[quote user="jenns"] I view spaying and neutering as an unfortuanate reality that comes along with our desire to share our lives with dogs. The result of NOT doing it would be simply disasterous, and IS disasterous to millions of dogs. I just don't view cropping, docking, debarking etc etc in the same light. People can make all the claims they want about ear infections and tail injuries, but the reason it is done still comes down to cosmetics (i.e. breed standards), especially with

quote user pudel quote user polarexpress quote user pudel Since the majority of pure bred dogs are not working what is the justificaiton for all these people you speak about to crop and dock their dogs other than cosmetics quote Really What breeds are you personally an expert on quote Are you

[quote user="pudel"] Since the majority of pure bred dogs are not working, what is the justificaiton for all these people you speak about to crop and dock their dogs, other than cosmetics? [/quote] Really? What breeds are you personally an expert on? The vast majority of the GSPs and Viszlas I know hunt. I can't speak to many other breeds, but I can tell you that the GSP folks I know EXPECT their puppies to hunt. I've even been told that if you don't hunt and just want a companion

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/05/bid_to_ban_dog_racing_succeeds_on_2d_try/

Two weeks ago, my relative "Sue" (who I love like a sister) was badly bitten on the face by her 10 year old dog. He ripped off her upper lip and tore up the side of her face and jaw. She will need months of plastic surgery to repair her face and the nerve damage may be permanent. Sue found the dog abandoned at a campground at about nine months of age and brought him home. She is in a lot of physical pain but the emotional pain is the worst. Her parents had him euthanised while she was in

[quote user="Monroe-Magee"] Her parents need to understand that the decision to put down the dog at the time did not effect her, but after time is would be a great loss in her life. [/quote] I think you nailed the issue: time. Her parents have been as supportive as they can, but the fact that she is so depressed NOW as opposed to the day after it happend is confusing to them. Plus they can understand the grief, but don't understand WHY she feels so guilty and so they tend to blame the

Thanks for the good thoughts and suggestions. I was on the phone with Sue for a while and we did a lot of crying. I think I was able to help her, but it is going to be a slow process. I made a donation to a rescue, and I chose to help one special needs dog in particular. When I told her about the dog she was really quiet for about a minute. She had a nickname for her dog (that I didn't know about) and this rescue dog has the same name. I think the donation made her feel better, but having that

Check out your city's website under the trash/recyling section. Many cities post list of charitable organizations that accept donations of large items like stoves---and the cities post the information because they would rather have you re-use something than dump it on the city to deal with. If the website doesn't have info, call the recycling dept. and they can probably point you somewhere. In the city where my dad lived they had a "goods" pantry, which is like a food pantry only

Cheerleaders at a pep rally pretended to shoot rival cheerleaders (who were kneeling) in the back of the head. How sick is that? And the principal thinks it is okay--- he thinks the students who objected to it have a personal grudge. Check out the article and the photos of the execution. http://www.dailysentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2008/10/04/NISD__gun_skit100508.html

I think the WI HS did something which will improve the lives of the dogs at the mill and prevent future suffering, so that is a good thing. OTOH I think buying a puppy mill puppy at a pet store is FINANCING the continued production of puppies. The money is not only used as a financing source for the mills, from a business perspective it financially justifies the continuation of their business. A dog trainer's fee is not used to make more puppies.The vet who treats sick puppies is not using the