When the pilot Staffordshire bull terrier adoption/neutering campaign ran last year I put up a questionnaire for owners as part of the publicity activities.
Results below:
Where did you get your current Staffordshire?
At least a third of dogs had been adopted from welfare organisations, and relatively few seemed to have originated from professional or semi-commercial breeders.Is your current Staffordshire male or female?
Interestingly there doesn't seem to be any suggestion at all from the response to this question that male dogs might be any more difficult to control than bitches.
Is he/she neutered?
Most of the 21 no's said cost was a barrier (a few had puppies not yet old enough for the operation)
If no, would you consider getting him/her neutered?
Three no's expressed health concerns and desire not to put their dog through unnecessary surgery when he did not exhibit any behaviour problems.
Is your dog microchipped?
Would you consider adopting another Staffordshire?
The four no's included some who expressed concern about the risk of a future breed ban meaning they might adopt a dog only to have him/her put down and some who simply said that no other dog could replace their present one.
This probably wasn't a representative sample as those motivated to respond would be likely to be knowledgeable and concerned about the welfare of dogs, but it does demonstrate that many Staffordshires are living happy and well-adjusted lives in normal pet homes. It does suggest that more low-cost neutering would reduce the proportion of bitches who might have accidental litters and that more low cost microchipping would increase the proportion of dogs who are chipped (of course it's still likely that it would be the responsible owners, not the problem ones, who got their dogs chipped).
This probably wasn't a representative sample as those motivated to respond would be likely to be knowledgeable and concerned about the welfare of dogs, but it does demonstrate that many Staffordshires are living happy and well-adjusted lives in normal pet homes. It does suggest that more low-cost neutering would reduce the proportion of bitches who might have accidental litters and that more low cost microchipping would increase the proportion of dogs who are chipped (of course it's still likely that it would be the responsible owners, not the problem ones, who got their dogs chipped).
The questionnaire's still open for responses if anyone viewing this has a Staffordshire or other bull breed and would like to complete it.
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