Dogs and The Internet / WWW
When the Internet was first launched back in 1969 and then the world wide web in 1990, I’m sure Tim Beners Lee (pictured left) whom is credited with the invention of the latter, didn’t have what the www has become in mind.
I think it was around the time that he was being knighted by the Queen that he said he was of course very proud of his achievement, but not of what it was being used for in current times.
I have talked about the above title a few times since we started this blog over a year ago, and after spending a fair bit of time at my laptop over the W/E thought it would make for another good blog post for today.
The reason I was at my machine was that there were 2 big events in the Irish Dog Show Calendar being held over this Easter week end.
The first being the Combined Canine Club International Dog Show held at the IKC National Show Centre in Cloughran Dublin, and as is usual these days the video of the BIS showdown was up on the social networks within 24 hours. The second event the Pup Of The Year final, was held last night, and the results were nearly instantly available, a fact that a lot of enthusiasts were very welcome for, not being able to attend the event in person.
This is the internet / www being used in a positive way in the hobby of showing dogs in Ireland. I’m sure Tim Beners Lee would have no problem with this.
However, the same tools are being used in a far from positive way, with the welfare of dogs being the loser, when it’s used in this way.
I am of course referring to certain advertisements on the general classified web sites, where bitches that have been recently mated are being offered for sale.
This has of course caused an uproar by the dog loving people of this country, some of whom are constantly trawling these sites,and bringing ads like these to the attention of the wider audience.
When enough huff and puff has been caused / created the owners of these sites then decide to take down these ads.
It’s an area that has been in the spotlight over the last few weeks on the social networks, and has even come to the attention of Sean Delmar the President of the Irish Kennel Club.
The question is though, what can be done ?
I must say I am delighted with the response to my invite re the Pet Expo Breed Village being held on the 08th and 09th of October in the RDS. This as I have said before is a perfect opportunity to promote responsible dog ownership, promote the positive attributes of your breed, and educate the captive audience re things such as breed specific health tests / screening.
I think the task of stopping people from carrying out unbelievable acts, like selling a bitch in pup etc, will be extremely difficult, although if they don’t have a platform to advertise, they may think twice before creating this situation, but our most powerful tool is educating potential owners, as to what is considered by any decent human being, as being acceptable or not.
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