America Vs. Europe

I lived in Germany, well,I come from a long military history.

To bring an animal into the country was a nightmare. I have a friend in Germany who doesn't have a dog because the restrictions in the housing area are retarded.

I totally agree! I wish we could aquire Europe's dog etiquette and Canada's medical policies! Ooh it would be a happy America!

I believe they also have a tax for owning a dog in some parts of Europe? Leads to a lot of people not telling the whole truth lol!
 
I enjoyed my 3 month stay in Germany...yes there were dogs, some running loose and unattended...and you could bring them into stores and restaurants, and on trains, and such. There was also quite a bit of poop around...this was echoed by an Akita friend who went to Holland for a big show....dirty, smelly dogs being shown and poop just about everywhere you went thruout town. She wasn't impressed.
 
I don't know...I am sure there are pros and cons in every country. Certainly nothing one can really debate unless you've lived extensively in both places...so I personally wouldn't call one better than the other, just different.

Sheprano...might want to rethink that....because your breed is banned already in most of those countries.
Europe and the UK have been quite proactive in banning many, many breeds...some of which make zero sense!

I believe they also have a tax for owning a dog in some parts of Europe? Leads to a lot of people not telling the whole truth lol!

 
Yes, they do...........but then they have a tax for things that we would scratch our heads over.
 
Europe= The Taxing Kingdom!

While I am obviously not in europe, i found dog owning DELIGHTFUL after moving to the BVI. my dogs are welcome in most restaurants, workplaces and public places (on a leash is prefered). and i get to spend more time with my dogs than when living in the States.

but, as another poster wrote, there is a downside...alot of loose dogs ruining picnics...the worst humane society i have ever encountered, blatant dog fighting (which is illegal but overlooked), etc.

I guess that communities that are laid back about dogs have good and bad sides.

ORIGINAL: snownose

I believe they also have a tax for owning a dog in some parts of Europe? Leads to a lot of people not telling the whole truth lol!

Yes, they do...........but then they have a tax for things that we would scratch our heads over.

Europe= The Taxing Kingdom!

 
 
I agree, plus in some countries the vet care is so expensive that many people can't afford it, therefore their pets go without regular vet ca
 
 

I wish we could aquire Europe's dog etiquette and Canada's medical policies! Ooh it would be a happy America!

 
Be careful what you wish for.  I lived in a country where the government controlled healthcare and it was a nightmare!  Many, many  doctors left the profession because of the governmental regulation nightmares.  If you became ill, you could wait up to 2 weeks before seeing a doctor, and medicines were hard to find and terribly expensive. 
 
People praise Canada's healthcare, but I really think that the media gives only ONE side of the story.  Also, remember that whenever you get public anything, your taxes go up - someone has to pay for it.

I've lived in three countries with universal healthcare and overall I think it's a far more ethical system. If you have a lot of money or great insurance, medical care in the US can be better than that in any other country, of course. I am so grateful that my sister was taken care of in the US with her many medical issues. At the same time, I had fantastic insurance in the US and there were still long wait times for non-emergency appointments and when I went to the emergency room with my uninsured ex-boyfriend we had to sit and wait for 8 hours and then spend months paying it off (and I can only imagine what would have happened if he had to have surgery or something very expensive). When he did need surgery for a condition that put him in constant pain, he put it off for three months till his insurance started, which is crazy! Meanwhile, I've gotten fantastic and quick (next day appointments for non-emergency things) care in the UK and Canada on the public system and I never have to worry about not having access to healthcare because I can't afford it or don't have insurance. That is very important to me.

Anyway. back to dogs. it depends on which country in Europe. They all have very different cultures. In Sweden, for example, spaying and neutering is not routine even for responsible pet owners, which I think is a shame. Whether there is a population problem or not, most people are not equipped to deal with whelping and placing puppies. I also wonder which countries the price differences are true for. In the US, vets have to make enough money to pay back loads of school loans, often over $100K while most vets in European countries do not have to factor such financial burdens into their pricing.

I did like the fact that most of the parks in London were off-leash and you can bring your dogs on public transport.

Australia has governmental healthcare. It works pretty well, I think. If you're on welfare, most healthcare is free. If you're not on welfare, you get subsidised. If you're on private healthcare, you don't have to pay the Medicare levy tax, which pays for the free/subsidised healthcare, but you still get help from the government.

It gets complicated when you have to deal with expensive health problems. I'm still not sure how much it's going to cost me to get my ganglion removed, but basically I can fork out a heap and get it done privately at once, or go on a waiting list and get it done for free or heavily subsidised. If I have an emergency, I can get to see a doctor straight away for free. If I need an ambulance, though, it'll cost me!

As for dogs... it's odd to me. I wish that Australia was as dog-friendly as the States, and yet, to me the States are way behind on animal welfare legislation. And just to put another spin on it, I think the UK are leaders in animal welfare legislation, but they've gone a little overboard in a lot of ways.

I've heard good and bad about every country when it comes to dogs.  I've talked to people who travel a great deal and some countries are filthy with dog doo.  I do believe that Germany and most European countries are smarter when it comes to breeding dogs.[]
 

People praise Canada's healthcare, but I really think that the media gives only ONE side of the story. Also, remember that whenever you get public anything, your taxes go up - someone has to pay for it.

I live in Canada, and I personally think our healthcare is wonderful.  My taxes are not high and in emergencies such as with my Mother (she has heart problems) she is always taken in swiftly with no waiting.  In our out patient it goes by severity of the emergency.  So, I think we Canadians have a wonderful healthcare going for us.[]  Plus, my rescriptions are free, we do have healthcare benefits at our workplace to pay for prescriptions...and if your low income you get a healthcard that enables you to get free medications and birth control.  At least it was like that with a few girls I've talked to who are on welfare.
 

Puppy mills are banned here too.... maybe the mill-ers are just smarter as not to get easily caught.  Just a thought...
As far as shelters go... who knows how they keep the overcrowding down unless you are on the inside know. 
 
I have never traveled and so I do not speak with any knowledge just a different train of thought...

For the most part I do agree that Europe has better dog laws than the US...but in some cases they go a bit too far, IMO.
 
 
My husband was stationed in Italy for over a year, and one of his friends lived off base with her two dogs. One day she came home to find two Italian police officers at her door. Someone had called the cops on her for not taking her dogs out enough, and for them being "too skinny." Apparently there, it's the law that dogs have to go out every few hours (not sure of the exact number) for a walk. That sounds good in theory, but what about people who work all day like she does? She walked her dogs early in the morning, came home around 1pm for lunch and walked them again, and then again when she got home. Apparently that was unnaceptable. It was also unnacceptable that she crated her dogs during the day...one of them was a puppy being house trained, and the other had problems with SA...so what exactly was she supposed to do with them while she was gone?
 
She also got in trouble for her dogs being too skinny, and for not giving them food free choice all day. Apparently it's the law that dogs ALWAYS have access to food...feeding them meals is unnacceptable. Her dogs were a healthy weight, had nice waists, and looked like they should. They told her she had to leave her dogs with free access to kibble all day. According to her, the dogs would eat whatever food was there...and twice now they've eaten themselves to the point of medical emergency. Not to mention the fact that they're both now obese...when the officers checked on her again and saw her obese dogs, they told her that the dogs "looked better." []
 
She ended up with a pretty hefty fine, had to hire someone to walk her dogs every 2 hours, can no longer crate them, and now they're both obese. I heard all of this second hand from my husband...but this is all what I was told. So, IMO, animal welfare laws can be taken too far. Yes, it's a bit better in most European countries than in the US...but then you have places where it's just way too extreme and things like the above happens.

I'm not aware of pitbulls being banned in the UK- or any breed for that matter. Dogs who are proven to be specifically bred for fighting are seized by the police though.

I lived in the UK for 7yrs and have the BBCNews as my homepage - just last week a child was killed by a 'pitbull' type and I believe the article went on to say that if indeed it was that is an 'illegal' breed.  Don't have time to search for it now but it should eb easy to find

as for healthcare - I have worked in healthcare in the US (MD & VA) and in the UK (NHS) and there is a happy medium - the US system is going to self destruct soon as individuals will not be able to afford it, companies are continually reducing care and raising premiums, the unemployed and illegal immigrants get it free.  The insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies are laughing all the way to the bank and the US life expectancy is looking worse and worse when compared ot our socialized medical care brethren.  Eventually it will affect the 'haves' and then something will happen