Guard Dog off Duty

Eedra, proprietor of Barking Mad Equity for Pet Owners, has had to go away due to prolonged and unrelenting threats to her health, accommodation and livelihood by the man (and his agents) who defrauded her of property, superannuation and business back in 2004. At least Pema can laugh about it - don't we love our dogs' lives!

Therefore, the lobbying work of Barking Mad is suspended.  Individual cases for members will be reassigned as required. Court cases will be postponed as required.

Pema is now in a temporary home and doing great work with people - still.  Soon, she wll be reunited with me!

Eedra hopes to be able to return - when the legal system gets an injection of justice, when thugs work both ways or when an advocate comes along with enough guts and authority to say ENOUGH!  Or when karma reaches the white-collar criminal.

Check out past issues of the Bite for information on work Barking Mad has done.  And yes, we're still going Warringah for the Ultra Vires case.


BARKING MAD- EQUITY FOR PET OWNERS
PO Box 310, Woy Woy NSW 2256
skype: barking-mad
_______________________________­­____
Your membership of Barking Mad helped create a safe and pet-friendly society.
Make your donation now if you wish to help clear the debt:  Bendigo Bank; Barking Mad, BSB: 633-000, Account: 128910064

BARKING MAD IS AVAILABLE - TAKE IT OVER  - FOR DOGS' SAKE

Rebel the Assistance Dog

A BIG FURRY DOG-HUG WELCOME TO REBEL AND GUY.

Visit their blog. Here is the first entry of what will no doubt be a heart-warming, inspiring and sometimes tear-jerking BLOG:

"Rebel and I were reminded today that I am not a person who is trained in how to handle discrimination. When disabled, you sometimes feel more vulnerable, and when people threaten to refuse access, it can be frustrating.

I began to think that maybe a guide for disabled people with an assistance animal on how to advocate their rights would be useful.

Depriving any one of their rights through shallow behavior is the worst thing you could possibly do, doing this to a person with an invisible disability should be prosecuted first by education and then by law."

We recommend the DDLC Users Guide - although in the process of being updated and written for NSW, it is still helpful for people in any state or territory.

Guide Dogs for the Mind

Coming Soon - Because:

20% of Australians have a disability. It could be permanent, temporary, degenerative or just a speed bump on the road of life. It's a social imperative that we provide options so that people affected can attain or retain quality of life and community involvement.

88% of disabilities are invisible.

Again: 88% of disabilities are invisible. That means for every one person you see that you may think has a disability, there are 8 or 9 other people who are dealing with a medical limitation that is impacting on them.

• Do you need to SEE someone's condition to accept they are living with a disability? If you don't see it do you think it isn't real?
  
• Do you think you are qualified to judge if that person has a bona fide dog trained to assist them as part of their treatment?
  
• Do you believe that all assistance dogs look like labradors or that a schnauzer would never provide a medical benefit to a person?

Would you be better equipped to accept your neighbours' suicide due to depression than to admit that their dog was an active suicide prevention mechanism?

If you are a service provider - would you prefer refuse a customer or client by stating "No Dogs Allowed" then to recognise that their dog may be keeping them alive?

Vision impairment is about 10% of disabling medical conditions. Assistance animals come in all shapes and sizes. Guide Dogs for the Mind will be bringing together mental health clinicians and dog trainers so that the assistance dogs (a 24 x 7 health care provider) can be legitimised, quantified and accredited in such a way to meet public behaviour expectations.

If you are dealing with a mental health issue whether diagnosed or not - and would like assistance that includes your dog, or acquiring a dog to assist you than you are welcome to contact us now.

Political Party: Vote Dog-Friendly, Pet Friendly

Barking Mad will be putting up a candidate for the next Senate election. Name our party is back on the agenda - seriously. See previous post.

So, please help with a name (not more than six words).
Here is a start:

• People and Pets
  
• Citizens with Pets (CWP)
  
• People with Pets (PWP)
  
• Our Families, Our Pets (OFOP)
  
• Responsible Pet Owners of Australia (RPOA)
  
• Family Pet Reform Party (FPRP)
  
• Citizens for Pets (CFP)
  
• Family Pet Advocacy Party (FPAT) FP Advisory Party?
  
