Dogs & Puppies Blog

Archive for the ‘Dog Laws’ Category

American dog and puppies, as well as their doggie Moms and Dads, need to know what is happening over in Europe. Houdini Clarke, American Maltese, has traveled to Austria several times and keeps up on the up-to-the-minute Top Dog or “hundefuehrschein” news.

For all you English speaking only dogs out there, hundefuehrschein is a new fangled German word meaning a “dog walking license”. It seems that the Austrians…more than 80 percent of them in Stadt Wien “Vienna” alone, feel that harsher rulings should be enacted to keep certain breeds along with their dog walking owners under the watchful eyes of the authorities. The breeds that are being put on the watch list are the pit bull, American Staffordshire terrier, Mastiff and the Rottweiler and, of course, all of the mixed breed / cross bred cousins.

Of course, we all know about the unspeakable accounts of children and the eldery being mauled or killed by ferocious dogs. It seems that those particular breeds on the Stadt Wien “hit list” and their mixed breed cousins turn out to be the most likely “bad guys” in these situations. On the other hand, most dog lovers understand that it is usually the dog’s master and not the dog that is to blame in these situations. How the dog was trained to behave in certain settings or whether he was trained at all.

Wuff, the Austrian Dog magazine has become involved in the action by posting flyers all over Stadt Wien showing two adorable pups sitting next to each other with one of them labeled evil. This, along with the vote NO to the referendum, is a pretty clear indication where they stand on the situation.

Well, in February, the dust settled on the “hundefuehrschein in Stadt Wien“…beginning July 1, 2010 the “evil dogs” and any person who will be walking the dog over 16 years of age will have to complete a 30 page, yes, I said 30 PAGE test. This multiple choice exam will include everything from tail wagging to barking at strangers and will cost 25 Euros.

There are many other provisions in this new legislation i.e. the dog must be at least six months old, the dog and owner may take the test up to 3 times, there will be a transitional period for those who currently own a dog on the “hit list” and so on…the real kicker here is that if you are not hundefuehrschein compliant, the fines are grotesque, from a minor administration fine of 100 euros up to the big kahuna fine of 14,000 euros…EEEE Gads!

You can take a look at the hundefuehrschein test and see what you think… could you and your puppy pass?

Fortunately for Houdini Clarke, who, while he has the spirit of a Mastiff, the Maltese breed has not made the Stadt Wien hundefuehrschein “hit list”. So, Houdini will be allowed to roam the streets of Vienna freely reading and sending p-mails to all his Viennese puppy pals.