Importing Romanian Dogs- Thoughts?

There seems to be a current trend of rescues importing Romanian dogs to give them a better life here.

My question is we already have a dog overpopulation here. Why not sort our dogs out first before taking from other countries? Surely the money going into these projects could help rehome dozens of UK dogs and the Romanian dogs wouldn't be subject to stress, have to get used to humans after being strays?

Dog culling happens worldwide and only the Western countries seem concerned (and want to interfere with others' culture) however if some Hindus' went into a slaughterhouse and started rescuing cows it'd definitely be seen as weird/wrong?

Thoughts?

Reply 1

Mazzini

Original post by Pawsies

My dog is a rescue dog from Romania. The authorities there incinerate stray dogs - burn them. Would you like to be burned, just because you were kicked out of your home or because you were born on the streets? Through no fault of your own? Thought not.

Reply 2

Pawsies

Original post by Mazzini

Didn't answer any of my points?

I'm sure you didn't set out to get a Romanian dog. It was a coincidence. Of course it's awful but look worldwide: other cultures eat dogs, they don't have a great life either.
But nor will our rescue dogs if we prioritise different countries over them?
Plus what about other animals- sheep/pigs/cattle etc they are treated badly too, do we start importing them? Where is the line?

Reply 3

andyyy

The law which allowed local authorities to cull dogs was struck down at the end of last year so there's nothing for Western countries to be concerned about. Except, of course, animal shelters in Western countries which kill animals which don't get adopted.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 4

Mazzini

Original post by Pawsies

In answer to your first post, then:

Because more dogs are incinerated each day. Burned, alive.

The Romanian dogs would be subject of more stress when they are put in a pound (and eventually incinerated) than being shipped across Europe.

In answer to your second post:

That is their culture. We (well, you because I'm a vegetarian) eat cows and pigs so if we go and stop them eating dog meat then surely they could legitimately stop you eating beef or pork?

There is an overall better quality of life for all dogs if some are imported but 'UK dogs' are also cared for than if UK dogs are cared for better but the Romanian dogs are killed.

Dogs are domestic animals. Sheep/pigs/cattle are not. Plus, sheep/pigs/cattle are used for food (more commonly than dogs are) and so you could be taking away someone's livelihood. There's a difference between taking away someone's livelihood and importing stray dogs who would otherwise be killed.

Reply 5

Pawsies

Original post by Mazzini

In answer to your first post, then:

Because more dogs are incinerated each day. Burned, alive.

The Romanian dogs would be subject of more stress when they are put in a pound (and eventually incinerated) than being shipped across Europe.

In answer to your second post:

That is their culture. We (well, you because I'm a vegetarian) eat cows and pigs so if we go and stop them eating dog meat then surely they could legitimately stop you eating beef or pork?

There is an overall better quality of life for all dogs if some are imported but 'UK dogs' are also cared for than if UK dogs are cared for better but the Romanian dogs are killed.

Haha sorry just looked at your profile 'Caecilius est in horto' I think that's all I remember from latin. Those books were amazing!

Reply 6

Mazzini

Original post by Pawsies

Haha sorry just looked at your profile 'Caecilius est in horto' I think that's all I remember from latin. Those books were amazing!

The other one is in Greek. It means "Oh no, the slave has fallen into the river!"

^The staple of John Taylor's Greek exercises, right there.

Reply 7

Pawsies

Original post by Mazzini

The other one is in Greek. It means "Oh no, the slave has fallen into the river!"

^The staple of John Taylor's Greek exercises, right there.

Hehe I also remember for some odd reason: bam bas bat, batus batis bant. Verb endings- someone in my school was singing it to me and I've never forgotten it. How useful :biggrin:

Reply 8

Mazzini

Original post by Pawsies

Hehe I also remember for some odd reason: bam bas bat, batus batis bant. Verb endings- someone in my school was singing it to me and I've never forgotten it. How useful :biggrin:

Almost right, it's bam bas bat, bamus batis bant. :wink:

Imperfect verb endings, e.g. portabam portabas portabat, portabamus portabatis portabant (I was carrying, you were carrying, etc.) :tongue:

Reply 9

Pawsies

Original post by Mazzini

In answer to your first post, then:

Because more dogs are incinerated each day. Burned, alive.

The Romanian dogs would be subject of more stress when they are put in a pound (and eventually incinerated) than being shipped across Europe.

In answer to your second post:

That is their culture. We (well, you because I'm a vegetarian) eat cows and pigs so if we go and stop them eating dog meat then surely they could legitimately stop you eating beef or pork?

