Rescue Journal

too many

Carol · Feb 17, 2008

too many dogs and cats, too many horses, too many rabbits and pot belly pigs and not enough good homes.

there are no excuses anymore. i don't care if someone is "furthering" the breed.

i want to know where the michael vick dogs came from? were all of the breeders as cold hearted and evil as he?

or did some of them come from a good and reputable breeder with great lines who loved their dogs? was it someone who found the once in a life time dream of a perfectly created dog in a perfect, wealthy home of a perfect and charming NFL star? maybe one who hid his evil deep underneath?

i want to know how many breeders, rescue one dog for every dog they create and sell? or it is just one more perfectly bred dog competing for not enough homes.
in the year 2008, we can deep freeze sperm and eggs. it is a good way to not lose the genetics of a very good line. but we still can't stop killing the millions of animals without a home....and why is that?

too many, too many excuses to breed.

Comments

lburrell

I'm afraid it's just not true, Mia, that "reputable" breeders always take responsibility for the dogs that they create.

I have a few friends in the shelter system myself. I can think of more than one occasion when a "reputable" breeder has been contacted because one of their dogs is in the shelter. On the phone, the breeder is always all "OMG: of course I'll come pick up the dog!!!" And sometimes they do. But on more than a few occasions--I can think of at least two occasions in the last six months, one since Christmas--they. just. don't. There are lots of dogs by "reputable" breeders in the shelter system today.

You can argue that these "reputable" breeders aren't "responsible" after all. However, they have the reputation of being responsible; that is, they're perceived by the general community as being responsible. So---? How does the ordinary person distinguish the "great" breeders from these others?

--Personally, if it were me, I'd ask the shelters. The really old hands know who's who in the community. Some of them can actually recognize the breeder just by the look of the dog--they just use the tattoo as confirmation.

MIA

As someone who has been in breed rescue and worked in the shelter system I can honestly say you won't often find the dog of a reputable responsible breeder in the system, what you do find are dogs from back yard breeders and pet stores, they are the root of the problem not the great breeders who really do love the breeds they breed and who are responsible for what they put out there. I would also like to say that I know many breeders that do help rescue dogs, they do just quietly. One of my best volunteers over the years is a breeder of champion dogs.

The same holds true for most horses, I have been in that industry since I was kid and again it's the people who know little about breeding that contribute to the problem of today and there are many larger issues going on there but that's a topic for another day.

Have a read at: http://www.fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/

Eva Stock

My thoughts;

That if the pet stores were not allowed to sell animals for several years and the breeders were not allowed to sell animals for a few years and the animals that are out there could be rescued as there would be room for them instead of continuous breeding and allowing non altered animals, ie rabbits, dogs, cats and birds. Imagine how many animals could be rescued and altered to not breed and really make a huge difference!! It would be so much kinder and more sensible and practical. Just a laying in bed thinking about this crisis thought. Eva

Tracey

I am not a fan of breeding anything. While I understand and appreciate the difference between a Tibetan Mastiff and a Weimeraner (thank you Westminster Dog Show), and I would not like to see those breed lose their distinctiveness, I'd like to see the big, black and/or tan dogs hanging out in shelters be able to keep their lives more.

Your concept of a breeder taking on the responsibility of not only the lives they create, but one additional shelter animal is very interesting; especially if the "extra" they took on was a large, mixed breed.