Ireland GET LEGAL WITH YOUR DOG AT THE BALLYWALTER FAIR

[littlefish 602]

I think a lot of the people who sign petitions calling FOR the introduction of a dog license in the rest of the U.K. will not be dog lovers or dog owners, but rather those who have a morbid fear of dogs. These types of people often seem to receive a disproportionately loud hearing in the media if recent discussions on our local radio stations are mirrored across the country. A course in remedial therapy for their ailment would perhaps be a more sensible approach, but then common sense and bureaucratic regulations seem to mix about as well as oil and water.

 

Also, add to the above, people who are sick of dog dirt in the streets and public parks and dogs running loose causing a nuisance, especially the unfortunate types that were obtained by 'hardmen youths' and then let run the streets when they no longer have any interest in them as a living thing that they should be responsible for. The council and charity dog shelters are full of dogs like these,Staffies, Akitas, Rotties etc -all over bred and under appreciated. Sad really. Who should be responsible for paying for rounding them up and euthanising them?

[Rich.h 4]

The whole Liscence issue is a whopping double edged sword. On the one hand I completley agree that working men with working dogs should not have to foot the bill with regards to city stray dogs. However there is always the growing problem of city strays and the tide of online adverts for so called pedigree animals and stupid hybrids (labradoodle anyone?), I only need to click on my local gumtree to see eegits breeding animals for the sole purpose of asking a quick 500 for each akita pup.

 

To my mind most of the dogs sold in this way have no purpose in the working world and so are just delboy quick cash schemes. This in turn causes irrisponsible animal ownership and thus the growing stray problem. Targeting the liscence system as "broken" and calling for it to go isn't going to solve the issue of why it came into force to begin with. The real issue is how unliscenced animals are being dealt with, currently it is simply a warden picks up your dog you get a slap on the wrist and a fine then told liscence your dog.

 

To be effective the system needs to impose much harsher fines along with very short time limits on dog destruction if a liscence is not obtained. If the animal were kept in the councils care during this "cool off" period and the owner also charged for keep of the animal along with destruction costs if the liscence is not obtained it may start to make folk think these are living animals and not a get rich quick scheme.

 

I don't own any dog at this time, but only because I live in the town in a terraced house with no garden, this to me is totally unsuitable for such an animal but I see them all over the place where they do not belong. Sadly someone somewhere needs to foot the initial bill and so if a small liscence fee means no more mongrels that can ruin good blood lines, or eegits bringing the sporting side of things into ill repute then is it really such a heavy burden?

 

Rather than lobby for abolishment should the sporting world not be lobbying for an effective control and punishment system that is fully enforced with no excuses?

Edited April 12, 2012 by Rich.h