Should we bring back dog licencing?

I am fed up with irresponsible dog owners and I firmly believe we should bring back dog licencing.

When I take my dog for a walk, more often than not, we get harrassed by loose dogs whose owners have little or no control over them. Sometimes it frightens the children, and you never know what an unkown dog will do.

I would like to see a licencing system put in place similar to the driving licence. There should be Obligatory dog/handler training for every dog owned to a recognised level of ability. Those who fail the test must repeat the training until they pass. There would be concessions in the case of current dog owners, particularly the elderly, where the dog is an essential companion. Dogs who fail the test repeatedly and show levels of aggression which cannot be trained out should be put down. Repeated failure of dog/handler would result in the owner having to give up the dog to a more suitable owner.

DNA sample of every dog should be held on file, along with the owner’s details. This would allow authorities to deal with dog fouling more effectively. It would also play an important role in evidence gathering for ‘hit and run’ dog attacks.

Having a record of all dog/owner activity will give a broad picture. Instances of cruelty or abuse to the dog could result in prosecution of the owner, obligatory re-training and possible revocation of the licence, ensuring the owner cannot continue to keep dogs.

There are many, many dog owners who dearly love their pets, train them properly and treat them with respect and dignity. Unfortunately, there are always some idiots who care nothing for the animal, nor for the effect they have on other people. A licencing system would allow responsible dog owners to prove their abilities and would not restrict them in any way, but would force irresponsible and inadequate owners to improve their skills enforce their responsibilities, or lose the privilege of owning a dog.

Dog licencing in this way would improve the lives of many dogs and it would create a safer and cleaner environment for everybody.

I would be very interested to hear your views on this, so please leave a comment. Thanks.

I think he explains it pretty well, so I don’t need to bother – cool!

“Pass The Butter .. Please.
This is interesting . .. . Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back.

It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.. DO YOU KNOW.. The difference between margarine and butter? Read on to the end…gets very interesting!

• Both have the same amount of calories.
• Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.
• Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
• Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
• Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few Only because they are added!
• Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.
• Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years .

And now, for Margarine..

• Very high in Trans fatty acids.
• Triple risk of coronary heart disease .
• Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol) Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold..
• Lowers quality of breast milk.
• Decreases immune response.
• Decreases insulin response.
• And here’s the most disturbing fact…. HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING! Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC.. This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and an ything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself: Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things: * no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something) * it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic . Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?”

Read the story in the Telegraph

We just don’t deal with things properly here. We ought to have big storm drains like they have in the US. Stop tipoeing around the issue, Gordon, and give us something that will really deal with the solution. You never know, there might even be a source of free hydro-elecricity from the flood water. That would be a real coop, saving the worst hit flood plains, and generating free, green energy, all in one go!