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Crissie Chambers is helping stray dogs |
Unpopular ‘Staffies’ dumped on streets in stray dogs crisis
Abandoned terriers are ‘victims of their own success’
STAFFORDSHIRE Bull Terriers have got an image problem. Even with a star turn in the Andrex advert or a sprinkling of Max Clifford’s magic dust, they would still struggle to garner sympathy.
In Westminster the dogs are being abandoned at an alarming rate by owners who have fallen out of love with the humble “Staffie”.
The two closest dog homes, the Mayhew Animal Home in Kensal Rise and Battersea Dogs Home, are unable to cope with the problem, turning away owners and their pets in their droves. The crisis, dubbed “Staffism” by worried campaigners, has reached the point where the Mayhew takes in, on average, eight of the breed and has to put around a 25 on the waiting list every month.
Caroline Yates, general manager of the home in Trenmar Gardens said the dogs were being dumped at an unprecedented level.
“I don’t know why it’s happening now, but we do have a disproportionate number of Staffies,” she said. “A couple of years ago it was German Shepherds. It’s just an unfortunate trend. Around a third of our dogs are Staffies and it’s really hard to find them a new home. Some come in having literally been dumped in boxes in appalling conditions, flea-ridden and malnourished. We’ve started offering free neutering to try and get on top of the problem.”
Across the river in Battersea, which has a contract with Westminster Council to rehouse stray dogs, the problem is equally entrenched. More than 30 per cent of the dogs at the world renowned home are Staffordshire Bull Terriers.
Rachel Tooby, who works at the home, said: “It’s fair to say the dogs have become the victims of their own success. People who want the dogs for fashion are not going to make the most responsible owners. A lot of people don’t realise the amount of exercise and care they need and end up dumping them. There is also a problem with unscrupulous breeders trying to cash in on the trend.”
In the five months between April and August 2008, there were just 27 stray dogs picked up by the council’s one dog warden, giving little indication of the issue, which is most prevalent in the north of the borough in Queen’s Park and Westbourne Grove.
Crissie Chambers, who lives in Queen’s Park, and become something of a celebrity since she started holding “dog socialising classes” earlier in the month, is now running a sideline in “Staffie-days” to try and stop owners mistreating and dumping their pets.
She said: “We need a Staffie-centric approach.
“There’s a lot of misunderstanding about Staffies and people just need to be better educated on how to look after them.” |
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