As you may or may not know rattlesnake aversion training for dogs has come under fire from animal rights activists in San Diego county, earlier this year a complaint was registered with San Diego county animal services regarding the use of rattlesnakes to train dogs to avoid, the complaint was that it is is cruel and stressful to the snakes. Because of the complaint animal services has begun enforcing an ordinance in the county that prohibits the possession of venomous reptiles. Animal services has contacted the aversion trainers and told us we can no longer offer this service and said in no uncertain terms that we will be cited if we continue.
Anyone that has had their dog trained to avoid knows that it is a safe and effective method of teaching a dog to avoid. This is not just about hunting dogs its about every dog in the county. San Diego is a city and county of canyons and open spaces and rattlesnakes exist from the beaches to the deserts and are a very real threat to dogs that have not been trained. Recently there has been a spate of bites in the north county beach areas with one Encinitas vet proclaiming on News 8 that aversion training is essential to keeping dogs safe. Dogs that have not been trained typically will walk right up to a rattling snake and put their nose right on it to investigate (I have seen this thousands of times in the clinics we conduct) If your dog hasn't been trained you run a very high risk of a bad outcome to an encounter.
I'm not one to take this kind of stuff lying down and have been working with my county supervisor Bill Horn to change the ordinance to allow possession of rattlesnakes for aversion training. Mr Horn is willing to make this an agenda item but we will need the support of the other supervisors in order to get the ordinance changed. I have enlisted the help of the San Diego county wildlife federation, other kennel clubs and dog organizations in the county but there is more that needs to be done. WE NEED YOUR HELP! in working with Mr Horns office they have told me that we need to get the general public involved, The supervisors need to hear from you, tentatively we are scheduled to go in front of the board on June 19Th to present our concerns, it is important that the supervisors hear from you before the meeting. If we go in front of the board and fail to get a vote or are defeated there is little to no chance we will be able to present our case in the future. We need to build a concensus among the supervisors before the meeting and hopefully have the votes we need before the meeting takes place. We've already lost to the anti's recently with the passage of the ban on dogs for bear hunting don't let these misinformed zealots tell us what we can and cannot do to keep our dogs safe from this very real threat. Please call, email or write your county supervisor and let them know how you feel and that you want the ordinance amended to allow possession for dog training purposes. The board has a web site with contact info if you are uncertain of your district or want to communicate to them through it. This is are one chance to do the right thing and keep our pets safe. Please don't sit back and watch this happen get involved and use your voice to make a difference we can fix this if we work together.
Anyone that has had their dog trained to avoid knows that it is a safe and effective method of teaching a dog to avoid. This is not just about hunting dogs its about every dog in the county. San Diego is a city and county of canyons and open spaces and rattlesnakes exist from the beaches to the deserts and are a very real threat to dogs that have not been trained. Recently there has been a spate of bites in the north county beach areas with one Encinitas vet proclaiming on News 8 that aversion training is essential to keeping dogs safe. Dogs that have not been trained typically will walk right up to a rattling snake and put their nose right on it to investigate (I have seen this thousands of times in the clinics we conduct) If your dog hasn't been trained you run a very high risk of a bad outcome to an encounter.
I'm not one to take this kind of stuff lying down and have been working with my county supervisor Bill Horn to change the ordinance to allow possession of rattlesnakes for aversion training. Mr Horn is willing to make this an agenda item but we will need the support of the other supervisors in order to get the ordinance changed. I have enlisted the help of the San Diego county wildlife federation, other kennel clubs and dog organizations in the county but there is more that needs to be done. WE NEED YOUR HELP! in working with Mr Horns office they have told me that we need to get the general public involved, The supervisors need to hear from you, tentatively we are scheduled to go in front of the board on June 19Th to present our concerns, it is important that the supervisors hear from you before the meeting. If we go in front of the board and fail to get a vote or are defeated there is little to no chance we will be able to present our case in the future. We need to build a concensus among the supervisors before the meeting and hopefully have the votes we need before the meeting takes place. We've already lost to the anti's recently with the passage of the ban on dogs for bear hunting don't let these misinformed zealots tell us what we can and cannot do to keep our dogs safe from this very real threat. Please call, email or write your county supervisor and let them know how you feel and that you want the ordinance amended to allow possession for dog training purposes. The board has a web site with contact info if you are uncertain of your district or want to communicate to them through it. This is are one chance to do the right thing and keep our pets safe. Please don't sit back and watch this happen get involved and use your voice to make a difference we can fix this if we work together.