There is an overall better quality of life for all dogs if some are imported but 'UK dogs' are also cared for than if UK dogs are cared for better but the Romanian dogs are killed.

Anyway I was going to say livestock are domesticated. I just wonder how much flights etc cost to get these dogs over and why not keep them in Romania but in a shelter so they can get rehomed and not have to be transported. I am also veggie so the first point is irrelevant.
I just wonder these things :smile:

Reply 10

beccac94

Original post by Mazzini

Sheep/pigs/cattle in UK farms are all domesticated, yes they are used for food but I highly doubt a domestic sheep would be able to survive in the wild as they would need to be sheared as they're wool is different to a wild sheep and continuously grows. Cattle and pigs possibly would be able to live in the wild but I highly doubt a domestic sheep could.

Reply 11

Pawsies

Original post by beccac94

Tbf you do get extensively kept sheep with wool

124050048067.234.0.8.jpg

Cattle and pigs have and do live outdoors (think Tamworth two that escaped from slaughter)

Reply 12

Mazzini

Original post by Pawsies

I should think they send them by ship: larger capacity and cheaper. There are no shelters in Romania - it is an extremely poor country. Its GDP per capita according to the CIA World Factbook is $12,300 (97th largest) compared to $35,900 for the UK (which is 34th largest).

Original post by beccac94

I meant domesticated as in living within the home.

Reply 13

Herr

There are a lot of them coming into Switzerland these days, many of them one look at it you know it was once owned by someone wealthy that could no longer afford having a dog or just got tired of having one.

If you do get one and the organization bringing it in hasn't done the quarantine and immunizations or given it a veterinary inspection, then you might want to make sure the health of these dogs are in good order before adopting them especially if you already have dogs at home.

Reply 14

beccac94

Original post by Pawsies

Tbf you do get extensively kept sheep with wool

124050048067.234.0.8.jpg

Cattle and pigs have and do live outdoors (think Tamworth two that escaped from slaughter)

I did actually say that cows and pigs could both live in the wild and those sheep still get sheared I was talking about wild breeds of sheep.

A problem with importing these dogs is that they could have rabies and I read that there has been an increase in rabies due to an increase in illegal imports of dogs. ( I'm not saying these dogs have rabies or are illegal I'm just saying some people do this illegally and the dog may have rabies)

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 15

andyyy

Original post by Mazzini

Romania is a mid-ranging country when it comes to the economy / standard of living (which is why it's halfway down the list of country in order of GDP per capita) - the fact that the UK is extremely rich doesn't make everybody else extremely poor. There are shelters in most large(r) towns in Romania - the problem was that, like everywhere else, they had limited capacity so they didn't know what to do with animals which didn't get adopted - for about two or three years the law allowed animals who were not adopted after a set period of time to be killed, but that law was over-ruled last year. The stray dogs population has also decreased significantly in the last couple of years as a result of many large scale sterilization campaigns and general raised awareness about animal rights issues - polls consistently show that most people are against animals getting killed, they just didn't know that it was happening until it started to get media attention. But this is a problem in shelters all over the world.

Reply 16

bertiejess

In my personal opinion, when there are around 25 000 healthy dogs being euthanised in the UK each year, I think that these dogs are the priority for UK rescues compared to Romanian strays. Although I find the large numbers of stray dogs in countries e.g. Romania very sad, the expense for 1 dog of vaccinating, microchipping and transporting over to the UK would in my opinion be better spent on several UK dogs. Also, Romanian strays commonly have lack of socialisation/veterinary issues that again will require much more time and money than dogs from UK pounds/homes. All rescue centres in my area certainly have an incredibly long waiting list for dogs to come into rescue, so bringing over strays from Romania just worsens our current dog overpopulation.

I think that if people want to help Romanian strays, it is better to donate to a charity working on spay/neuter schemes and rescues out in Romania, for example Romania Animal Aid http://www.romaniaanimalaid.co.uk/, rather than UK charities importing them over.

Reply 17

Origami Bullets

Original post by Mazzini

Almost right, it's bam bas bat, bamus batis bant. :wink:

Imperfect verb endings, e.g. portabam portabas portabat, portabamus portabatis portabant (I was carrying, you were carrying, etc.) :tongue:

Porto portas portat, portamus, portatis, portat!

It brings back so many memories (but minimal actual learning) from my Latin days.

Back on subject, IMHO the money would be much better spent on spay / neuter and release schemes for strays in Romania, whilst working with the authorities to find more humane ways of reducing the population faster, and an agreement not to euthanase animals that have already been spayed / neutered.