Radio 2SM Breakfast Segment #19 with Kaye Browne

VET Talk Radio Podcasts

This week: (Full Transcript below!)
Sydney Councils want tougher fines for unrestrained dogs in public places and owners not picking up their dogs'poo.
Posties under attack - approx. 44 dog attacks a day! Aus-Post will arm all their people with a protective citronella spray by the end of July '25
PLUS:
The avoidable pet health issues costing pet parents big bucks and how to avoid them.
Hint... your Vet can help more than you think.
Finally, the RSPCA Million Paws walk is no more - so how much money did the final ‘walk’ manage to raise?
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson and Kaye Browne
00'10" – Councils demand tougher fines uncontrolled dogs & dumped waste.
01'51" - Posties new defence against dog attacks
03'26" - Gastro and Skin issues costing pet owners the most
04'48" - Pet Dental Month benefits extended from June to August
05'59" – Big results for RSPCA Million Paws final Walk
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON:
Time to talk animals now on the 2SM and breakfast show with Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold. Kaye good morning!.
KAYE:
Good morning to you.
RON:
Well, you know what dog lovers we are, but I'm very pleased to see this I gotta say, tougher fines for pet owners who don't do do the right thing when they're pet's do the Doo Doo. That's what several big Sydney councils are planning, and those councils are Randwick and Waverley and they're also looking at bigger fines for letting dogs off leash in prohibited areas and for uncontrolled or attacking dogs. I am totally on board with this, I gotta say.
KAYE:
I am certainly on board with it as well, especially when you consider that just across the border in Queensland they've got similar fines of, you know, around $300.00 for not picking up waste, but, their fines for having an uncontrolled dog in an public place are much higher. In fact, they started $1,613 go up to $112,000.
The possibility of three years jail. So that would be for a dangerous dog or one that attacks a child or a human being. And I think that sounds like a reasonable thing to do because right now in Sydney it's the same fee, it's $330 if a dog attacks another dog or a child.
RON:
Well, it makes no sense. And of course we have our friend Peter Clay, who was recently attacked by two dogs and you know, the ongoing effects for that and he's an adult. Obviously, we're not even talking children here, but the ongoing effects for that are quite significant.
KAYE:
Absolutely. And you know the trauma of that lives with people for a long time. And let's face it, there are a lot of occasions now where for some reason people aren't picking up and they're letting their dogs get out and not caring that their roaming, and I'm saying that in particular because Australia Post has got a huge problem with its posties being attacked.
The latest data suggests there's something like 44 dog attacks a day, something like over the last six months, 1,150 posties being attacked. Now the thing is that they're not actually happening as you'd expect when they're going to the front door to get someone to sign for a parcel, these are actually roaming dogs on the street. 57% of these attacks are on the streets, so Australia posts has said enough is enough by the end of July, we're going to arm all our posties with a citronella spray so that they've got some means of pushing the dog back from attacking them. How do you feel about that?
RON:
Well, I know the citronella keeps the mosquitoes away. I never thought of it using it against the dogs.
KAYE:
Well, there are different kinds of citronella, and you know that we do need to be a little bit cautious because dogs can't process ethanol and there's ethanol and some of these sprays for keeping them mozzies away.
But I think the other thing to think about is that, it does give the postie some means of actually thinking about what they're doing and hopefully aiming the spray so that it's not going in the dog's eyes because that can cause them to have runny eyes and to, you know, scratch their eyes and get infected. And they could get a bit of a gastro and we'll talk more about gastroenteritis and how common that is a little bit later.
But you know it is something that we have to think about and people, you know, you get tracking on your Australia post items these days, so if you know you're getting something, you have to sign for, make sure the dog is inside or out the back!
RON:
Well, let's talk gastro and some other things that might affect dogs. We've just got information out from the insurance companies about the past years claims that were made, what seems to be the most common problems that owners take their dogs and cats to the vet with each year.
KAYE:
Well, this is really very interesting. It's remarkably similar in dogs and cats. In dogs, it's skin infections and allergies is number 1 and the average cost of that is something like $650. It can get right up to $21,000. And in cats, the number one problem is gastroenteritis type problems. And the average cost of treating that is something like $900 and it can go up to just under $27,000 and guess what, number 2 with dogs gastro yet again.
So our dog and cats tummies seem to be you know the most at risk and going to cost us the most.
So it's something we should really keep a very close eye on. Gastroenteritis is particularly nasty and when you consider that there's something like 4 1/2 maybe 4.7 million dogs and cats in NSW alone, and about 11% of them in any year have gastro, you know that's a lot of dog poo and dog vomit and dog diarrhoea happening out there!
RON:
Yeah, lovely things. Now June is dental health month in the veterinary world. How do we take advantage of that?
KAYE:
Well, the good thing is that they've made it a little bit bigger this year, June, July and August. It used to be just August, but because dental care is so important for our dogs and our cats, they've extended it at many practices. Now I can't say if every practice is doing this, but 9 out of 10 of them will have special promotions where they'll offer free dental checks.
You bring your pet in and they'll check them to see if there's any redness around the gums, which indicates that there's infection, which could be, you know, spreading around the body and causing problems to your dog or cat's liver or heart or things like that. So it's really good to actually have it picked up, and then they'll often offer a big discount on any procedures that are undertaken, during these months and you know we're talking in dentals costing between $500 and $800 in a dog and roughly the same in cats.
But it's really important because it's going to lengthen their life and make them feel a lot better. Cause let's face it, when your teeth are sore, you tend to get a bit snappy!
RON:
It's all true now. The Million Paws Walk has been and gone for another year. How did they go in fundraising?
KAYE:Well, I think they've gone out with a bang, so well done to all of your listeners and I know your producer Jesse also took part in the final million paws walk. I gather that the final amount that they've got at this stage is $851,700. Which is pretty good because. It was $600,000 last year.
RON:
Yeah, it's a big pickup.
KAYE:
Went right up there, so that's well done. It shows how much we care for our dogs.
RON:
Now, Miss Kaye Browne, I will talk to you again next week in our regular pet segment. I appreciate your time.
KAYE:
Pleasure always.
RON:
Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold.