I received my copy of the 2005 Annual Report today - a lot is positive reading. Unfortunately, the number of Staffies/Staffie crosses has passed the number of mongrels for the first time :( Out of a total of 9338 dogs in - 1564 were staffies (or crosses) :( Strangely, the next biggest group was (after mongrels at 1082) Jack Russel Terriers at 801.

If anyone wants any more info, please PM me :)

Daisy

Interesting, but I can't say it is surprising, just on this site alone there is a mass increase in Staffie owners, so it is bound to overflow elsewhere. Very sad too. JRT's is a surprise though, poor crosses always there. :-(  Will it stop the constant breeding........... NO :-(

My local rescue has had more poor quality Staffies and Staffies crosses than anything else for the past 18 months!
I despair when I read on here about another pet male and female being bred, especially showing no knowledge at all by remarking that their pedigrees were checked for no similar relatives before buying them for breeding! :rolleyes:

If only these people would get involved with rescue and not just produce poorly bred puppies to sell, then the dogs might have permanent, quality homes for life.

I'm afraid i'm not surprised at the results as far as staffies and staffy crosses are concerned and it makes my bood boil to see how determined irresponsible breeders are to ruin what should be lovely dogs.

equally not surprised about Jack Russells since firstly, it's far to easy to stick a JRT label on any smallish white'ish crossbred terrier and secondly because far too many people fail to understand quite what they are taking on, even with a purebred JRT. Because while they look cute they are not, in my opinion, a breed for the inexperienced or less confident dog owner since they are not docile! and if i had a pound for every time i've been told  "i know someone who had one of them but it turned out vicious", i'd be seriously wealthy by now!

I donated a bag of dog food to my local RSPCA shelter (in Surrey) last week and of course walked through the kennels.  It is always the same - Staffies, staffie crosses, Greyhounds and lurchers.   This shelter is not in a rough area and in my local dog walking haunts (Pryford or Horsell Common) it's very rare to see any of these breeds or crosses.   I don't notice them walking on the streets of the local towns either.  The Battersea shelter in Windsor is much the same in terms of the most common types of dogs represented. 

I suspect that for the lurchers and grey hounds many been abandoned by travellers.  Maybe the RSPCA moves dogs around from one shelter to another, I don't know.  If they do I suspect most of the staffie and staffie crosses come from out of the immediate area, not that it matters.

There must be a "market" for these dogs - too bad its a disposable one.