This week's Featured Story this week is about Bad Pets, Bad Management or Bad Owners?   (listen)

Veterinary Behaviourist Dr Kersti Seksel looks at the issue from the point of view that in fact there are bad pets just as there are bad owners. She says you can do all the research, find the right breeder, socialise and train the animal and give it all the TLC in the world and still get a bad dog or cat or whatever.

Like humans, the 'domestic animal gene pool' is not perfect and sometimes - sadly - this happens.

All that may be true but we think there is even more to the issue than may be obvious at first.

We currently have a bunch of tom cats roaming the neighbourhood at night looking for a cute little female who is obviously on heat.

A house around the corner had a sign out a few months ago "Kittens $30 each" clearly they didn't sell them all (or desex them) and the consequences are now obvious. Likewise it brought home the fact that several other cat owners in the area have male cats that are likewise un-desexed.

They are not from the same litter as they are older.

One 'tom' has obviously had a very hard life and is most likely 'feral'. He had a very scrawny mangy look about him with head sores etc and looked in really old and in very poor condition. But his 'natural instincts' were to hunt out 'miss kitty'.

So are these 'bad pets'?
Certainly if we weren't pet owners ourselves we'd have to say so... screaming and miaowing at all hours of the night... like the barking/howling dogs a little further up the street these are the things that will get the 'anti-pet brigade' on their high horses amid calls for even stricter controls on pets and pet owners.

Is it bad management?
Is the fact that these cats (or dogs etc) are out roaming the streets the fault of councils and government generally?... With so many lobby groups willing to spend so much time lobbying government to 'do something about the problem' it would seem on the surface that we do need stronger laws to make sure animals are 'strictly controlled at all times'.

Really?... Do any of us want that?... Has the 'strict requirement' that P platers be zero alcohol stopped P platers from drink driving and killing themselves and others on our roads? No.

Has the threat of jail and heavy fines stopped corporations or even individuals from evading tax or other obligations? Of course not.

And what about drugs? - we're still seeing people young and old being caught not only in this country but around the world AFTER hearing about death sentences and life long jail terms... have any of the rules and regulations worked there?

Clearly not - so we're left with one final part of this story - Bad Owners.

You know... when people talk about 'responsible pet owners' most people react with - 'but I feed, water and walk my dog every day'.

That's great - so do the majority of other dog owners... but c'mon... be honest now, do you REALLY pick up after your dog on a lone walk? (or leave it because no-one saw it and it's off the pathway!!).

And have you invested in one of those fancy enclosures for your cat to keep it indoors or do you say "oh she doesn't go far"... knowing inside you that the cat has had "lapses in the past but only ever killed two birds and a blue-tongue in her entire 8 years she's been with us!"

So when there is uproar in the community about how animals are kept as pets - when new laws are passed by governments or bodies corporate to limit where we can go with them, where we can buy them, what we can do with them... don't blame 'everyone else' - let's take a closer look at ourselves.

Bad owners (and there aren't all that many of them really) are the reason good pet owners are being punished.

Part of the solution would have to be education of course... making sure kids understand the reasons behind the whole range of responsibilities that go hand in hand with pet ownership. But the overall solution is to 'lead by example'.

Education should not be limited to schools. Parents need to sharpen their knowledge base too and try to find out 'best practice' with regards to animals in their care and pass that on to the kids.

A bloke up the road yelled at me one day when I returned his intact male dog and suggested subtly he think about about de-sexing it - "so many unwanted dogs" I said...

His reply? "bugger off - people can do what they like!"

They can... and sadly they still do (and he did) and so called 'responsible' pet owners in Australia are now seeing the consequences because of ignorant people like that.

A 'feral animal' population in our suburbs, no pets in rental accommodation or apartments (unlike New York where it seems every second apartment dweller has a well trained and socialised dog!), and well meaning but ill-informed politicians trying to ban the sale of animals from the only outlets that actually offer some hope of re-dress should something go wrong with a purchase.

We don't have all the answers... although I do have my opinions -  and if you do too, we'd love to hear them.

Just go to our forum to add your thoughts...

Forum Topic:
Bad Pets Or Bad Owners?

Meantime - take care of those animals
Brian Pickering -

Photo: 'Bad Dog' (c) http://www.my-bad-dog.com/