The passage of the Dog Breeding Bill in Ireland earlier this Summer followed rancorous amendment of the Wildlife Act to ban staghunting. Both issues were dismissed by opposing voices as sideline distractions from the real business of our economy, Stupid.

Yet occasionally animal welfare or ownership issues are thrust onto the headlines of mainstream media as events occur which impact on the lives, routines and fears of every consumer. Events such as Foot & Mouth outbreak, rabies threat or dangerous dog attack. The latter phenomenon is more particularly a UK concern and is exacerbated by their all-pervasive tabloids and urbanised culture. But in common with other social phenomena, Irish Vets invariably notice the next epidemic, animal trend or welfare issue happening first in the UK.

The BBC broadcast a Panorama programme on August 10th from the Battersea Dogs & Cats home, a major player in the stray, rescue, welfare sector to highlight growing crises of abandonment of dogs, stray dog population increase and irresponsible pet ownership. ” A shocking rise” was reported in numbers of aggressive dogs taken in this year, particularly of Staffordshire Bull terriers and an increase in numbers NEEDING to be euthanased.

The Battersea home, among other centres said that about a third of dogs they see are unsuitable for rehoming in spite of good health and are put to sleep on grounds of animal behavioural issues. The problem is on the rise and is a reflection, they believe, of a growing trend for aggressive-looking “status” dogs.

For every advocate ( like myself) for strict registration of dangerous breeds, compulsory mocrochipping, breeder licencing, there is another viewholder. Those who decry persecutors of Pitbulls, Staffies or Rotties and say that these breeds are misunderstood, unfairly tainted, get a ” bad Rap”. So just what are the facts about dangerous breeds, Pitbull terriers and otherwise? And what are the truths in the Pitbull-owner relationship?

Truths even though not the whole truth, make bad reading for defenders of the dangerous breeds. There are sixty million dogs in the US and five million recorded dog bites on humans each year. Four hundred thousand of these people require hospital care. Pitbulls, Pitbull crosses, Rottweilars and Wolf hybrids account for 70% of fatal attacks and 77% of those causing bodily harm.

Closer to home in Dundee, Scotland just last month a ten year old girl needed plastic surgery to her face and arms after an unprovoked attack from two Rottweilars. Also in August, in Plymouth a Policewoman investigating a domestic disturbance was grievously attacked in the backgarden of a house by an unsecured Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The animals involved in both incidents were euthanased.

In the UK where 5220 dog bite cases were treated in hospitals in 2009 of which 1250 were children under two years old, one proposed solution is an upcoming amendment to the dangerous Dogs Act to raise the burden of responsibility on all dog owners. The UK differs from the US in that the UK having already banned breeds such as the Japanese Tosa and Dogo Argentino ( both listed as dangerous but not banned in Ireland), most dog attacks are made by legal family pets.

Clearly then all dogs can be dangerous. Listing and even prohibition of of dangerous breeds is not the whole answer.The debate is further informed by the fact that intact (non-neutered) male dogs are responsible for 95% of all attacks and six times more likely to attack than a female or neutered male dog and three times more likely to bite if kept chained. Animal welfare groups whose aim is education about dangerous breeds or breaking of the “myths” about Pitbulls such as US group BAD RAP www.badrap.org often deny the validity of dangerous dog lists and classification of dog attacks by dog breed. Many of these groups say that irresponsible dog ownership, neglect, lack of training and criminal practices are wholly to blame.

The American Pit Bull Terrier Association (APBTA) states its aim as “the securing of the future of the American Pit Bull as a cherished family pet”. Their answer to myth and misuse of Pit Bulls is to educate Pit Bull owners. They advise that interdog aggression is a trait of the breed, that leaving terrier breeds alone together unattended no matter “how much they love each other ” is unwise and that “a tired Pit Bull is a happy Pit Bull”. They will also dispute the accuracy of statistics on Pit Bulls’ attacks on humans and offer a view consistent with my experience that Pit Bulls and related breeds will generally not show aggression to humans and that in fact fighting Pit Bull blood lines were selectively bred for both interdog aggression and loyalty/passivity towards human handlers.

The answer to those attack statistics can be found on the flipside of selective breed traits and on the darkside of the dog-owner relationship. For example Pit Bull loyalty can be intense and the bonds they form with owners are very strong. Such a dog however becomes high maintenance and owner-dependent, even needy. In the hands of uncommitted owners Pit Bulls become depressed, bored and destructive. There is also a high maintenance aspect to their exercise needs. They are a very athletic breed which were bred for purpose. A dog which is feared or stigmatised will most likely spend its time locked up and deprived of socialisation. In the same way as bored zoo animals exhibit aberrant activity frustrated Pit Bulls or any dog will thus develop stereotypical behaviours.

