Obese dog seized from owners

[LillFilly]

http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/ar...arm%2F19503420

It's in England. I never thought about it, but they're right; letting the dog get too heavy is just as dangerous as letting it get too thin. Either way, the dog is not having a good quality of life.

Phew! I know my dog packed on some pounds (I couldn't resist the eyes!), but we put him on a diet with lots of walking!

[PepperElf]

i'm not surprised.
if i'm not mistaken england also now does that for children, since parents control what they eat and how much they eat etc.

cos parent or pet owner, you're responsible for providing the food and ensuring a healthy diet

[dendawg]

Either way you slice it, this sets a dangerous precedent. It's only a matter of time until other governments think this will be a good idea to apply to other areas.

[tropicsgoddess]

Not sure if they have or already have done that in the states for obese dogs, but either way if the dog is too thin/fat it can drastically decrease the quality of life for the dog.

[BlaqueKatt]

Either way you slice it, this sets a dangerous precedent. It's only a matter of time until other governments think this will be a good idea to apply to other areas.

why because the animal could barely walk and had SORES on it PAWS from trying to support it's weight(which was almost double what it should be), and the owners had been told by a licensed medical professional that the dog needed to lose weight-not once not twice but at least four times!

No that is clear cut animal abuse.

[AccountingDrone]

why because the animal could barely walk and had SORES on it PAWS from trying to support it's weight(which was almost double what it should be), and the owners had been told by a licensed medical professional that the dog needed to lose weight-not once not twice but at least four times!

No that is clear cut animal abuse.

NooOoOOo but little foofy HAS to eat <whatever> !!1!1one!!eleventy!

I really do think it is in the best interest of the animal. My cat gives me this look because I only give her the amount of crunchies she needs in a day, and she can nibble on it all day. No matter how pitiful she looks, she gets that and that is it. She gets 4 hairball treats through out the day, and all the water she can tank in. Anything else, she has to catch herself. She is quite good at getting the random lightening bugs that sneak in at night with Rob when he gets home.

[jedimaster91]

Poor lightning bugs.

We have a tendancy to feed our dogs lots of veggies from our garden as treats. They love pea pods and carrots. Frankly, they can have as many of those as we're willing to give them. Very, VERY occasionally they'll get a bite of something extra yummy. I usually save them a piece of turkey for Thanksgiving and a piece of ham for Christmas.

My aunt's cat on the other hand is a fat cat. He was a stray and he freaks out if his food bowl gets empty. She keeps getting smaller food bowls, but kitty keeps eating it all.

[dendawg]

I should clarify my earlier post. I am in no way condoning animal abuse. My corncern was that eventually this kind of thinking could eventually used on other (non four-legged) family members. I was trying to phrase it in a non-fratching manner, but I realize now that any discussion in that direction would go that way inevitably, so let's just confine the discussion to pets, mmkay?

[PepperElf]

Yeah, don't forget this is in England where the laws are a bit different. if i'm not mistaken England already has a lot of laws pertaining to animals, well at least farm animals and animals you eat etc, so it's not surprising it's extended to pets


as for England's active laws concerning the 2-legged version, here you go
http://fratching.com/showthread.php?t=2960

[BlaqueKatt]

Very, VERY occasionally they'll get a bite of something extra yummy. I usually save them a piece of turkey for Thanksgiving and a piece of ham for Christmas.

my cats get freeze dried chicken breast treats and anytime I eat fresh cooked chicken they get some, they also get some of my cooked shrimp when I get it-cats and dogs are carnivores and actually this is one of the better foods out there-made from human quality ingredients.

Does the kitty in my avatar look fat or unhealthy? that's Athena my ragamuffin.

[iradney]

My pup gets a cup of food in the morning, and a cup of food in the evening. He gets veggies when i'm making supper, and one chew every couple of days, and some biscuits. He also gets taken for a daily walk (which is SUPER difficult now that it's winter and it's like....2 degrees outside). He's not gonna get obese I promise

[Lace Neil Singer]

My dog got a little plump in her later years, but that was due entirely to her arthritis; she could no longer be given a ton of exercise as it caused her a lot of pain. When we took her to the vet and asked his advice on what to do, he prescribed a new medicine and suggested we pour olive oil over the dog's food. Which is what we did, and that along with the new medicine fixed the pain problem, therefore the plumpness disappeared as we could walk the dog for longer.

That is the difference between someone like the owners described in the original post, and someone who has a slightly overweight pet. These owners were told four times to fix their dog's weight, and no doubt given lots of diet leaflets and recommendations about exercise... and they chose to ignore it every time. Also, a pet that's a little on the chunky side is not in any danger, as long as the owners do their best to rectify the problem. It's only the problem when said pet is actually suffering, like Gucci, from being morbidly obese... and that, to my mind, is just as bad as starving it.