• People/Citizens with Companion Animals/Pets (PWCA, CWCA, CWCP, PWCP)
• Family Companion Animal Advocacy Party (FCAAP)
  
• Pawlitically Correct (huh?)
  

Funny links: democats, repuppycans - for politically minded pets.
Image from MyDogVotes
AEC Party Registration Handbook
Vote now so you can vote for your pet in the next election.

Stupid Dog Laws - yet another example

Transport with pets in Australia:

Dogs and other pets are allowed on metro trains in Melbourne, but not on buses.

Dogs are allowed on buses in NSW, but the majority of bus drivers don’t know their own regulations.

In Queensland, the Regulations permit a passenger to bring an animal on a bus with the driver’s permission. However Translink decided that only approved assistance animals are allowed.

Queensland claims that pets present a risk – but they haven’t done a risk analysis!

Although dogs are allowed on buses and ferries in NSW, they are not allowed on trains.

Yet they are allowed on trains if the dog provides ‘therapeutic benefit to its owner or another person’. Most dogs provide this.

RailCorp goes one better, requiring an annual pass for an Assistance Dog with medical proof of a disability (of the person), and proof of toileting on command (the dog, we hope.)

• RailCorp further outdo themselves by prohibiting an animal to drink water on the train OR at the station. Logically it follows, that dog is not allowed to wee on railway property either.
  

It gets better – dogs, actually animals, are not allowed onto railway land. A level crossing is railway land. Don't let your sheep or cattle cross the tracks. Even disused tracks like the Cooma-Bombala line are still railway land.

Sydney Monorail and Metro Light Rail allow dogs, cat, birds or other animals and they sign-post it.

Most private ferries and punts in NSW welcome pets, with operators stating they are usually better behaved then children.

Barking Mad has correspondence from the NSW Transport Minister and the Director General stating pets are permitted at the discretion of the driver/operator. This discretion is a rare display of common sense that considers the cleanliness and control of the animal. Similar considerations for letting people on board are taken all the time!

Our Families, Our Dogs

The media reported as follows: "Dave Twentyman plays with his dogs in the blackened landscape left by the bushfires at Steels Creek. Picture: Stuart McEvoy."

At a loss for words with the devistation of familes, homes, businesses, livestock and entire towns, I can only comment on the media's realistic reporting of the importance of the family pets in such a disaster.

Dogs sniffing for your health

I hope you enjoy the latest videos on our amazing canines - those disguised as 'regular' dogs that actually save lives. Cancer and Bio-detection Dogs mission is "To improve the detection, recognition and diagnosis of human diseases and other medical conditions by the use of dogs and other animals trained in the recognition of relevant stimuli." A worthy mission indeed.

Barking Mad is on a mission too: "Creating a safe and pet-friendly society." Another worthy mission, I hope. It seems we need to appreciate the utilitarian aspect of something to give it deserving respect. As dogs become more "useful" to us, then we may become more pet-friendly in public spaces.

Did you know that both dogs in the photos are assistance animals with the same legal rights as dogs for the vision and hearing impaired? Yet, you can not register them such in NSW because the silly Dept. of Local Government doesn't recognise dogs trained by agencies or people other than the THREE they list! And yes, I have that in writing.

Pets are terrific company, man's best friend and all the rest in their own right, regardless if they help us live healthier, build our compassion or ease our anxiety. Yet, Australian cities have become SO dog-hostile. How local councils (Newcastle, Noosa as examples) can ban dogs from cafes is madness - and this is outdoor seating as well! It simply does not make economic sense. The pet industry is booming and now contributes more to our economy than fishing and forestry combined (the QUIZ answered).

You can read about Grace and her black lab Garbo here. Grace says everyone at her Tennessee, USA school loves the dog. Not so Australia! Remember when a Perth school refused to let a student take his specially trained dog to class? They used the lame excuse of 'concern' about how the dog will fit into a classroom environment and other students possible allergies. So, a child in a life-threatening seizure would fit better into a classroom environment than that child's' assistance animal? Thankfully for this family, another school with more common sense welcomed Corey and his scents dog Oscar.

US President Elect promises puppy for his family.