The issue of interdog aggression is complex. All breeds have a tolerance threshold for other dogs and aggression potential. Pit Bulls, and for this read also Staffie, Bulldog and their crossbreeds, have a lower threshold but not only that. Their aggression potential alters at different ages and stages of their temperament maturity. Many owners will not spot these subtle temperament changes until one day their erstwhile passive Staffie appears to suddenly “flip” and viciously attack another dog. Even a familiar companion dog in the same household. This trait has been pointed out as the dark side of the extreme confidence and bravado of the Pit Bull types.

In my experience interdog aggression happens when one of these dogs escapes from their confinement. Owners regularly underestimate their ability to climb, dig, jump and underestimate just how much stimulation these dogs among others really need.

American Pit Bull Terriers and Staffordshires are highly intelligent, hardworking and have immense physical and mental reserves of stamina. They make great prison dogs, customs dogs and excel at sniffer and search-retrieval work. The question must be asked then of a dog as different from the average domestic mutt as is a greyhound on a racetrack- should we really allow these dogs to be casually kept as unregulated pets? Or more to the point expect them to adapt to the life of domestication and partial confinement which we expect of them as pets?

There were reports recently of an epidemic of Parvovirus in the South of England with a cluster epidemic noted in the area of Hull where 30 cases have been treated in less than one by the PDSA ( a UK animal charity) PetAid Veterinary group.

Our experience of this disease in Kildare/Laois and Offaly is that it comes in clusters of a dozen or so  cases each Spring and Autumn but never actually goes away as we get a case most weeks all year round. The movement of puppies before vaccination at a time of immune naivety is very risky. Stocking density within breeding kennels is a key risk factor while the immune status of the breeding bitch is key to proection of very young and at risk puppies.

Parvovirus is commonly known as Parvo and is a high morbidity and high mortality infection in Dogs. The main signs are fever, dullness, vomitting and diarrhoea. The diarrhoea tends to be haemorrhagic or blood-tinged. Pups in particular become very sick, very quickly and survival rates are typically in the region of 50% only.

Canine Parvovirus or CPV2 was first recognized in 1978. It spread worldwide within one to two years. It is thought that a cat virus known as panleukopenia may have mutated into the CPV2 form. Scientists however cant be sure as to its origin as CPV2 is confined to dogs, wolves, foxes. A

There is a cardiac form and an intestinal form. For practical purposes we recognize these cases in the early stages by their lethargy, fever and sometimes distinctive smell. Those that survive the debilitating five to seven day process of intestinal necrosis causing intense bloody diarrhoea can survive or die anyway due to prolonged shock or go on to develop the cardiac form where the heart muscle is permanently damaged.

Prevention is obviously better than cure in this instance. Especially as the virus is also resistant to the extent that only bleach-base disinfectants kill Parvo and it can survive in soil, concrete and bedding for up to one year. Prevention is simple by a regime of vaccination injection at eight, ten and twelve weeks of age with annual booster. Booster Vaccination of pregnant bitches is also recommended as maternal antibodies in the milk of vaccinated bitches are strongly protective.

I treated about 15 cases in a two week period in Portarlington recently. I see about 50 cases a year normally. I even have seen a case where one family lost a rottweilar pup to Parvo and then one month later lost the next new pup to parvo as they hadnt adequately disinfected the old pups kennel and run. I have also seen cases where vaccinated pups will be exposed to a severe challenge of Parvovirus, will show some signs of illness but will survive as their antibodies mount successful defence. A peculiar sidebar is the susceptibility of some breeds to Parvo over others due to Pups immune systems maturing at different ages. Rottweilars are proven to be immunonaive up to often five months and have lower survival rates in Parvo epidemics.

The most effective treatment I have available to me as a Vet is intensive intravenous fluid therapy.  Treatment is protracted and expensive. Antibiotics, multivitamins, immunostimulants and gastroprotectant drugs are also used but all with mixed results.

The movement of animals is such that this UK epidemic may soon reach Ireland. Lucrative puppy trade is largely unregulated. No one should buy a pup unless shown documentary evidence that the pup has had at least one Parvo vaccination.

