10:55am Friday 19th March 2010
MUCH has been said nationally about the problem of dangerous and ‘status’ dogs recently and this involves Bucks too.
The Government announced a review of the Dangerous Dogs Act and proposed that owners of all dogs should take out compulsory insurance for their pets.
Whether that will have much of an impact on the numbers of ‘status’ dogs is debatable. A vet was reported as saying that these dogs are usually owned by young, ill educated males, from poor unstable backgrounds and who live on some of the worst housing estates.
They are often involved with gangs, drugs and other crimes. They live partly outside the law and have no status and so they seek that status from their dogs.
These are usually Staffordshire bull terriers or their crosses. They want their dogs to be the toughest in the district and to ward off threats from others. The dogs can be used as ‘weapons’, they think.
These poor dogs end up injured, neglected and then cast off by owners who do not want to pay vet fees.
Stokenchurch Dog Rescue, founded in the 1960s, has received some of these sorts of dogs like other welfare groups. We received a Staffie-type with a badly injured front leg which had to be amputated and the suspicion was that she had been in an organised fight.
She needs a good home now and is still full of bounce and affection for all who greet her.
We hope responsible dog owners – or simply those fond of dogs – will help us deal with these cast-off poor pets, and all the other unwanted dogs which come our way.
We take in hundreds of all shapes and sizes and rehome them. We never put a healthy dog to sleep.
Whatever readers feel about the dangerous dog problem please help us with donations and other help to keep going in Bucks. See our website stokenchurchdogrescue.co.uk
Geoff Perfitt, trustee, Stokenchurch Dog Rescue, Oxford Road, Stokenchurch.
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