Dogs consultant Louise Glazebrook

I’ve recently been told tales of a man wandering in Clissold Park, trying to get rid of his Rottweiler that he no longer wanted, willing to give it up to anyone who wanted it.

We are struggling through a recession, and everyone’s budgets have been cut, but since when did a living animal, a member of the family, become disposable?

Longevity isn’t exactly the buzzword of the ‘noughties’, and it’s most evident with pets – the Rottweiler owner in north London sadly being a representative of a lot of dog owners.

Despite increasing numbers of micro-chipped pets, many dogs are not tagged, making it very hard for the owners to be traced.

One of the most important things I think we could learn from last year, is that with Battersea Dogs Home reporting a 20 per cent increase in the dogs they are taking in and with 5,000 dogs last year being found on the streets of London and taken in by local authorities, it’s evident that something somewhere isn’t working.

We call ourselves a nation of pet lovers, but statistics seem to show otherwise. In the last week of January 2010, one London local authority picked up 16 stray or abandoned dogs. These dogs ranged from Staff crosses to pedigree dogs of differing ages and sizes.

The problem is no longer just a random smattering of dogs being dumped, its become a weekly even daily issue, resulting in pets being dumped, tied up on the street and left or just turned out of the family home and left to fend for themselves.

Visit Battersea Dogs Home, The Dogs Trust and The Blue Cross to see exactly how many unwanted dogs there are out there.

Without being preachy, those who take on a dog must be responsible for it, and irresponsibility mustn’t seem such an enticing and easy option.

We need to be looking to help individuals and families choose the right puppy or dog for their circumstances, all too often people are choosing a breed for all the wrong reasons, to later find out that it doesn’t quite fit in with their lifestyle, or that having a dog is a bit more hard work than they bargained for.

There are ways around it. For example, The Cookery butchers on Stoke Newington High Street offers cheap cuts of meat which are perfect for dogs.

In fact, most butchers readily advise you on what cuts to feed your dog and for the most cost effective way to do it. Last week, I bought a huge (and I mean huge!) ox’s heart for about £4. I still have some of it left in the fridge, the dog and kitten await it with baited breath!

If you want more money-saving ideas for you and your dog, want to discuss rescue dogs or just talk dogs, contact me: louise@thedarlingdogcompany.co.uk.

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The meeting will be an opportunity to ask questions of a panel made up of Empire senior staff and its Board of Trustees, together with officers from the Arts Council and Hackney Council.

It will be independently chaired by leading arts professional, Jodi Myers, and will take place in the Empire’s main auditorium, Mare Street, E8, from 6.30-8pm. Admission is free.

If you can’t attend, e-mail questions for possible inclusion to: info@hackneyempire.co.uk

Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street

“A record-breaking fifth year of frozen council tax with no cuts to frontline services” is the overarching principle of its budget for the coming financial year,  Hackney Council has announced.

For the fifth successive year Hackney’s part of the council tax will not increase, as part of the 2010/11 budget agreed at a meeting of full Council on 3 March, and which comes into effect from April.

In 2010/11 the Council will be investing £187 million into education for more than 10,000 children and young people including in primary and secondary schools and nurseries, as well as £72 million on services such as youth clubs, training for work, and care for disabled children.

A total of £66 million is to be spent on cleaner streets and better roads, involving maintenance of nearly 11,000 street lights, and a total of 296 miles of roads swept daily.

The Council will also be spending a total of £119 million on adult social care in the coming financial year, to include 640,000 hours of home care, 160 nursing home placements, and support for vulnerable young people to make the transition into adulthood.

Mayor Jules Pipe said, “Hackney Council is on the side of residents through difficult economic times. I know that the past year has been difficult for many residents due to the economic climate and I hope that by keeping the council tax down we can help to make a life a little easier.

“We are the only authority in the country to be freezing council tax for five years in a row, and it has been achieved alongside record investment in services.”

The District Auditor, a government financial watchdog, has said in a report that “Hackney has one of the strongest balance sheets in London”, and the Council says during recent years it has made over £40 million in efficiency savings, funds which it says are being reinvested into the services that matter most to local people.

“These savings are the highest in London and the third highest in the country, and have come from a number of sources including improved council tax and housing rent collection rates, improved benefits processing, and improvements to working practices.

Rose Hayes, Chair of Age Concern Hackney, said, “We are naturally pleased that the Council has been able to keep a five year freeze on the level of the council tax, whilst finding extra money for much needed services like our Coldline project, which helps older people struggling with fuel poverty. It makes life a little easier for older people in the borough.”