As a yank in political exile for the past twenty-five years, I watched Barack Obama's victory speech today with a sense of pride and hope I do not remember ever feeling for my country of birth. I grew up with racial segregation, race riots at my school and memories of knives, burnings and fear (as well as mass-consumerism, 24 x 7 shopping and a yes we can attitude that still drives some Australians' mad).

So how special was it that after nearly two years of campaigning, president elect Obama could share with the world his promise to his daughters of a puppy. Very special indeed! At least we know it won't be the first black puppy at the white house...

He said, thanking his wife Michelle - "the love of my life and the nation's next first lady", for the journey they had endured and said he loved his two young daughters "more than you imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that is coming with us to the White House".

Speaking of which, we STILL have not received our reply from the guardians of Abby, the dog at the Lodge. We resent the letter in September. Pema, the Barking Mad mascot is becoming quite the campaigner herself. She has met most of the NSW MP's, and several Senators and Federal MP's. (Because she is so quiet, our most common joke is that she found the proceedings exceedingly boring!) Our most recent function was at the NSW Cabinet forum on the central coast.

National Disability Strategy

Have your say about the National Disability Strategy Submissions must be received by Monday 1 December 2008.

• National Disability Strategy discussion paper
  
• RTF version [128kB]

Dogs, and pets in general, are extremely useful in dealing with the majority of disabilities. Remember that one in five Australians has a disability, and that 88% of these are invisible!

We have an appalling legal situation in regards to Assistance Animals. Although we have excellent Federal legislation, and court cases to support self-trained assistance animals, we have State Laws that DO NOT acknowledge these animals. For example, in NSW a dog trained to assist a person with an invisible disability (such as diabetes, epilepsy, phobia etc) simply CAN NOT be registered as an assistance animal. Help us help dogs help people. You can make your own submission, or send your views to Barking Mad and I will include them in our submission.

Ultra vires, meaning: Warringah drop dog poo on our Federal Constitution

Manly Daily Article ~~ Barking Mad Media Release (delayed, went sailing & have a Newcastle event Sunday) ~~ Ultra vires definition
Wow, this is hard. How do I explain to you why this lower court judgment favouring Warringah Council is but a drop of water in a bucket, on the wrong field, on the wrong issue? (Trying not to use military analogies...). How do I explain it is yet another example of small-government-syndrome which implies a right to act independently of the principles of our federation?

How to I explain to anyone new to Barking Mad that we are not about dogs or pets, but about our access as pet-owners to a fair-share of public and living space? (Or how CUTE that photo of Pema is...)

And, how do I explain our federal Constitution? (Big sigh). Or how our signing of an international treaty, in this case the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) gives regulatory power to the Federal government OVER State government, when generally, our Constitution is prohibited from such power?

Attempt #1:

• When a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid. (Section 109 Inconsistency of laws).
• So, let's take that as an admission that this inconsistency can and does exist. When it does, it's not OK for Warringah Council to act beyond the power of their authority.
• Because, as stated in the first point, the Commonwealth law prevails.

What is this Commonwealth law that we accuse Warringah Council of shitting upon? In addition to our implied right to political expression, we have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which includes Article 21:

The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Well, our assembly never interfered with these conditions, nor did Warringah argue that we did. (Probably because they don't see Constitutional law applicable to their small-government-syndrome).

In summary we won. After 18 months of winning cases assisting our members in 'baby courts', we finally have one we can appeal to a jurisdiction that sets precedent. As this is a constitutional issue, we are looking at our options in the higher courts. NOW WE ARE BARKING UP THE RIGHT TREE. Thank you Warringah. We are THRILLED you read our website and blog and look forward to working with you from the same side of the table.

(PS: Our newly elected Warringah Councillors will table a Notice of Motion for equitable access to off leash walking areas and beaches at the first meeting of Council in late October.)

The 12th leader of the Liberal Party

Since Barking Mad started, our members urged us to contact Malcolm Turnbull for support. We have engaged in repeated contact with Mr. Turnbull, on the federal election, the 2020 Summit, ageing and climate change and the need for public transport and other campaigns. Despite an impromptu meeting face-to-face at Bronte with that silly dog-line, we have yet to receive any response from the man who is now the 12th elected leader of the Liberal Party. Malcolm is known amongst dog owners for his Dog Blog.

