[Tonje]

As Per Olav, I am extremely concerned about the proposed banning of the CSV
and SW in Norway (and I don't even have a CSV). It is extremely worrying when
also the largest television channel, with most viewers, wish to make an
unfavourable presentation in the news. They do unfortunately have a large
impact on public opinion - and the authorities.

So far, they have concentrated on Am.staffs and Pitbulls. This is not quite
unreasonable as there are some criminals that have trained such dogs for
dogfighting (stealing unattended family dogs to use as training opponents) and
also, through maltreatment, there are individuals that are extremely agressive
towards humans. (However, it is grossly unfair to propose banning of am.staffs
as the majority of am.staff owners have nice and agreeable dogs, but I
digress.)

This with the CSV and SW is something "new", and may be inspired by the latest
developments in the wolf situation in Norway. Last week there was an episode
where 18 sheep were mauled and killed by wolves ("wolves or hybrids" as they
said in one newspaper) quite close to a village (along the road to the local
school). This has been intensely covered by mass media with an angle only
suited to severely frighten people. In addition it has been reported that
there will be a proposal for the implementation of sheepfree sones for wolves,
where farmers will not be encouraged to graze their sheep in summer. (In
Norway farmers have a right to graze their sheep - completely unattended - in
the mountains, forests etc. They are endorsed for any loss of sheep to wild
carnivores. While the sheep are out "on pasture" the responsibility for the
sheeps' safety lie on the authorities and the public, eg. any dog on the loose
in grazing area can be put down, irrespectably of whether it chases sheep or
not. A total of appr. 130 000 sheep die each summer season, an appr. 20 000 of
these, are killed by wolverines, eagles and so forth. The number that can be
connected to wolf is less than 1000, but I think it is the most hated of all
our wild carnivores).

The result is that the rural population is in an uproar due to the
infringement on their rights and in addition people are frightened by the fact
that wolves have appeared in the close vicinity of a village. Couple the looks
of the CSV and SW with wolf phobia, throw in the CSV's military background and
use for eg. IPO, and you get something that the media love to present from the
worst possible point of view. They don't really bother with finicky details
like that there is a difference between wild wolves, hybrids and the
wolfdog-breeds. Nor do they care about that there are very few of these dogs
(especially the CSV) in Norway and that, Per Olav for one, is the most
responsible of owners. The authorities are "easily" pressured by what is
reported in mass media, so this is really terribly worrying.

Regards Tonje

P.S. I finally met Per Olav's "little puppy" yesterday. What a wonderful
aquaintance! Cziky is extremely friendly when he says hello to people, is
quite marvelous together with other dogs, putting them at ease and playing
with them. Looking at him in action, one could easily forget that this is not
just a big, friendly chump (Cziky put on quite a silly behaviour when
attending to "the ladies"..). Sadly I can not say the same about my little
basenji who was quite willing to take on even big and formidable Cziky. He
just turned away and stayed away from her when she bared all her dainty white
teeth and snarled and growled at him, no skin of his nose! Certainly a case
of "big nice wolf" meeting "little bad wolf" (like the Disney cartoon, but in
reverse).