You do NOT need a $1000 dog.

[Charlie_Tan]

Daniel, I’ve spent the good part of an hour trying to google, checking government and city agencies, and I’ve come up with nothing. I’ve checked the dept of agriculture + university for agriculture, I’ve searched the Swedish Kennel Club, mateur sites and I cvouldn’t come up with a single document about feral dogs in Sweden.

There are some strays. The only shelter in the Stockholm metro area (pop 2mil) takes in about 300 dogs a year, and roughly 200 of those find their way back to their owners, having just ran away. The rest are dogs taken in by the police because the owner mistreated it ASF. It’s a rare thing when an abandoned puppy is found and it makes headlines, albeit small, in the papers.
Considering Sweden’s pop. of 9 million, and number of dogs, roughly 800k, the statistics could point to about 400 dogs per year who are in a shelter for another reason than just running a way when chasing a rabbit or some such. The vast majority have been forcefully taken from their owners by the police. I consider this a very small number as compared to the total population.

And again - no, I reapeat, no feral dogs at all.

I know you have a big heart and strong emotions re: this issue. It’s quite evident from your posts. But it gives a quixotic feeling. It used to be the same way here and your comments about rosy reality and a way not suitable for the US seems, dare I say it, ignorant. Of course things can change.

I brought PETA into the discussion, why shouldn’t I? It seems to me that they are the most vocal group when it comes to lobby work for animals. Problem is, a lot of people sneer at them. I’m gonna translate an aphorism by a Swedish journalist: “I love animals, but hate animal lovers.”

Change the attitude of prospective buyers, the way you changed attitude towards smoking and a lot of other things, and the problems will diminish, if not disappear. Or is it that this whole thing gives you a purpose in life?

Link to the shelter in Stockholm. No pages in English, though.

[Stoid]

I apologize if this has already been mentioned, because I have not read every single post. Bad me. But:

I think the absolute best of both worlds (breeders/shelters) is breed-specific rescue groups if you want a particular breed of dog, and also if you just want a dog. What they do is rescue the dog from the pound (and sometimes dogs are surrendered directly to the rescue group), get it cleaned up and checked out by a vet, and then place it in a foster home to be evaluated.

I was a foster mom for the Los Angeles Golden Retriever Rescue group for about a year, and I fostered about half a dozen dogs. My job was to give them a comfortable home, a chance to chill out, and see what kind of dog they really were. Good with cats? Kids? Other dogs? Housebroken? Rides in the car? Lazy, active, etc. Then we would match the family to the dog.

We would rescue both purebreds and anything that looked like it had Golden retriever in the mix. That’s how I ended up with my baby boy, Mr. Tucker P. Fancypants. I fostered him when he was just 8 weeks old. I picked him up at the vet’s, with his little busted-up face that someone had kicked, blinding him on his right side. He was so scared and silent at first…but within a couple of hours I learned what a perfect little punk he was.

We never intended to get a puppy or a male…and we ended up with both. I couldn’t let anybody else have him, he was too good.

Now he’s 80 pounds, with a rakish wink and a heart of pure gold.

Sorry… I do go on…

Anyway, think about going to a breed-specific rescue group. If you live in a large metro area, there are groups for even the most obscure breeds.

[mouthbreather]

@Stoid

But how do you feel about pushing a dog’s misery for so long that they begin to fall apart? Does that really make you feel better than watching them die? They don’t * experience * the death, but you know they experienced every minute of every hour that has been so miserable and lonely and awful that they are beginning to fall apart mentally. And that makes you feel better why? Why are you placing so much energy on life? The dogs don’t. They have no conscious awareness of anything except the moment they are in.

Well, following that logic, as they have no awareness of anything other than the moment they exist in – why try to adopt them out at all? If they have to stay in a cage for even 14 days, that is pure torture just like 3 or 6 months would be. Since they don’t experience the death, Euthanizing all dogs upon entry to a shelter would solve this problem immediately.

There’s a balance between temporary bad situations and long term happiness that I know you know exists, but from what you posted here you seem to be discounting.

It makes me feel better because in many of the cases, we are able to fit them in a good home where they can be happy and live full, normal lives. That is a good thing.

[Gulo_gulo]

This link was just posted on one of my Doberman lists so I thought I’d share:

No-Kill Shelter Debate

I’ve worked/volunteered in shelters for over 10 years before I burnt out (a crying cat will still cause me to burst into tears). Now I just do feral cat work and rescue transport. Every so often I get calls to check out for certain dogs at the local pound for their respective breed rescues.

However, if I get a Doberman I plan on doing so through a reputable, responsible breeder who runs full health tests on her dogs and titles them. While I have no plans for showing, I do plan on pursuing working titles.

There are two other breeds I’m interested in that I would have to go through a breeder as well due to their rarity. Of course I’d still be just as careful. I will never go to anyone who sees their dogs as cash on four paws.

The last breed I’m interested in (last but not least!), a greyhound, would come from the local rescue.

All my cats have been found/feral/recycled.

I live in the land of the backyard breeder. The pound is extremely underfunded and dogs are at least two to a kennel. The director is accused of being “euthanasia-happy” but I don’t know what other choice he has when the dogs are being brought in daily. Oh, and cats are completely disposable.

Is education working? I hope so but I’m not seeing it. People still don’t think about puppy mills when they see those cute dogs in the pet store window. We live in a society that thinks nothing of buying on impulse. I always get funny looks when I recommend buying books or joining mailing lists to learn more. “But I want it now!!!” is usually the response.

It just makes me want to scream but I think I’ll go hug my kitties instead. I know I can’t save them all and that’s hard for me to accept sometimes.