Puppy Parvo shots are now only 30 euro at our clinics and booster vaccinations for older dogs only 25 euro on weekday mornings! Yes, I know this is shameless commercial advertising but hey its our website! And on a serious note I would rather prevent Parvo than face the odds-against challenge of treating it.

I have recently watched series 0ne and two of a new HBO slice of Americana called Sons of Anarchy. Another gritty gangster drama for those who liked The Sopranos or The Wire, it was described in its promos as ” the Sopranos on bikes”. It is set in a small city in California named Charming. “The Sons” of the title are indeed a biker gang and like the other HBO dramas it explores American culture, poverty and crime from inside the world of  this  group- a white, tattoed, gunrunning, leatherclad motorcycle gang. The bikers are mean, racist and redneck. Their world is the Wild West without the Indians and long after the cavalry have left town. Part of the appeal of the show though, is its dialogue and humour. Like the mafia in The Sopranos and the homies in The Wire, the MCs of the Charming chapter of “Sons” slag each other mercilessly.

One young outlaw at the bottom of the biker pecking order is the prospect (a prospective biker gang member) who has yet to earn his tattoo. The prospect goes by the name “Halfsack” for one very good reason- he has only one testicle. He is a warhero as his girlfriend tells him and was honourably discharged from the US army. Halfsack was near fatally wounded in a machine gun battle with The Taliban, saved one of his platoon but lost one testicle. In one episode of the show Halfsack had a prosthetic silicon testicle implanted to fill the void and “kinda balance things up a bit”. There were complications howeverand infection set in. After Halfsack told his Doctor that he had a fever and the new one had swelled to the size of a tennis ball, the operation was undone and the implant removed. In a later episode the prospect, still Halfsack, was killed in a safehouse shootout protecting Gemma, the biker matriarch from a female FBI agent played by a surgically enhanced and  badly botoxed actress formerly known as Jamie Summers, the bionic woman.

As if all that recreational fictitious viewing wasnt strange enough, reality imitated skyplus at Kildare Vet Surgery the other day when a client inquired about having replacement testicles inserted into his Staffie Boris’ scrotum. Boris was neutered about six weeks ago. Neutering in male dogs I should add involves removal of both testicles-castration. Such niceties as vasectomy or “tying the tubes” are not an option in  Veterinary surgery. Boris’ owner found it disconcerting that there now existed a gap where Boris’ fine testicles had been as Boris strutted on his harness around the neighbourhood and more to the point he imagined Boris also to be disconcerted. I made a mental note to write a blog someday about anthropomorphism; transplantation of our human feelings onto our pets.  But of more immediate and practical relevance I was reminded that Halfsack’s silicone implant had caused a severe reaction necessitating removal of the implant. Wouldnt we just be asking for trouble attempting implantation in a dog?

Truth can also be stranger than fiction. Curious research revealed that 325000 silicon testicles have been inserted in dogs worldwide since 1993 when one American Vet patented and launched these artificial testicles via a website called www.neuticles.com . Its not a huge number over a 17 year period so one can surmise that this extravagant and morally questionable procedure hasnt really grabbed the global PetVet or pet owning population. You can purchase a plain neuticle, an ultraplus neuticle or a neuticle ultraplus WITH Epididymis( a consolation artificial spermatic chord attached). It is cautioned that in fitting an “oversize” testicle into your dog there may be some discomfort as the scrotum stretches for the first week or so after implantation. The mind boggles. Prices vary from 94 euro to 329 euro but  you will also have to pay a Vet to sterilise and insert the neuticles.

 Why then do I believe it is “morally questionable” to use prosthetics in dogs/animals?An important distinction must be made betweeen cosmetic surgeries/prosthetics and prosthetics that will improve an animal’s quality of life in some tangible and functional way. There is absolutely no way a neutered male dog is any happier with testicular implants than without. The dog’s owner on the other hand may be happier. Vets however are not trained in psychotherapy and I can only wonder is there some better way to assuage a  male dog owner’s “testicle pride syndrome”?

Consider though those cases of prosthetic surgery which will improve an animal’s quality of life. A cat in the UK recently which had both hindlegs mangled in a road traffic accident had two prosthetic limbs screwed into the stumps of each hind femur close to the hip joint. The surgery has been a success. This cat now has two  mobile and functional hind legs each with little rubber soles on  titanium limb implants. Youtube has several clips of this bionic cat or Blade Runner Cat scaling stairs and so on.  The Vet who performed this operation is the subject of a TV show- Bionic Vet. An Irishman Noel Fitzpatrick, who appears simultaneously brilliant and driven by demons of self-doubt has a symbiotic relationship with the human orthopaedic fraternity. Doctors are now feeding off his  successes, experiments and ideas. Fitzpatrick has had several firsts in animal surgery and in acheiving bionic limb implantation has succeeded where human surgeons have sofar failed.