Mr. Turnbull: It is time now for you to walk your talk, as well as well as you walk your dogs. We wrote the new leader today:

Will you support federal guidelines to make public transport accessible for the 65% of Australians with pets? We have a draft policy based on the current policy in London. We have national RSPCA support.

We have contacted you numerous times since our work on the dog line, the federal election and the 2020 summit. Please, we request that you walk your talk, not just the dogs. We look forward to working with you. Pets are a health, ageing, public safety and climate change issue. Please contact Barking Mad Equity for Pet Owners.

Life as a Dog or a Lobbyist?

OK, lots of members were not aware of the NSW local government elections. Lots of folks in NSW were not aware of the WA election, or that WA is now the work-horse of our economy. Liberals, Nationals, Labor, Greens and Independents - yes, it can be a bit much when day to day life of family and meals on the table is paramount. However, as a lobbyist representing the 4 million or so responsible pet owners, in addition to our agenda of a fair-share of public space, public transport, strata, renting and holiday accommodation, this is what we've got on the agenda:

• Change of government in WA, with the Nationals holding the balance of power. We are lobbying the Nats in the belief that they more than any other party will recognise the economic importance of the dog to our communities.
• Change of leadership and cabinet in NSW government - so we start again with the new ministers relevant to our agenda (ageing, police, health, local government, etc.).
• Change of leadership in the Federal Opposition - to a professed dog lover. Time to walk more than the dog! Plus, an impending change in his ministry.
• Working with newly election Local Government councillors in about 35 councils in NSW where we have pet issues affecting members.

All this work? THAT'S WHY BARKING MAD IS OFFERING FREE BEACH-SIDE ACCOMMODATION IN EXCHANGE FOR ADMINISTRATION WORK! If you would like to spend two weeks or more in the bush next to a dog & surf beach, please contact us urgently and provide details of your admin experience and skills!

Name our Party

Should we form a political party? Currently, responsible pet-owners are unrepresented. The Shooters look after the 'guns, dogs & 4WD' folks, but who represents us? Some food for thought on forming a party.

Tools to get us ahead:

• Disillusionment with the current political landscape
• A dream for the future, howevery flimsy
• A catchy grab to sum up you dream for the future
• Too much time
• A knack for avoiding questions
• A scapegoat
• Our very own trumpet

OK - SUGGEST A NAME FOR OUR PARTY.

Thanks to Sian White for this post.

REALLY REALLY STUPID

We were alerted to this farce on an Australian government website. Our comments follow, and we are taking this up with the publisher as a matter of urgency. With this sort of STUPID stuff being printed by our government,what hope is there for people who apply logical thought and use evidence-based facts?

Native animals see dogs as predators. The lasting scent left by dogs can easily scare small animals and birds away from their homes, often causing them to leave their young unprotected. Any evidence of dog scent affecting wildlife is overshadowed by that of humans, foxes and feral cats. Birds normally leave their young to get food; the nest is protection!

• Dog faeces carry diseases which can be harmful to wildlife and people, and also add nutrients to the soil, increasing the spread of weeds. Birds carry weed seeds, not dogs! Dog poo is blessed by Australia's climate. The minute pathological risk from poo is almost non-existent due to our hot and dry. Reference
  

If dogs and other domestic pets have frightened native animals away from popular visitor areas, there will be no wildlife for other visitors to see. Is this honestly a claim that native animals are comfortable around PEOPLE , just not their dogs? Such non-sense is frightening. Popular visitor areas are typically overrun by ferals such as Indian Myna birds and Ibis.

• Dogs can interfere with the enjoyment of other park visitors. At last, a true statement, but people who are loud or litter can interfere with other park visitors as well. How about sharing the space with all our families?

FACT: The massive number of feral animals that arrived in the first hundred years of European settlement have permanently and drastically altered the Australian environment, introduced disease, caused land degradation and are implicated in the extinction of most of the 27 mammals in NSW.

Today, feral animal and plants are the second greatest international and national threat to biodiversity after habitat destruction such as land clearing. In some parts of NSW feral species are now the greatest threat. (NPA NSW).

