Dogs Respond To Reward Not Punishment

Modern scientific research has proved conclusively that wolf packs in the wild are not governed by dominance and aggression.
In fact, they are family units presided over by a mother and a father figure, and far from wanting to fight each other to win status, wolves prefer co-operation to conflict.
There are modern dog trainers who have taken on board the latest evidence and modified their approach accordingly.
They use dog-training methods based on the idea of reward, not punishment, and there is no evidence that animals schooled in this way are any less obedient than those subjected to military discipline.
But the old myths persist, reinforced by TV shows in which so-called problem dogs are ruthlessly put in their place by no-nonsense trainers.

Inbreeding Of Dogs Cause Diseases

Inbreeding and rigid adherence to artificial rules about the perfect physical dimensions of show-winning dogs have seriously depleted the gene pools of many breeds and left the animals prey to truly horrible diseases.
Some bulldogs and pugs have been bred to have such big heads that their mothers’ pelvises can no longer accommodate them and they can only be delivered by caesarean section.

Battery Beagles – It’s Barbaric

Hundreds of dogs at Harlan Laboratories in Wyton, Cambridgeshire, Britain’s biggest beagle ‘farm’, spend just 20 minutes a week outside their small cages.
The dogs are kept in pens with little daylight before being sold for experiments for around £2000 each, after which most are killed.
Some cages measure two by three metres and are used to house two large dogs or eight puppies.
The few animals not sold are used as breeders or donors and have their blood drained for medical use.
Harlan Laboratories is exempt from animal welfare law as it complies with a Government Home Office code of practise.
Luke Steele of the National Anti-Vivisection Alliance said: “They are like battery beagles. It is completely barbaric.”

Someone Stole My Mate’s Dog

Every year in the UK cats kill 55 million birds, 200 million mammals and ten million reptiles and amphibians.

Someone stole my mate’s dog last week.
He doesn’t know who it was yet but he says he has a couple of leads.

Other people’s dogs are like other people’s children, never quite as delightful as our own.

1/2 Million People Cannot Afford To Feed Their Pets

Why is it that the only flavour food you can’t get for your cat is mouse?

The Blue Cross claim 500,000 people cannot afford pet food and are reduced to feeding their animals on scraps.
The pet charity has seen a 19% increase in abandoned pets at its centres in the past year, mainly due to rising costs.

Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped as gods.
Cats have never forgotten this.

100 Huskies Slaughtered At Ski Resort

A hundred huskies were slaughtered because a tour company specializing in sled rides failed to secure enough bookings.
Some of the dogs were shot while others had their throats cut in the Canadian ski resort Whistler.
Outdoor Adventures policy now states dogs have to be put down humanely by a vet.
Well, that’s ok then.
What a nasty, bloody lot!

Dogs Can Detect Cancer

Man’s best friend may also be a lifesaver – as a weapon in detecting cancer.
Odours given off by bowel cancer have been sniffed out by a specially trained dog with a 98% accuracy.
One Labrador in a Japanese study identified the disease in 33 out of 36 breath samples and 37out of 38 stool tests.
And it was most successful when the disease was in the early stages – a crucial time for treatment.
Dogs are able to detect volatile organic compounds which flag up the presence of cancer.
Using dogs would be impractical and costly but a sensor could be developed.

1,000 Animals Are Tortured And Killed Every 30 Seconds

Murdering, cowardly vivisectors (who have a collective I.Q. lower than the average temperature in Siberia) torture and kill around 1,000 cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, monkeys, rabbits and other defenceless animals every 30 seconds – and some of those animals are pets that have been stolen.
Animal experiments are of no scientific value and are performed for purely commercial or personal reasons.

Cows, pigs and sheep are just as affectionate, caring, loving and sensitive as cats and dogs.
It is only our culture which has decreed that dogs and cats get well looked after while cows, pigs and sheep are killed and eaten.

Over 500 Dog Attack Victims Every Month

If a dog jumps up into your lap, it is because he is fond of you.
But if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.

Beware of the silent man and a dog that does not bark.

If you play with cats you must expect to get scratched.

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.

565 people were mauled so badly they needed hospital treatment in the month after a crackdown on dangerous dogs was ditched by the Tory-led government.
Tough laws to protect people from attacks were drawn up by Labour for the Dangerous Dogs Act to be rewritten, but the Tories have scrapped the reforms, which included microchipping animals so that irresponsible owners can be traced.
The latest Department of Health figures show 565 dog attack victims needed to go to hospital in August, 538 in July, 545 in June and 561 in May 2010 when the Coalition took power.

Dogs Are Welcome Here

Depressed dog owners are passing bad vibes on to their pets who then mimic their owners’ feelings.
Man’s best friend may be more in tune with emotions than first thought, with 77% of owners saying their pets knew when they were feeling sad.
It seems dogs are highly sensitive creatures, able to detect a range of emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, anxiety and grief.

Dogs are welcome here.
We never had a dog which smoked in bed nor set fire to the blankets.
We never had a dog stealing our towels, playing TV too loud or having a noisy fight with a companion.
We never had a dog getting itself drunk and smashing up the furniture.
And so, if your dog is prepared to vouch for you, you are welcome here, too.

There are now over a million cats in London – half of them living on the streets.
One female cat over a seven year period, if all her kittens lived and bred, would be responsible for 21,000 cats.