. It may initially affect only one eye, but the vast majority of patients will develop the disease in both.

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Our Cover Page

OUTRAGE AT DRACONIAN DOG LAWS

WORLD WIDE RABIES VACCINE SHORTAGE

A LESSON IN CANINE PUBLIC RELATIONS

MOVEMENT AND SOUNDNESS

GLAUCOMA IN DOGS