Inbreeding leads to attacks on owners nasty dog surge

Alex de Vos
Thousands of pets have been destroyed after a surge of inbreeding around Geelong, according to a new report.
Geelong Animal Welfare Society president Dr Ian Walter said inbreeding had also created hundreds of dogs so nasty they had to be surrendered and destroyed.
He said the viscious pets were threats to their owners.
“Yesterday a woman came into the centre with bruises on her neck where her dog had lunged at her,” Dr Walter said.
“She’d bought the wrong dog – it was a rottweiler cross.”
Dr Walter pointed the finger at amateur breeders trying to make quick money without doing their research.
“The biggest problem is people think they can make money by selling puppies, so they’ll breed anything,” Dr Walter said.
“They don’t care about the temperament of the animal or what happens to it.”
Dr Walter urged potential owners to choose wisely before buying a pet dog.
“Make sure the puppy comes up to you and wants to be patted and, if you have lots of young children, don’t get a big dog unless it’s got a really good temperament,” he said.
“If you’re buying a dog from us, always talk to us first about the animal.”
Dr Walter said owners should also ensure pets would fit into their lifestyles.
“Some dogs need a lot of exercise and you need to be able to put a bit of time and energy into the animal and get some training,” he said.
Dr Walter’s recommendations followed the release of Geelong Animal Welfare Society’s annual report.
The report said the society received 5918 dogs and cats in the past financial year compared to 6257 in 2007-08.
The report revealed 1412 dogs and puppies were reunited with their owners, 487 found new homes and 852 were destroyed.
While, 2426 cats and kittens were destroyed, 546 found new homes and 122 were reunited with owners.
Dr Walter was “pleased” with the results despite the rise in pets destroyed.
“Over the past 10 years we’ve become much better at getting animals back to their owners and this has helped with the introduction of mandatory microchipping two years ago,” he said.