Thought for the Day!

[Zondrae]

Thanks teacher,

I told you I was a rotten speller this was made worse by my passion for the topic. I won't start again.

Sorry Maureen and other dog lovers, it was not my intention to preach to you or at you. You love your dogs and I thank God we live in a free country that enables you to treat them as you choose. I am only saying that I couldn't do it.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Well at the risk of being shot for being somewhat old and infirm and not much good myself right now I will wade in Bob.

The worth of a dog is only as good as its worth to its owner some would say - a good working dog is worth two mens wages any day of the week IMNSHO. We would never have survived as long as we did without our dogs. And when they got to old to work, we appreciated their effort and gave them an easy retirement - if they wanted to work in the yards they did, but if they were feeling stiff and sore and wanted to laze in front of the fire they did that. We kept them well housed, well fed and warm and if they started to suffer from pain or injury we put them down - as we did with our sheep - with sorrow and with dignity...as I would have done with Mahalia if she had been out of options.

The cost of saving a dog that offers you love, companionship, loyalty, through good times and bad that listens to your sorrows, licks away your tears and just generally accepts you as a great person even if you aren't - well that cost is whatever you can manage to pay. Be it $50 or $5000 it is irrelevant - as long as you give your mate the best chance at life you can. I cannot imagine EVER putting a dog down because I thought them not worthy of spending the money on them. They are not disposable items. They are like kids to many of us - not always perfect, not always good, but ours.

The attitude of shoot this one or put it down and get another doesn't sit well with me, never has, never will and that attitude to animals is totally incomprehensible and abhorrent to me. If I thought I would be unable to afford veterinary treatment or proper care and tucker for my animals - I would not own an animal. Animals like kids are expensive to run.

I might be considered to be a bleeding heart or a fool or a soft touch - do I care? Not one bit - but I can honestly say that over the years I have received truer love and friendship from my animals than I have from any relationship I have been in even when some of those relationships have spanned 20 years and cost me lots of $$$$$ and never has an animal asked me for anything, but they have always been so grateful for what has been offered - poor though at times it may have been. And always animals have eventually offered trust, love and loyalty in return which is more than quite a few people other than family have.

I cannot put a price on my two dogs worth - they are worth as much to me as my son and my family - they are my family, and they are dearly loved. My favourite saying is that my home is run for the care and consideration of my animals and if you have a problem with that maybe you shouldn't be here.

My son gets it - what's not to understand.

Cheers

Maureen

[Leonie]

Interesting discussion. I fall somewhere in between the two camps. Having recently spent more than a couple of thousand on a dog ourselves it's pretty obvious that we don't go along with the 'put 'em down and get another one' line of thinking ... but ... when it comes to spending thousands on an old dog that might have only a couple more years to live anyway I think I would draw the line at that.

[Heather]

I don't smoke or drink (well I do drink but I'm not a "drinker"), I don't get a holiday every year and I don't have expensive hobbies or tastes. I don't have a new car every year or new clothes every week. I love animals and I choose to have a dog. My daughter's dog got gastro enteritis. She is only 4 years old and has another good 12 or so to go. She is loving, faithful, playful, intelligent and a good companion. I love her to bits. My little dog then caught the same bug and it was not pretty. Again, she has plenty of years left in her.

What I'm saying is that people spend a LOT more money on material things- cars, houses, clothes, shoes, handbags and overseas holidays. I suspect there are a lot more meals there than any pet owner spends.


Below is Max. We rescued Max from the RSPCA. When we got him he couldn't bark because of whatever trauma he had experienced. We owned Max for about 9 years. He was THE most faithful, loving and beautiful dog you could imagine. One time he broke a front leg and had to have it pinned. But he trusted implicitly and never once complained. Yes, it cost a lot but I had to return the love to him that he showed to me. Max died of cancer in February 2009.

Max reduced.jpg

[Maureen K Clifford]

Oh Heather - look at his eyes - it says it all - all the love and gratitude he felt for you - what a sweet boy.

I know he is sorely missed

[Bob Pacey]

Yep reckon the girls would say it a lot better then I could. I also can understand there was a need to be harsh with working dogs and so long as there was no hope at all then sometimes the euthanasia coarse needs to be followed so long as it is done humanely.

Pet dogs are another story and we really have to look at why we keep them as pets. Maureen and Heather put all the reasons there in black and white. We are careing dog owners and our dogs have helped us through bad times and celebrated the good times as well. As Maureen said they are part of the family and are treated that way. My last dog Annie was 15 when I had to have her put down after she had a stroke she was a great little dog a constant companion and friend. I used to joke that her medication used to cost more then mine and it probably did.

The dog I have at present is a Tenterfield terrier rescued from death row at the pound and I have even gone so far as to allow for her upkeep in my will.

As Heather says we sometimes look at things from only our own point of view and there are a lot of people who spend money on things that are just as important to them. Trips to poetry functions as an example.


I have attached an article from our local paper. Some people do not deserve to be allowed to keep pets.

Dog starved and then abandoned
RSPCA wants puppy torture punished
IT WAS a sad day for Rockhampton animal lovers yesterday after Maya, the starved and neglected great dane, was put out of her suffering.

“Maya has suffered enough and has been put to sleep today,” the RSPCA’s Rockhampton branch president Elizabeth Shanahan said.

“It’s a very sad day for us.”

Maya had been found barely alive under a tree on Gladstone Rd recently.

To each their own

Bob

[Maureen K Clifford]

My two are RSPCA legacy dogs as well Bob - I asked my son if he would take them if anything happened to me. His answer was totally deadpan 'Well Mum do you think they will like living on a boat' of course my answer was 'No' - 'and that Mum' he says 'is your answer'

So we just reduced his inheritance and bequeathed it to the RSPCA to look after my girls - if not these two then whatever ones I have when my time comes.. Dave really doesn't care he know his Mum well. doesn't want to spend his days haunted.

Cheers

Maureen

[william williams]

So you asked me © Bill williams


Now me mate, he was a dog
I suppose like any other pooch.

You’d say that he was sorta brindle
an his coat was kinda rough.

But there was something about him
that made you stop and think.

But hell, I dunno what it was.

An he’d always sits beside me
while I was standing by the fire.

And when I walked away he’d follow
Like any four legged mate he would

And you say he’s just a dog
Like bloody hell, he’s me mate

[Heather]

Lovely Bill.

Heather

[Maureen K Clifford]

Poor Maya what a tragedy - no one deserves that Bob. I would like to have an hour with whoever did that to her.

That's it exactly Bill

If any are in any doubt as to why so many of us love our dogs - check this one out - read the body language and look into the eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvohJgh93sk