Summit Dog

We attended the 2020 local summit in the most marginal seat in the country today. It was NOT a talk-fest. It was a wonderful to be with people who were engaged in their community and had practical solutions to ongoing issues - such as our 'growing' economy that is dependent on the cheap labour overseas, or the selling of public assets.

Our contribution was to the summit topic 'health' where I introduced Pema as a 24 x 7 health care worker. She will work for ten years or more, never needing a pay rise and without complaint. No, she can't change a nappy, but brings joy, i.e. respite, to both staff and clients at hospitals and in aged care. No one in health care disagreed. Why then is every obstacle put in front of people and agencies who want to expand the therapeutic experience by getting more dogs working with the ill?

My Dog Isn't Invisible....

. . .but my disability is. Join Barking Mad for events around the country to raise awareness and celebrate the value of dogs to people with disabilities. In this event, now in our second year, we aim to demonstrate how highly trained (and often self-trained) dogs assist people with invisible disabilities. Event date 3rd December, events announced in August.

IT COULD BE YOU! Grief, despair, stress, change - it can get to us and stop us from functioning fully in life. It could be temporary, long-term or even permanent. If you don't get on top of it after it gets on top of you, you can become a 'burden' on our health care system. If your dog assists you to maintain a healthy life, to stay alive, to participate in society, then you and doggie may be protected from discrimination by the Disability Discrimination Act.

IT COULD BE YOUR MUM. Barking Mad is often told about a women in her senior years who is having difficultly coping with grief after the death of a life-partner. (As boomers, these 60 year partnerships leave us in awe). We then hear of how their partner's dog comforts them. This may sound like a difficult but manageable situation, but what about when Mum moves into a unit and the neighbour decides that 'dogs don't belong in units' and lets Mum know. Barking Mad gets these stories nearly every week. Dog gets surrendered because Mum can't deal with conflict from her new neighbour. Lots of doggie rescue organisaitons come in to help the dog, but who now assists Mum with getting through her grief? Sure, she may cope; but she may start to withdraw and lose her will to live as she has now lost her reason to go out for a walk every day.

I really want to stress how often Barking Mad hears these stories. If we are hearing so many, how many aren't we hearing? We are an ageing population. The average age of people in care is 70, and the average age of their carers in 50 (source Legacy employee). In ten years, we will have a major crisis. If a dog assists a person to keep their independence longer, it is essentially a HEALTH CARE WORKER. Full stop. It will work 24/7 for ten years without complaint and never ask for a pay rise.

Please - if you can organise an event in your area, perhaps if you have a dog that visits health care facilities, or if you have had a 'my dog saved my life' experience, contact us. We will be registering events mid-year. We are quietly excited about some health care agencies who 'love' our campaign in this area and hope we can announce sponsors or partnerships with these organisations soon.

For Sale: Buy or Bye?

Joyfully, Barking Mad has achieved much in a short time; started with a heart-felt passion based in common sense (scents), with no web experience or funding, the organisation serves the majority of Australians who care for pets. We have created links with important agencies who know the value pets provide financially and emotionally in community welfare, ageing, rehabilitation, mental health, mobility and especially to the disadvantaged and vulnerable members of our society. Health professionals and our new Labor government admit the benefits of pets far outweigh the negatives. We've got common sense on our side and our compassion for pets provides us with compassion for people who can't quite get that special link you can establish and maintain with a non-human animal.

Sadly, I must admit that my health is failing. The trauma of being arrested and locked up twice in 24 hours (both times acting legally), charged 4 times in a month and then being targeted (along with other members) for living a 'normal' life with our extremely well trained dogs has taken its toll. On medical advise, my work capacity is limited. After the brutal arrest that resulted in the NSW Transport Minister admitting Barking Mad was in the right, my wrists still hurt from being dragged and handcuffed. X-ray results are pending.

While good for the dog who can get walks based on 'rehabilitation' it's no way to run a business - even a not-for-profit one! I literally grew up in customer service in a family retail business and I am fully committed to serving my members who have trusted me with their financial contributions. As proprietor of Barking Mad I am facing difficult decisions in what would normally be such an exciting time in business with our recent successes with pubic transport.

1. Sell the business - including trademark, goodwill, membership etc.
2. Obtain sponsorship for a minimum of one year and $200,000.
3. Bring in volunteers or partners willing to work for the cause and forego immediate payment. Accommodation on offer in exchange for income.
4. Your idea?

