FEDS TO PITTSBURGH ZOO: STOP USING DOGS TO CONTROL ELEPHANTS
Source: AP
BY JOE MANDAK
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The federal government has ordered the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium to stop using dogs to help control its elephants and protect human handlers.
The inspection report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was released Monday by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA complained about the practice late last year.
According to the Jan. 7 inspection report, the zoo was ordered to stop using the dogs immediately.
Zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray says the facility is preparing a public response to the government's findings.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PITTSBURGH_ZOO_ELEPHANT_DOGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-02-13-09-24
= new reply since forum marked as read
But than I alway like American breeds.....
The Australian Shepherds were first classified as a breed in Montana. Australian Shepherds have a thick double coat of fur, to better survive harsh Montana Winters. Australian Shepherds have short floppy ears to keep those ears warm on cold winter nights. The leading theory on their name is that they were named after the Australian Sheep imported in the 1890s for as a "Drive" and Guard dog they were better than Border Collies (while the Border Collies were better as gathering and keeping the herd together, one huge ranch in Montana used both types of dogs very successfully in the late 1800s).
i.e border collies are easier to teach to move a herd where you want it to go, Australian Shepherds are better are driving sheep down to the pens AND to protect them from predators. Australian Shepherds are NOT intimidated by Cattle, but Border Collies have been known to be intimidated by Cattle (I have both, the Border Collie is easier to train to do a job, but does NOT have any real aggression, unlike Australian Shepherds who if they think it is needed, will do a nip to get a sheep, cow or whatever they are herding, and that can include people, to go the way the Australian Shepherd wants them to go). Border Collies rarely if ever use their teeth when herding, something NOT true of Australian Cattle Dogs OR Australian Shepherds (both will revert to using their teeth after all other efforts have failed, teeth is their last resort, but it tends to be very effective do to lack of use most of the time. Border Collies just will NOT use their teeth, thus the need to have an Australian Cattle Dog OR Australian Shepherd to provide the "Bite" if and when needed).
Australian Cattle Dogs were breed in Australian of Drover dogs from England and dingos (and they adjustment to living in a hot climate AND to handle cattle). Australian Cattle Dogs have short thin fur (to dissipate heat) and long straight ears (to dissipate heat via blood veins in the ear). This all has to do with the fact Australian Cattle Dogs were bred to herd sheep and cattle in Australia which is a lot hotter then Montana.
Given Elephants do NOT live in the Temper climates, you do NOT need a dog that can take 40 below zero to watch them (and when asked to come inside, look at you as if to say "why, it is nice out here in the snow and the 40 below"
. That is the Australian Shepherd. Border Collies are almost as bad, they do not have the coat of the Australian Shepherd but they are another cold weather dog.
Australian Cattle Dogs can take heat that would sideline an Australian Shepherd, like all dogs you still have to watch for overheating in Australian Cattle Dogs, but they can take the heat better then Border Collies or Australian Shepherds. Thus I suspect Australian Cattle Dogs were picked for this job for like Elephants they can operate in Hot Temperatures.
Photo of Australian Shepherds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Shepherd
Please note Wikipedia repeats the story that the Australian Shepherd is Basque in origin. The problem is, while Basques migrated to the US to be Sheep Herders, there are no records of them bring any dogs with them, instead they were know to adopt local dogs instead. Furthermore Spain NEVER taxed tails. England and Germany did. The Tax on Tail was a tax on any animal born with a tail. Pigs were excluded on the ground they tails were to short and this test was later use to expand the tax exclusion to horses and dogs with similar bob tails. To avoid the tax the Bob tail had to be natural thus tremendous efforts were made to make as many different animals without tail to get around such laws. It is believe tailless dogs came out of this attempt to avoid the tax on tails and if that is the case the Australian Shepherd is a dog descent from an English or German dog (or maybe a combination). The tail tax NEVER made it to the American colonies but if the gene was in the gene pool it would turn up every so often. With the Australian Shepherd this bobbed tail came back (or all ready existed) among the "Types" of dogs that later would become the Australian Shepherd.
Side note: Breeds of horses, cattle and dogs are animals whose blood line can be traced several generation. This was UNCOMMON prior to the 1700s for Horses, and the 1800s for Cattle and dogs. Instead, horses, cattle and dogs were called "Types", they were breed with other animals of the same "Type" but no real birth record was kept. Thus the term "Types" implies an animal that may be pure blooded but we have no actual record of whose the parents were, but it is clear that the animal fits the description of a "Type". Most dogs were types prior to about 1860, most horses used on farms were also "Types" not "breeds" till replaced by tractors. Australian Shepherds were a "Type" till the 1930s when they started to be recognized as a "Breed" and records were kept. Other animals stayed "Types" to this day (this includes horses and Cattle) while others are "Breeds". THe American Kennel Club tends to control what is a breed, but other groups have their own registration (and some, such as Border Collies and Australian Shepherds, have resisted listings in the AKC breed registration for the AKC goes strictly by looks and Border Collies and Australian Shepherd are judge by performance).
Photos of Australian Cattle Dogs
Australian Shepherden.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Cattle_Dog
Photos of Border Collies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Collie
Side note on Border Collies. Since the 1990s there has been a Fight between the AKC and American Border Collie Association (ABCA). The ABCA which is the dominate Border Collie registration group will NOT recognize any AKC registered dogs. As far as the ABCA is concerned the AKC is a three letter word NOT to be used around border collies. ABCA is apparently willing the fight, the ABCA registers over 20,000 border collies a year, the AKC just over 2000 per year.
Australian Cattle Dogs are #10 of "Brightest dogs". Australian Shepherds were NOT in the list for at that time Australian Shepherds were NOT a breed recognized by the AKC and the list was restricted to AKC breeds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Intelligence_of_Dogs
