I am absolutely flabbergasted; how do you operate within a world that you feel is unjust?  Two years ago my mother-in-law lost her husband leaving her alone in Melbourne.  She was a wonderful person.  She contracted polio during the epidemic of the 1950’s and subsequently ended up with a leg in a brace for the rest of her life.  This setback however never stopped her from living her dream of working as a doctor and enriching other’s lives.  After her husband died the family decided to move her here to Perth, to be close to two of her three children.  We all know that a death and then a move are two of the most stressful situations any human has to deal with, let alone a frail elderly woman in her mid-eighties.  So we decided to cheer her up and took her down to the local pet shop so she could choose and love a puppy; this is how Jasper our third dog came to be.

It soon became apparent however that Betty’s health [Betty is the mother-in-law] was deteriorating and sadly she too passed, leaving Jasper an orphan.  The obvious thing to do was for him to stay with us, his pack and so he became our puppy, affectionately known as ‘little puppy’.  I never really got around to registering him with the local council but decided that I would this year, in order to be honest and do the right thing – coz that is the kind of gal I am!

Well, to my shock, angst and absolute horror I got knocked back!  So in my desire to be honest and do the right thing I got rewarded with a letter that says I have to reduce my dog numbers back to two!  How can this happen?  I am a responsible dog owner and our dogs are well behaved.  Yes, Rusty barks but not incessantly.  He is the protector so he tells us when people are here.  Occasionally his barking will incite all three to riot, but very occasionally. 

Has the world gone mad?  Are dogs no longer allowed to bark at all?  So, even if we did reduce the number back to two it is not Jasper that barks, so how will this resolve the issue?  I tried to have this conversation with the ranger, but to no avail.  He didn’t really want to understand the entire picture, he just wanted to play by the rules and the rules say only two dogs allowed.  He told me he had to canvas the neighbours and whilst they did not complain about the dogs barking they did mention the dogs barked – well that is what dogs do!  Yet even though there was no complaint the ranger took it upon himself to decline my request. 

How do I behave in this situation?  What sort of a lesson do I now teach my children?  How to lie and cheat so we can keep Jasper?  We can not give away a member of the family and all three dogs are dearly loved members of the family.  I will try to resolve this, I will appeal the decision and seek justice but it is very hard to stay positive when the world does not appear just!