Where do all the Lurchers come from ?
Having had lurchers whilst growing up, it is very depressing to see the amount that are continuously flowing into the dog pounds and rescues in Ireland.
The history of this cross breed of dog is a bit patchy, but due to governments in Ireland & the UK banning commoners from owning sight-hounds, like Irish Wolfhounds, Deerhounds, and greyhounds, these breeds were crossed with collies & certain terriers depending on their use, and this got around this ban.
They were traditionally kept by the travelling families of Ireland, as a pot filler, and although few families rely on dogs today to hunt as a provider to the table, they are still kept and hunted by the families that travel our country.
Over the last 20 odd years or so, they have also become very popular with the male teenage set, and used for rough hunting both at day and night. They can be seen as a status symbol based on results in the field, much like the gangs across the UK that keep dogs for fighting and as another form of weapon.
Very few lurchers would be licensed, and it’s my opinion that the dog wardens of this country tend not to target the owners mentioned above.
If you google “Lurcher” the first result that came back to me was from Wikipedia, and upon reading down through the text the following line can be found “Unfortunately, some breeders kill or turn loose lurchers that are not successful hunters or have physical or behavioural problems”
What’s the solution to this problem ? Would mandatory microchipping of all dogs be a start ? All dogs registered with the IKC have to be microchipped, and even if the new owner doesn’t transfer the chip details, if a dog does end up in a pound, at least the breeder can be located, and maybe the person tracked down if the dog escaped on them, or in fact they dumped it !
448 total views, 2 today
