Dear Dilyn (& Larry)
I hope you are both well and enjoying the cooler weather. I am writing to you about some very important issues, I hope you can help me, or maybe point me in the direction of someone who can?
There’s a lot of great humans trying to make the world better for animals, they literally devote their lives to it. From one dog to another I struggle to get my head around all the work they have to do, and how much time it takes to get things that bark, common sense done! Do the decision makers not know that us pets don’t live as long as humans?
I heard through the Dogvine this is generally how it works? They submit a PETition, get 100,000 humans to sign it, then it gets debated by some important folk who decide if it will become the law, or not. If the important folk decide it’s a go, it can sometimes take years to implement. Maybe I’m being a silly dog, but this all seems a bit inefficient? Surely anyone who cares for the welfare of us animals must know you don’t need 100,000+ people to tell you that, pet theft reform, banning exploitive puppy imports, scanning prior to euthanasia for rescue back up (TUKs Law), compulsory scan and check to reunite stolen dogs (Ferns Laws) to name a few, are all things that should already be in practice?
My two humans are trying to end pet discrimination, by asking for a review of no pet clauses, so people who want to have a pet in their family don’t face the misery of not being able to find a place to live! You wouldn’t believe some of the horror stories I’ve heard. Your friend Robert Jenrick announced he would be reviewing the model tenancy agreement, to make it easier to rent with pets earlier this year, the dog world went barking mad with applause. I’m not sure they understood that a review alone won’t change much, it’s just a set of rules, not enforceable, one thing I’ve learned in my short life is some humans don’t much like rules! A word in his ear to ask him to do more would be terrific.
On another note, a story I heard them talking about recently! Brewdog, (they make beer, let us dogs into their bars, and sell doggy beer, we like them) and Ricky Gervais, (funny guy from the telly, LOVES dogs & cats, does amazing stuff for animal welfare, doesn’t much care what people think of him, we like him), have got together and made a beer in aid of animal charities. Here’s the thing, they are putting pictures of dogs who need new homes on the beer cans. Imagine those poor doggos, all they want is a loving home? Here’s the other thing, there are 1000’s of potential loving homes in our country but outdated blanket bans, negative pet clauses and lack of human tolerance and kindness prevent people from providing loving forever homes. Unbelievable eh? Happening right now, in Great Britain, under our wet noses.
Now for the serious bit, and, I know nobody likes to be told they’re doing things better in other countries, I’m relying on you to break it to them gently, use all your charm. The French, Canadians and Australians have all banned no pet clauses, they managed to do it by including certain guidelines that balance the interests of ‘no pet people’ – tolerance works both ways! I have a friend in Newcastle, he’s a greyhound, his human is an animal law expert, she’s done extensive research on this topic and helps people who get chucked out of their homes, for having a pet in their family. She can explain how easy it would be to change things, I can put you in touch if you want?
Recently I heard Marc Abraham (another great guy who devotes his time to helping animals, but I don’t need to tell you that!) talking on a Podcast, aptly named ‘A Dogs Life’, he was chatting about puppy farming and his campaign to ban exploitive puppy imports. He talked about a very sad situation with a shipment of young puppies who were taken from Ukraine to Canada, when they were discovered 38 puppies had died. The Canadian government reacted immediately and within two weeks they had changed the age you can legally import a puppy into their country to 8 months.
The Germans this week announced that they are raising the bar for animal welfare standards, and us dogs must get our walks and be well cared for. I heard there are silly folk tweeting about not wanting to be told when to walk their dogs, you and I both know this is about the welfare of less fortunate dogs than us who are in kennels and the like, not the ones in loving homes. Moaners exist in every country, I guess?
Anyhow, my point! Surely anything Angela and Justin can do your Dad and his crew can ‘take a lead’ and do better?
Dilyn (& Larry), I’m barking on a bit now, these topics do get me hot under the collar! I hope you and your humans are all well and you are looking after your little human brother, little people who know the love of a pet are very lucky. Keep well, and don’t forget about those dogs and cats out there who are not as fortunate as us. Remember you have a great spot on the sofa next to people who can make the world a better and more tolerant place for us.
Paws crossed you agree with me.
Best Woofs
Vinnie & the PAAW Dogs
P.S. Always one to do things by the book they submitted a petition recently, it was rejected, but that’s ok because someone else had already set one up. It had 58 signatures when they started to share it last week, its acquired quite a few new ones since but still has a LONG way to go! 99,340 to be exact, in that Great British Bulldog spirit we will keep sharing and shouting…in the hope that it will get to 100,000, just in case Dilyn putting a word in for us doesn’t work! https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/315909