The story of Buckley

In 2009 Buckley, an 8 week old puppy, was the victim of a cruel attack. Someone cut off his ears and tail with a pair of scissors, then dumped him. Luckily, Buckley was rescued and taken to The Lost Dogs’ Home where nursed back to health. He was given an operation to mend his ear and tail. He went to puppy-preschool to help heal his emotional wounds and to learn how to be a lovely pet. More than 300 people applied to adopt Buckley and he was eventually adopted to a loving home.

At the same time the Buckley’s story made the headlines. The public outcry created a media storm across Victoria, Australia and then the world. Outraged pet lovers flooded the Lost Dogs Home with support for Buckley; donations and supplies to help him get a second chance at a happy life.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Buckley’s story has been the biggest story that The Lost Dogs’ Home has been involved in over the past 25 years. It was covered by all the TV stations, the Herald Sun, The Age and Leader press and shook hundreds of thousands of people around the world to the very core.

Our phones rang off the hook; we were receiving hundreds of emails a day and the number of visits to our web site, dogshome.com, crashed the server. People who had never had contact with us before were driving from the other side of Melbourne to donate money or blankets, coats or food for Buckley.

Graeme Smith: The Lost Dogs’ Home Spring Newsletter

The Home looked to cash in on Buckley’s obvious popularity; featuring the dog in newsletters and fundraising campaigns. They creating a line of toys in his likeness.

The stuffed toys are an almost perfect replica of the maimed pup, right down to his hacked ears and stumpy tail.

And a website to keep fans updated on his progress;

Throughout this all however, The Home kept one small piece of information close to its chest; ear cropping, as so crudely attempted by Buckley’s abusers, tells us a lot about what breed he is;

Cropping is the removal of part or all of the pinnae or auricles, the external visible flap of the ear, of an animal. Most commonly performed on dogs, it is an ancient practice that was once done for perceived health, practical or cosmetic reasons. In modern times, it is banned in many nations, but where legal, it is usually performed for cosmetic reasons, usually related to show grooming. It is seen only certain breeds of dog such as the Pit bull, Doberman Pinscher, Schnauzer, Great Dane and Boxer.

Only a mouth-breather looking for a ‘tough-guy’ dog breed would have any interest in a dog with cropped ears. Whomever abused Buckley that day probably knew one of his parents was a ‘pit bull’ or of ‘pit bull type’ and butchered him to order. Did they lose their nerve? Did they think he was going to die? We’ll never know. But what we do know is that this little dog needed a compassionate society to give him a second chance away from the brutality he had known; and they did.

Should Buckley’s breed matter?

Of course it shouldn’t. But it does. In Victoria, Dr Graeme Smith, the Managing Director who authorised for Buckley to be saved and rehabiltated, is also the single last standing major animal welfare voice championing ‘Breed Specific Legislation’. In fact, not even a month after Buckley was found, The Lost Dogs Home called for “pit bull type” dogs to be declared dangerous.

At the same time as the home was fundraising millions off Buckley’s plight, they were using those millions to advocate that dogs just like him be vilified and targeted for special restrictions including being seized if their owners were unable to comply with strict regulations, being automatically killed in shelters rather than adopted, and condemning shelters who took a more compassionate stance toward the breed. At the Lost Dogs Home appearance is enough to determine breed and a third of the dogs it catches fit the dangerous description and are destroyed. When challenged that looks might not be enough to determine breed, Dr Smith responded “My view is that if it looks like a pitbull, it’s a pitbull.”

An opportunity squandered

Buckley could have heralded a new era of lifesaving at the Home. He could have been the advocate for second chances, overcoming enormous obstacles and giving even the most damaged pets a chance to prove themselves worthy of a loving home. Around the world, dogs just like Buckley are getting a second chance. As they should be. They are being assessed for who they are, and who they could be – rather than written off because of breed or background.

Flower – Border Collie/American Pit Bull Terrier blend
The Wisconsin Humane Society

Mollie – Border Collie/American Pit Bull Terrier blend
The Humane Society of Missouri

Curly – Border Collie/American Pit Bull Terrier blend
The Humane Society of Missouri

Betsy – Border Collie/American Pit Bull Terrier blend
Humane Society of Indianapolis

Lucky– Border Collie/American Pit Bull Terrier blend
Lakewood Animal Clinic

Leila – Border Collie/American Pit Bull Terrier blend
Pit Bull Rescue San Diego

Scarlet – Border Collie/American Pit Bull Terrier blend
Burbank Animal Shelter

All of these dogs were all assessed by animal welfare groups as having ‘pit bull’ in their heritage. They have now all been adopted into loving homes.

Buckley shows us what is possible. His story should inspire us all to reject the injustice that is BSL.