John Denham MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said, “Hackney’s fifth council tax freeze in a row shows how local authorities can balance efficiency with fairness, keeping tax low, and cutting waste whilst at the same time investing in the services that matter to local people.”

Residents will see no increase in their council tax bills this year, due to Hackney Council’s part of the tax being kept at 2005 levels, as well as a freeze by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, on the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) element.

London-wide services such as the Metropolitan Police, public transport, and the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are paid for by the GLA’s share of the council tax.

Hackney Council’s 2010/11 budget includes the following:

£187 million on education
This is for more than 10,000 children and young people and will include primary and secondary schools as well as nurseries

£119m on adult social care
The Council provides social care for some of the borough’s most vulnerable people, and this funding will help supply 640,000 hours of home care and 160 nursing home places

£72 million on support for young people
This includes continued funding for 12 youth clubs; care packages for 130 disabled children; and 1,300 young people helped by the Council’s Youth Offending Team

£11m on refuse and recycling
This will help residents recycle household, food and garden waste through around six million recycling collections, as well as 8.5 million general waste collections

£25 million in improving public safety
The Council works with the police to continue the huge drop in crime Hackney has achieved during recent years. The funding will go towards tackling crime and keeping Hackney safe, including paying for 27,000 camera hours of CCTV footage to help police catch offenders, as well as 3,500 building control inspections, dealing with licence applications and enforcement

£9million for eight libraries and a community archive
Each year over 1.3 million people visit Hackney’s libraries, with 36,000 visitors to Hackney Museum – this funding includes over £3million to build the new Dalston Square library, and £500,000 per year to run it

£5million for parks
This will be for managing and maintaining 318 hectares of Hackney’s 62 parks and green spaces. Hackney has more green space than any other inner London borough, and nine parks have been judged to be amongst the best in Britain after receiving Green Flag awards

£4million for sports and leisure
This is to go towards developing sports activity and helping to improve the health and wellbeing of residents, as well as refurbishments and improvements at Britannia and Kings Hall leisure centres. Hackney has some of the best leisure facilities around, including the Lido at London Fields, as well as Clissold Leisure Centre, the only such facility in the capital to receive an ‘excellent’ QUEST industry rating.

Staffies like these are considered ideal pets by the UK Kennel Club Photo: Dionisio Plaza

Michael, 18, of Richmond Road, Dalston, is dressed in baggy tracksuit bottoms and a hooded sweater and is walking with his brown and white female Staffie, Bebe.

He is the cliché image of a ‘status dog’ owner, but when asked whether this is what his animal is, he replies cordially: “yes and no.”

He explains, “I’ve always wanted a dog since I was a child. Because of the day and age we live in you can’t walk the streets without being afraid for yourself or your property. If you have a certain breed, people are less likely to step to you.

“People who know my dog know she’s not going to hurt anyone, but people who don’t will think twice about stating anything.”

Michael is always out in Hackney with Bebe but says he has never seen any fighting. He notes that new restrictions make it difficult to own a pet in a council-owned building, which he thinks has curbed illegal breeding.

But influential figures within the Town Hall and the police believe tougher action must be taken to combat the rise in ownership of so-called status dogs.

In February a man was banned from keeping dogs for ten years and ordered to pay compensation to the Guide Dogs Association after his terrier-type pet savaged a guide dog in Cricklewood. In the same month, a terrier was mauled to death by a mastiff in Greenwhich.

Attacks like these have sparked a return to the debate about dangerous dogs, so fractious in the early 1990s.

Michael believes his dog is more dangerous than, say, a Labrador in that it is more inclined to be aggressive. However, he notes that it is only when the dog is exposed to confrontational situations or continually mistreated that the aggression will come out. “It all depends on how the dog is brought up.”

Ryan O’Meara from Dogmagazine.net thinks the name given to dogs which are used to increase their owners’ status is absurd. He recently made a call to the Metropolitan Police’s Status Dogs Unit hotline to report a status dog he’d seen while in Leicester Square. The dog was owned by Paris Hilton.

O’Meara’s point is valid; the term ‘status dog’ is reminiscent of the ’dangerous dog’ term that led to the infamous Dangerous Dogs Act (1991), seen by most as a failure that lead to the demonisation of select breeds of dogs, Staffies luckily not being one of them.

The Metropolitan Police Status dogs unit have said that Hackney is a very busy borough, in the top three for dangerous dogs removal.
Hackney’s Safer Neighbourhood teams and the Metropolitan Police’s  status dogs unit are keen to promote responsible dog ownership.

The local police are working with the unit so that in future the numbers of dangerous dogs seized in Hackney can be recorded.

Cllr Alan Laing, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said, “Hackney Council recognises that the national trend for acquiring ‘status dogs’ is a problem that must be tackled in close working partnership with the police, other agencies and neighbouring boroughs.

“Dealing with dangerous dogs is a police responsibility, while coping with stray dogs is a local authority responsibility. However, status dogs present problems for the community, which can only be solved with the help of residents, who should report stray or problem dogs and take responsibility for their own dogs’ behaviour.

“Like all inner-London boroughs, Hackney Council has seen a shift in the profile of the stray dogs it has found in the borough to reflect the trend for status dogs.”

The Dogs Trust believes the Dangerous Dogs Act needs amending to reflect the ‘deed not the breed’, to adequately deal with aggressive or dangerous dogs based on their actions, and offer the public adequate protection against dog attacks.

A spokesperson for the Trust said, “Many dogs identified as being a ‘banned breed’ by the Dangerous Dog Act 1991 have been beloved family pets with no tendency to aggression and therefore no danger to the public.”

The Trust is keen to see an increased ability by police and dog wardens to issue control orders to owners that are a threat and have acted aggressively before an attack happens, and wants stronger action against owners that have allowed or encouraged an attack to take place.

It believes the introduction of compulsory microchipping for all dogs is needed for more effective regulation of irresponsible owners and to deter casual owners from obtaining a dog in the first place.

The Trust has seen an increase in status-type dogs being handed in to them: “We believe that the current trend of having a dog as a status symbol or as a weapon has sadly led to the increase in the number of Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Staffie crosses in our centres.

“Like all breeds of dog – in the wrong hands and without the right socialisation and training, there can be problems.

“Unfortunately the breed has unfairly gained the reputation of being aggressive and dangerous when in reality they can be excellent family pets as they have a wonderful temperament and are great with people.

“Irresponsible dog owners are buying Staffies for the wrong reasons and don’t take the time to properly socialise them. Because Staffies are powerful, muscular little dogs they can be potentially dangerous if not cared for properly.”

The Dogs Trust is keen to ensure that people know what a friendly and loving breed Staffies are so they are not overlooked at their re-homing centres.

They spend a considerable amount of time resocialising Staffies that haven’t had the best start in life and they have hundreds of happy Staffie re-homing stories.

A new piece of legislation that prevents the mistreatment of dogs is the Animal Welfare Act 2006, under which owners must ensure their animals are given an adequate diet, allowed to express natural behaviour and given suitable housing.

Anyone who does not provide for an animal’s needs in these ways may be banned from owning animals, fined up to £20,000, and sent to prison.

A spokesperson for the Mayhew Animal Home said, “There are many issues that need to be addressed here and one is most certainly the amount of status dog breeds being bred in ‘back bedrooms’ and sold on without thought to where they will end up.”

Stoke Newington resident Ms Barbara Read said, “Animal charities are being inundated by unwanted Staffordshire Bull Terriers, with many being euthanised.

“They are sometimes trained by gangs to be aggressive – if they’re kept off lead they can attack other animals and even people.

“I’m sure in most cases the owners are not mistreating their pets. I’m sure most people I see walking their Staffies are caring dog owners and it’s a minority who are using these dogs to attack.”

Trees around Stoke Newington are regularly stripped of their bark because of irresponsible owners training their dogs to bite them. This strengthens the dogs’ jaws and makes them appear more muscular.

However, as well as being bad for the trees, the practice could cause a dog’s teeth to break, leading to internal mouth injuries, damage to their neck muscles and splinters in their eyes.

Stoke Newington-based Louise Glazebrook is a dog behaviouralist who runs the Darling Dog Company. She believes the problems related with status dogs could be overcome by increased education, and is sure the problem with dangerous dogs lies with owners and breeders rather than with the breed of dog, although she points out there are certain breeds that don’t make good family pets.

She said, “People living in London are choosing the wrong breed of dog for their lifestyle.”

Factors such as exercise and the purposes particular breeds of dog were originally bred for are being overlooked. “A Husky dog needs 12 miles of exercise a day, and people wonder why when they don’t exercise their pets enough they are overactive and under-stimulated.”

