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.
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.