Please contact me if you have a proposal or solution. If you have a suggestion, please contact me only if you can carry out the suggestion. Thank you all.

A most unusual apology - VOTE

Maybe it's a green thing. Maybe the transport 'guys' see their big buses, trains and timetables and not the social and environmental importance of public transport, especially to our ageing population. Maybe State Transit has a sense of humour I don't get.

But after they admitted to the media I was travelling legally - after I was arrested, I received two penalty notices in the post totalling $300. The first for 'passenger take animal on bus without permission' (um, they even published I had obtained permission), $100, and 'passenger not leave vehicle when directed.' $200. That's right, this girl had a ticket to ride, let's call that a CONTRACT, and I was holding them to their contract. Place your bet: Will the CCTV have been working in this new bus when I was arrested? Vote Yes. Vote No.

Silly! That's all I can say; what a silly waste of time and resources from so many people. There was no problem, no noise, no violence, no disruption to any travellers until the transit police emptied the bus and (the Burwood police came and removed that passenger who had the contract to travel). Click on the photo above to read State Transit's report on making transport accessible to the majority of the community - that's the 40% "majority" who don't have pets, I presume. They even refer to the State Plan on their home page, like we do in our draft policy; we have common ground!

I'm going on a bit about this because it's been over two weeks and my wrist is still sore and strapped up from big boy police officers who interpreted my reaching over to unhook dog lead from bus and collect by bags as 'resisting arrest', and who felt the need to hang on and pull handcuffs that were so gently (ha) applied. Also, members are STILL being hassled by bus operators, although finally today the reports from members travelling has been positive. One even got a free ride, but we won't tell anyone about that.

We're moving ahead with our call to the Federal Government to announce a national transport strategy for pets on public transport. The policy is a copy of the current policy in London - why can they do it, and why haven't we? Please write your support for this policy to your local Federal Member and to the Minister for Transport, Anthony Albanese.

Pema Leads...Daily Telegraph

Welcome (again, with gratitude) to our members and a special welcome to new readers who have arrived here because of the Daily Telegraph article. If you are, were or want to be a pet owner, and support what we do (even if not HOW we do it), I ask you to JOIN. By joining (for less than a bag of premium pet chow), you make your vote count.

If you think pets are dirty, not-welcome in cities, or that they are all owned by irresponsible people, I offer you the following to consider:

Independent research (facts) show that the vast majority of pet owners are 'responsible' and aware of their obligation to share our community resources.

1. Pet owners make a significant contribution to our national economy.
   
   
2. Overwhelming evidence exists of the utilitarian value of pets (mostly dogs) to the aged, infirmed, disabled and to building community.
   
   
3. Yep, there are 'idiot' owners just like there are parents who let their kids act illegally, men who feel a need to urinate in public stairwells, and people who chose to be violent towards another person or to break into their personal space.
   
   
4. There are also 1 out of 5 Australians who suffer from a disability and effects of certain disabilities can be commonly misunderstood. (Bi-polar folks are amongst many of our top achievers).
   
   
5. Lastly, a fact that few want to accept because 'blame the dog' is so much easier, is that a child is at least ten times more likely to be injured at the hand of their parent or guardian than a dog.
   
   
6. Lastly, another fact that is unwelcome in the media, is that the largest category of dog owner is a family with children.

Barking Mad accepts your view of pets and asks you to respect ours. If you support our work, please make a donation. Even a charity can't work without $. Each week I hear the stories of support that pets have provided in difficult times. Would people be left alone to die in a unit if they had a pet? My bet is that the pet would raise the alarm.

Sorry

I am sorry. I am sorry for the hurt and lack of humanity so many of our government policies cause. The short-term political arena is a difficult space for visionaries and deep-thinkers. So often, good intent turns into bad legislation. This thread could easily lead to a criticism of companion animal regulations and our previous Prime Minister, but I do not want to detract from the significance of the simple and meaningful act of humanity that started our 42nd Federal Parliament today. As an act of respect, I have linked the Reconciliation Speech onto the Federal Campaign page of Barking Mad - Equity for Pet Owners. As food for thought - dogs were companions to and provided assistance for our original Australians.