Dogs and wildlife

simonhead

To balance the anti cat people my sisters dog was pleased as punch yesterday after it came back with a rabbit it had killed. Its a labrador (non native to the UK) and this isnt the first time it has caught and killed stuff (pheasants, a huge rat and loads of rabbits), it is not nurtured to kill but this is clearly instinct. Thoughts?

desweller

They're not allowed to roam around, are they. Most dogs are supervised.

I wouldn't be too happy with my dog if it came back with a kill.

MrSweary

Not sure a dog killing a rabbit equates to cats MURDERING birdlife on a GENOCIDAL scale.

More seriously, and as an aside I have a vegan tree hugging friend on inanebook who recently asked if anyone had a cat he could borrow as he had a mouse problem. He didn't want to use traps as he thought them inhumane and had heard cats scare mice away. I did want to point out that a giant creature, capturing, torturing, killing and leaving the bodies of my family behind the sofa might scare me away too... instead I just un-friended him.

Wunnunda

MrSweary wrote:

Not sure a dog killing a rabbit equates to cats MURDERING birdlife on a GENOCIDAL scale.

So...I exaggerated a bit....

My main issue about pets (all pets) is that they are far too easy to get hold of by people who don't really know how to look after them or who have no idea what a commitment they are. My kids went through the "Can I have a rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, dog, etc etc" phase. I just knew they wouldn't sustain their interest enough to look after them properly. (I allowed them (us) to look after friends guinea pigs for 2 weeks and they soon lost interest once they realised they had to clean up their sh1t every day....job done)

disgruntledgoat

My Springer once brought me back a live rabbit. Dropped it at my feet, sat awaiting praise and adulation, tail wagging, panting happily as the rabbit ran off into the bushes. :roll:

On another occasion she brought me a dead pigeon she'd found with the same act as my Lab ate it.

MrSweary

disgruntledgoat wrote:

My Springer once brought me back a live rabbit. Dropped it at my feet, sat awaiting praise and adulation, tail wagging, panting happily as the rabbit ran off into the bushes. :roll:

On another occasion she brought me a dead pigeon she'd found with the same act as my Lab ate it.

Found your problem.

Daz555

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

MrSweary

Daz555 wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

To be honest I'd try trolling a more active thread if you really want some success.

natrix

MrSweary wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

To be honest I'd try trolling a more active thread if you really want some success.

I don't see this as a Troll. I've been bitten twice cycling through the local woods (same dog owner) and am very wary of dogs when they approach my young children.

As for wildlife, dogs cause a lot of problems for ground nesting birds in my area, generally running around and trampling nests and eggs etc. Their owners are probably oblivious to the damage caused............

Pituophis

Daz555 wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

Ssshhhhh your not allowed to mention that, or dog owners will be forced to come up with lame excuses why its not the dogs, but the owners fault :shock:
In that case, lets not take a chance, lets stop people owning dogs

AchillesLeftKnee

Meh. Animals spend a lot of time killing each other. I mean, I'm one, and like plenty albeit indirectly*.

MrSweary wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

To be honest I'd try trolling a more active thread if you really want some success.

How's that considered trolling? Surely it's merely a case of stating a fact.

* Excludes roadkill, or which I have a number, including a very large domestic cat.

disgruntledgoat

Pituophis wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

Ssshhhhh your not allowed to mention that, or dog owners will be forced to come up with lame excuses why its not the dogs, but the owners fault :shock:
In that case, lets not take a chance, lets stop people owning dogs

If you're happy to stop people owning cows, zoos, cars, knives, stairs, bikes and everything else that kills somebody at any point in the history of man.

goonz

Dogs stink. End of.

simonhead

goonz wrote:

Dogs stink. End of.

if you walk into a house where there are dogs you can normally tell. Even little dogs have that aroma that smells like the dust bag of a vacuum cleaner mixed with stagnant pond water.

vitesse169

simonhead wrote:

goonz wrote:

Dogs stink. End of.

if you walk into a house where there are dogs you can normally tell. Even little dogs have that aroma that smells like the dust bag of a vacuum cleaner mixed with stagnant pond water.

There's nothing like the smell of wet dog - I have 3 and when they jump in the stream/trough/wet grass, do they ever pen and ink.... yet when we try to give them a bath - all hell breaks loose.

Pituophis

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Pituophis wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

Ssshhhhh your not allowed to mention that, or dog owners will be forced to come up with lame excuses why its not the dogs, but the owners fault :shock:
In that case, lets not take a chance, lets stop people owning dogs

If you're happy to stop people owning cows, zoos, cars, knives, stairs, bikes and everything else that kills somebody at any point in the history of man.

To be honest, I thought the last bit was quite obviously a jest, I don't really like to tell people what they can and cannot do in the real world, but.....

Surely you cannot help but have noticed that every time a certain type of dog, owned in the main (but not exclusively in the case of Staffys) by a specific type of "local character", kills or seriously maims a person (usually a child as it happens) hoards of dog lovers jump up in defence of these breeds, telling us "its not the breed, its the owners fault!"
Of course they are safe in the knowledge that statistically, it won't be their own child that their prized "status symbol" kills if it gets a bit of a cob on one day, but someone else'
Nobody has EVER come back with a workable solution when I ask what we should do about the owners then :shock:

Daz555

MrSweary wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

To be honest I'd try trolling a more active thread if you really want some success.

It was not a troll. A quick google will reveal a number of tragic cases of children being killed by dogs. I was simply stating a fact - and let's face it, it was hardly a revelation!

Giraffoto

Teach your children to kill dogs. It's pretty straightforward and redresses the balance

DesB3rd

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

Songbird populations are in decline whereas the population of homo sapiens is increasing from already troubling levels. More dogs required, or should we be encouraging the widespread adoption of big cats, bear etc as pets?

simonhead

DesB3rd wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

Songbird populations are in decline whereas the population of homo sapiens is increasing from already troubling levels. More dogs required, or should we be encouraging the widespread adoption of big cats, bear etc as pets?

I have always wanted a leopard, would also be useful for the garage security question.

goonz

Judging by the frequency of posts on this thread and the cat thread, people clearly hate cats more than dogs.

disgruntledgoat

That's because if they were big enough they'd kill and eat you.

desweller

simonhead wrote:

DesB3rd wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

Songbird populations are in decline whereas the population of homo sapiens is increasing from already troubling levels. More dogs required, or should we be encouraging the widespread adoption of big cats, bear etc as pets?

I have always wanted a leopard, would also be useful for the garage security question.

Is that because you want a legitimate reason to have a sign on your gate stating, 'Beware Of The Leopard'?

ballysmate

simonhead wrote:

DesB3rd wrote:

Dogs are known to kill children. I don't recall any such incidents with domestic cats.

Songbird populations are in decline whereas the population of homo sapiens is increasing from already troubling levels. More dogs required, or should we be encouraging the widespread adoption of big cats, bear etc as pets?

I have always wanted a leopard, would also be useful for the garage security question.

No. You would need a Jaguar for that. :oops: