characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, esp. for the suffering or distressed: humane treatment of horses.
originating from the very word that defines us “human”, plays a vital role in our impulse to rescue any living animal and to come to it’s assistance.
While this is a characteristic showing great moral attributes, it is arguably a way of helping to enable irresponsible breeding, ownership (most cases) and selling of the Neapolitan Mastiff breed.
In the United States and Great Britain millions of dogs are euthanized in a endless cycle of supply and demand, with little oversight and lack of education to the general public. What a better solution to the puppy millers and unethical suppliers than endless lines of rescue owners ready to adopt their next Neapolitan Mastiff. Therefore the question remains, are you helping the situation or enabling a system of churning out dogs for a profit? How many of us have given a dollar to a homeless person begging for money on a traffic light? The sign say’s “for food”, yet we perfectly know that the money will likely be used for something else. But perhaps this is not such a bad thing, ex-US Surgeon General Vice Admiral C. Everett Koop, USPHS created quite a controversy when he admitted he would give money to a homeless man even if he knew that money was for buying a bottle of liquor, “anything to help him get through the day”.
The best way to support the breed and look out for the breeds best interest is to study, research, and buy your Neapolitan Mastiff from an ethical Neapolitan Mastiff breeder. This however is not the only way, truth be told, whether you are enabling or not, the wellness of an individual dog in rescue can not be denied. Therefore if you are looking to save a Neapolitan from rescue, you are in fact helping the need of that individual dog. To rescue Neapolitan Mastiff’s visit the Neapolitan Mastiff Rescue Program in the US and Neapolitan Mastiff Rescue in UK.
Recently reported over at VIN is a new program for open heart surgery in dogs at UC Davis:
Griffiths and UC Davis are attempting a feat that during the past 30 years has confounded many another institution. High cost, the number of medical staff required for surgery and post-operative care, the time commitment required of staff, the types of conditions in dogs that call for surgery, and differences in how dogs respond to the operation compared with humans — these factors combined to stymie other programs.
Read the entire article at VIN here and Visit UC Davis Cardio page here
On a day when people tend to cover more bad news then good news; bad economy, the war, crime, corrupt politicians. We are no different many times in the Neapolitan Mastiff community. Early death of a dog, bad judging, bad breeder, politics getting in the way, the list goes on. However today comes a story of a truly unique dog, a one of a kind dog, whom just happens to be named
Unico
of Patrizio De Vitalle. »See his story here» You see, not too long ago in the first days of spring 2008. Unico suffered a truly devastating injury, one that can be compared to an athlete’s career ending injury. Unico had suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament, and it was not known if he would ever recover not least be lame for the rest of his life. However the fight for Unico, started the second his injury took place, with his devoted owner Katriina miraculously getting the 72 Kilos Unico out of the deep woods to find help and to get him home.
The news was devastating to Katriina that day, but there was hope, and soon a successful surgery fallowed by days, weeks, months of little to no sleep making sure Unico would not re-injure his fragile knee during post surgery care. The endless nights with no sleep soon were replaced by long trips to Helsinki, and long hours of rehabilitation stretches and exercise.
Perhaps that “one of a kind” Neapolitan Mastiff, also has a “one of a kind” master in Katriina, because today we are glad to hear the “good news” that Unico has won BOB, Helsinki Winner 2008 and has qualified for 2009 Crufts. Brava Katriina Hagg, Patrizio De Vitale breeder of Unico, is no longer with us but he would be proud of his unique
Unico
Unico of Patrizio de Vitale BOB December 2008 with owner Katriina Hagg.
Dogs still amaze me ! Even after living with them my entire life they still amaze me! Take a look at this video shot Dec 2nd on a busy hiway in Chile. One dog is struck on the freeway and another dog comes in and pulls him off the road! Watch the very end when the one dog is pulling the other, he doesn’t use his mouth he uses is legs! The Hero Dog, as he has become known, is clearly problem solving, looking for traffic and is RESCUING the other dog. Amazing…
Neapolitan Mastiff Breeders and Buying a Neapolitan, Neapolitan Mastiff History, Evolution & Future | admin | 
January 27, 2009 3:40 pm | 
Comments (0) 
