this is a follow up of the story. i dont know how to link threads

Security firm slammed for putting down healthy dogs
A GROUP of animal lovers has slammed an Enfield security firm for putting down large numbers of guard dogs after it went into liquidation.

Up to two dozen dogs are believed to have been put to sleep by the Ministry Protection Services last week, though the exact number is unknown.

The firm, which "prides itself on having the biggest dog section the private sector can provide", did not do anything illegal, but several dog owners have voiced anger that more of the animals were not rehoused.

Many posted critical messages on a [a social network] discussion site, which was set up following the incident.

Sally Nicholson-Fisher, 49, from Brighton Road, first notified the Enfield Independent about the incident. She said: "People say the firm did try to rehome the dogs, but they were just too vicious, but I would dispute that.

"I tried hard to intervene and take the dogs off their hands, but didn't have any luck. It all happened very quickly and I don't believe they tried very hard at all.

"I feel appalled by it. What really irks me is that these dogs were bred for security reasons, made to be vicious and then disposed of when they were no longer useful."

Writing on the Face book site, James Henry Eades called for the law to be changed: "I am so upset and angry at the injustice of training dogs to be aggressive and then having them killed.

"Anyone manipulating dogs to be aggressive has a moral responsibility to these dogs for life.

"Apparently there is no legal responsibility to keep these dogs alive, but in situations such as these - eg "security" dogs - the law needs to be changed."

Ministry Protection Services could not be contacted, but a friend of the owner, who works in the animal industry, defended the decision to put the dogs down.

He said: "Hundreds of dogs are put down all the time by the police, the prison service, the Army. It is often unavoidable.

"This poor guy hated having to do what he did. It was not done on a whim. He tried extremely hard to rehouse the dogs, and all the dogs that could be rehoused were rehoused.

"The fact is, some dogs are too aggressive to be put in a new home and the safest thing to do is put them down.

"All these do-gooders on Face book need a reality check."

Dog welfare charity Dogs Trust declined to comment on this specific incident as it did not know the full details, but confirmed that "no healthy dog should ever be put to sleep".

A spokeswoman said: "Should any company that utilises working dogs go into liquidation, we would advise them to immediately contact rehoming charities or breed rescue associations before taking the drastic step of putting them to sleep.

"Retired working dogs can make great pets and we firmly believe that no healthy dog should ever be put to sleep."

can I ask what your view is on this liverbird?

I understand that the dogs where highly trained attack dogs and could only be homed to anyone with knowledge in this type of dog.
I don't know if re-habilitation is possible after they have been trained in such a way.
However i think they could of been re-homed to the police/security firms etc.
obviously they are not re-homable as pets.

I see what your saying, but in my experience most people who handle highly trained attack dogs do not take on dogs trained by others, most like to train there own dogs,
the type of owners most likely to want these dogs are private posh folk looking for a bit of security, but they have no dog savvy what so ever, thus they are a big walking liability to the dog.
Its such a difficult thing to re-home a trained dog.

like Kerry Katona for instance.

are they not able to be re-rehabilitated then Shona
like some dogs that have been trained for fighting.

to a very savvy home they can be, eg if the person homing the dog was very familiar with the methods used to train the dog,
much depends on the level the dog has been trained to, the higher the level the more experienced home required. Can they be re-trained yes some could be but again it would take a very experienced owner who new the methods used to train the dog very well {I hate the word re-hab} its much to CM for me,

all in all though, there are so many dogs out there that are not loaded guns that need homes its very difficult to find homes for ones with such training. I cant think of anyone I could hand kaos to if anything happend to me, his training is minimal in attack work, if it were more advanced I wouldnt even let dougie walk him.

many will remember the horrid case of the rottie that attacked a child a while back, the dog was sold on from the security sector to a chap {some wanabee security guy who had no experience of working with dogs but thought it would be a good idea to nab a cheap dog.
the dog then went on to bite his child, very sad indeed, but all to common when these dogs fall into the wrong hands sadly.

so may overall view is still, no they cant be re-homed.

not that im saying its right to have that amount of dogs pts, its so sad,

It remains a very sad situation, and if there had only been one or two dogs to find experienced homes for it may have proved possible. However, the facts are that there are hundreds of German Shepherds currently in rescue, who have no history of biting or aggression, who can't find homes.

Exlactly!

while everyone is up in arms about these dogs being pts, they must remember that far more dogs that are not working attack dogs are pts daily,

would anyone hand a loaded gun to a family with two kids/ or just joe soap from the street?

why would you hand them a trained attack dog? the end result can be the same in the wrong hands,

I doubt that, it says in the article "some of the dogs are extremely aggressive" and from what I understand , that means they are or were not really suitable dog to be trained in protection work in the first place..........from what I understand a guard dog should NOT show aggression, it should have a very calm well balanced temperament. if it is in any way unstable, you are playing with fire.



I agree Shona, it says in the article somewhere.


I am afraid, I agree with this, a sad situation but inevitable,



Shona can I ask you something........ if a dog that has been trained to attack, I understand you have a trigger word! to send it off.. like go get or something.


Can you ever guarantee if a dog is rehabilitation successfully, can you ever turn that "trigger" off!! what happens if one dog , you are out with your dog, and some inevitably says the trigger... will the dog, know then its OK I don't do that anymore, or will their be even a miniscule chance it may switch on and react.

yes dogs have a trigger word, they often have a lead up as well, which can be a few words put together, but its the trigger that counts,
while you could take the trigger out of the dog, the dog would never be 100% reliable to be honest,
I now make up words for my trigger, so not real words, but that is not 100% fool proof either as some words may sound like my made up words if you see what I mean,