Reputable breeders, she says, are those who are breeding the right breeds and from a good line, producing non-aggressive dogs. However, education about dog handling and tougher restrictions on breeders are not the only problems.

The justice system may not be focussing enough on the wider implications of animal cruelty. For example, Stephen Barker, who was jailed over the death of Baby Peter in Haringey, had a previous conviction for animal cruelty – something that research shows doesn’t stop with animals. Figures from the American Humane Association (AHA) shows a strong link between animal and  human abuse.

Fortunately, most dogs are in responsible hands. Back in Dalston, Michael acknowledges that Bebe looks dangerous, but he confides that she is really a “pussy”, attributing this to the fact he is a very loving owner.

More on dogs here.

Hackney dog owners interviewed on Radio 4, Tuesday 9 March 2010 here.

Bottle Apostle’s general manager, Tom Jarvis

“Good all-rounders” seems like a good a place to start in our series of articles. Below are four wines which can all be drunk on their own or can be paired successfully with a wide range of foods.

Stanley Estate’s 2009 Sauvignon Blanc is a first release from a former grape supplier to many big names in Marlborough, New Zealand.

Maybe it’s beginners luck, but this is a belter; all passion fruit, citrus and gooseberry. The fruitiness makes it flexible with food; the Sauvignon Blanc grape shares flavour compounds with capsicums, which seems to help the wines take on dishes with a chilli kick as well as salads. At £11, it’s what I call “value posh”; perfect to take to a dinner party when you have no clue about the menu.

From the Languedoc coast in Southern France comes the dry white Picpoul de Pinet which is starting to feature in top restaurants due to its crisp lemony flavour; a great aperitif or partner for fish and seafood, I also find it works well with a creamy soup. The 2008 from Domaine des Lauriers (£8.90) is a fine example.

On to reds. Beaujolais suffers image problems but we have a really healthy following for it at Bottle Apostle! The tangy 2008 Beaujolais Rouge from Andre Colonge (£8.30) could be chilled for ten minutes for extra refreshment. Perfect for fish or lighter pork dishes, it’s a great compromise for people who don’t drink whites.

The final player in the quartet is the lush, full-bodied O. Fournier Urban Malbec 2008 (£8.25) from Mendoza, Argentina. With bright cherry fruit with hints of chocolate, it starred at a recent dinner matching wines to Chinese food. That it’s just right for a juicy steak can be taken for granted!

Cheers!

The location of the Hackney Wick Conservation Area next to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games site has attracted investment and development interest

Hackney Council has renewed it call for residents to have their say on the recent Hackney Wick Conservation Area that it has designated.

The Council says that it took the unusual step of designating the new conservation area in November ahead of (ie without) public consultation “to safeguard the unique character of the area because it was coming under significant investment pressure due to its location adjacent to the Olympic Park.”

It is now consulting with local people on the draft Hackney Wick Conservation Area Appraisal – a document which accompanies the designation – with the stated aim of ensuring that “the special quality and value of the area is protected through the planning system”.

The Hackney Wick Conservation Area is located immediately north of Hackney Wick Station and is predominantly industrial in character with industrial buildings and associated yards and open spaces dating from 1860 onwards. Its ’street patterns’ remain relatively unchanged since the late Victorian period.

Cllr Guy Nicholson, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, said, “Hackney Wick is experiencing a great deal of environmental change and intense development interest brought about by one half of the Wick neighbourhood sitting within the 2012 Olympic Park.

“The Council has adopted the Hackney Wick conservation area to ensure the character and heritage of the neighbourhood is not lost in this area adjoining the Olympic Park and new development is designed and built in a way that enhances that distinctive character of the Wick.

“The Council would now like to hear from residents and local businesses to gather their views about the conservation area so they can be incorporated in the final conservation area appraisal.”

How to have your say:

Find out more and download the relevant planning documents here.

Visit – 275 Mare Street, E8 1GR from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (before 15 March 2010) to speak to the duty planning officer

Phone – 020 8356 8106 to speak to a conservation officer

Email – conservationareaconsultation@hackney.gov.uk and include ‘Hackney Wick Conservation Area Appraisal’ in the subject line

Write or hand deliver comments – Freepost NAT 18925, Policy and Strategy (Sustainability and Design Team), Hackney Planning Service, 2nd floor, 2 Hillman Street, London E8 1FB