Veterinary ethics is no more straightforward than human ethics. If Euthanasia of animals is so commonplace why then is it so controversial in humans? Human life is more valuable than an animal’s  is perhaps the reason. Cosmetic surgery is unethical in animals in my view when it serves no purpose other than to manipulate animal appearance according to human tastes or fashions. It follows therefore that tail docking, ear cropping and testicle implants are all  unethical. The neuticles.com people are also selling permastay ear implants to give a flat eared dog erect “attentive” ears. These Permastay implants are particularly cruel as dogs use ear posture to communicate with each other. 

 We have got to finish by asking ourselves how much we should justify in animals unless our work and expenditure will enhance firstly the animal’s welfare or absence of suffering and then I believe also justify a human cost benefit. When I send an animal home to its owners healthier or happier I can usually be happy that one human companion bond has been enhanced. When Noel Fitzpatrick, the Bionic Vet, sends his latest success story home, who knows, his work may be pioneering for the betterment of humanity.

RTE’s “The frontline” with Pat Kenny on 22/2/2010 featured a panel of two “young” Politicians facing an audience of a representative section of Ireland’s Tiger Cubs; young, newly graduated, newly skilled and unemployed.It was an evening of frustrations and misunderstandings and the Tiger Cubs were angry.

Thomas Byrne of Fianna Fail and Lucinda Creighton of Fine Gael both agreed with this audience’s agenda for CHANGE, though differing in their view of what actual changes could happen.Byrne had the better of the exchange with a clarity of communication, three solid points and a speech without notes. Neither Politician could offer radical enough plans to satisfy this audience. A need to mobilise the unemployed, harness the educated, nurture and retain Ireland’s investment in youth skills and training was, of course, widely agreed. But there was a gulf of understanding and a youthful frustration at the slow pace and extent of change which reflects the difficulties facing these young Politicians attempting to exercise power in a multilayered system of bureaucracy, vested-interest resistance and tradition.

Both TDs argued that becoming involved in existing political channels IS the most effective way to influence change. The increasing disillusionment and disengagement of younger citizens in Politics will lead to a self-fulfilling cycle which will only serve to enforce the status quo through an increasingly older electorate electing older Politicians.

Frustrations and misunderstandings were also manifest amongst the contributors. Bill Cullen was frustrated that this group, highly educated and highly skilled in the professions and trades, lacked the self-reliance, initiative, Can Do attitude and resilience of HIS generation. Architects, engineers, business graduates, carpenters,physiotherapists etc should do more for themselves argued Bill. A creed of self-responsibility which was met with sullen misunderstanding and a rejection of his perspective as that of an establishment capitalist.

But Bill is right. Most of that group have the skills to make their own living. Most have the tools, gained by education and training in the good times, to set up their own businesses, hang their own plinth, ply their own trades in their own neighbourhoods. What many of them dont have though is the street sense, people skills,ability to improvise and the practical survival instincts that Bill Cullen’s agegroup have.

We have channelled the Tiger Cubs through well-oiled educational and training systems. Their fees were paid. Summer jobs were plentiful and cushy.Apprentices were well paid and valued. We instilled them with a sense of entitlement that they would never be subject to the inequalities, dead-end jobs and the emigration of our past. But the consequence of prosperity is that the well-funded, well-meaning, well-signposted scaffold of Ireland’s social supports has domesticated the Tiger Cubs to see only the safe and structured channels. The expectation that the Government should provide is a clear legacy of the boom years.

The people “before profit” and the TCD student union heads and the soft-socialist young labourites like to think they are radical. But the wildest voice in the room last night was Bill Cullen’s.The entire collective of Cubs failed to match Bill’s passion.The most radical thought in the room was Bill’s message of the mastery of one’s own fate. The Cubs have been domesticated and tamed. But there is a solution.

The most innovative and visionary speaker in that room last night was a young software entrepreneur. The cross-pollination of Bill Cullen’s school of hard knocks with the mosern globalised IT savvy of that young entrepreneur is needed to finish the Cubs education.My solution? Put business parks IN universities. Allocate incubation pods to IT startups IN Science faculties. Rent office space in business schools to entrepreneurs and to last years graduates. Incorporate participation in successful business projects into undergraduate work.
The Tiger is dead? Long live the Tiger!