God love the lonely dogs
Disclaimer: This is a rant. It includes exaggerations and random thoughts. It is not meant to be a serious discussion. This blog is Ruthieland and as such what I think and what I say is all that matters.
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What is it about pure-bred dogs? Why are so many otherwise intelligent, earth/health/humanity/generally PC-conscious-type people so determined that they have to have a pure-bred dog? I can't even stand the word "breeder" much less think about approaching one for a new pet.
I wish someone would put a 20-year (or forever) ban on selling pure-bred dogs. I understand preservation of the breed and all, but in my perfect world only a select few people would be allowed to own and reproduce purebred dogs (and not for resale) for these 20 years (or forever). If you want a dog, you would go to a shelter or a rescue home, pass an interview, pay a couple hundred dollars, sign in blood that you will have your dog fixed and take it to its forever home. Ideally, eventually all dogs will become a hot commodity instead of how it is now; people will pay thousands of dollars and drive/fly for hours for a purebred as they drive past hundreds of beautiful dogs wasting away in their local animal shelters. Everyone wants a purebred, so puppy mills pump them out, selling them in shitty pet shops that don't care about anything but making money off a cute face.
How is breeding new dogs for people to buy, instead of getting a homeless dog, any different than breeding perfect children instead of adopting an existing child or even birthing our own possibly-imperfect child? Should only perfect people be allowed to breed? There's a debate. There are no guarantees with a mixed breed dog, but there are no guarantees with your own child, either. Who are you that you have to have a perfect specimen of whatever kind of dog it is that you find desirable?
Because you want to know what the dog will look like when it grows up? Do you know what your infant will look like when it grows up?
Because you want to make sure it doesn't grow too big for your lifestyle? Do your research; find a rescue that has small dogs or put your name on a waiting list at the shelter for a small dog. My daughter got a teeny dog at the shelter that no one wanted because she isn't perfect. But, in the end, it turns out that with a lot of love and patience, she is perfect after all.
Is it because the dog may have been mistreated and you don't know how it will behave when you take it home? Well, there are no guarantees that purebred dogs will automatically be angels, and with love and patience your pound puppy will be perfect, too. We have a border collie cross dog that was a trainwreck when we brought her home from the shelter at about 9 months old. She was terrified of everybody. The shelter people couldn't get a collar or a leash on her because she was so afraid, but you could pick her up and carry her because she was so terrified of contact that she would freeze. 3 years later, she's the sweetest dog ever. Actually it took about a year and a half for her to achieve sweetest dog ever status. She's comfortable, confident and loves to walk on a leash, though she doesn't really need one because she stays close to us and wouldn't hurt a fly if it landed on her.
Is it because poodles don't shed and you think they will adapt better to your house of allergies? If you've exhausted all possibilities of poodle rescue associations and your name has been on a list at your local shelter for ages with no response, maybe you are out of luck. Maybe a dog isn't in your future because of your allergies.
We sit back and criticize other pet owners whom we don't think are giving their pets the attention we think they need but we drive past shelters filled with hurting, lonely dogs on our way to the breeders where we happily give money to people to create more dogs. Good lord.
Something wrong with this picture. It pisses me off.
_____________________________________
What is it about pure-bred dogs? Why are so many otherwise intelligent, earth/health/humanity/generally PC-conscious-type people so determined that they have to have a pure-bred dog? I can't even stand the word "breeder" much less think about approaching one for a new pet.
I wish someone would put a 20-year (or forever) ban on selling pure-bred dogs. I understand preservation of the breed and all, but in my perfect world only a select few people would be allowed to own and reproduce purebred dogs (and not for resale) for these 20 years (or forever). If you want a dog, you would go to a shelter or a rescue home, pass an interview, pay a couple hundred dollars, sign in blood that you will have your dog fixed and take it to its forever home. Ideally, eventually all dogs will become a hot commodity instead of how it is now; people will pay thousands of dollars and drive/fly for hours for a purebred as they drive past hundreds of beautiful dogs wasting away in their local animal shelters. Everyone wants a purebred, so puppy mills pump them out, selling them in shitty pet shops that don't care about anything but making money off a cute face.
How is breeding new dogs for people to buy, instead of getting a homeless dog, any different than breeding perfect children instead of adopting an existing child or even birthing our own possibly-imperfect child? Should only perfect people be allowed to breed? There's a debate. There are no guarantees with a mixed breed dog, but there are no guarantees with your own child, either. Who are you that you have to have a perfect specimen of whatever kind of dog it is that you find desirable?
Because you want to know what the dog will look like when it grows up? Do you know what your infant will look like when it grows up?
Because you want to make sure it doesn't grow too big for your lifestyle? Do your research; find a rescue that has small dogs or put your name on a waiting list at the shelter for a small dog. My daughter got a teeny dog at the shelter that no one wanted because she isn't perfect. But, in the end, it turns out that with a lot of love and patience, she is perfect after all.
Is it because the dog may have been mistreated and you don't know how it will behave when you take it home? Well, there are no guarantees that purebred dogs will automatically be angels, and with love and patience your pound puppy will be perfect, too. We have a border collie cross dog that was a trainwreck when we brought her home from the shelter at about 9 months old. She was terrified of everybody. The shelter people couldn't get a collar or a leash on her because she was so afraid, but you could pick her up and carry her because she was so terrified of contact that she would freeze. 3 years later, she's the sweetest dog ever. Actually it took about a year and a half for her to achieve sweetest dog ever status. She's comfortable, confident and loves to walk on a leash, though she doesn't really need one because she stays close to us and wouldn't hurt a fly if it landed on her.
Is it because poodles don't shed and you think they will adapt better to your house of allergies? If you've exhausted all possibilities of poodle rescue associations and your name has been on a list at your local shelter for ages with no response, maybe you are out of luck. Maybe a dog isn't in your future because of your allergies.
We sit back and criticize other pet owners whom we don't think are giving their pets the attention we think they need but we drive past shelters filled with hurting, lonely dogs on our way to the breeders where we happily give money to people to create more dogs. Good lord.
Something wrong with this picture. It pisses me off.
posted by ruthieB | 4:33 PM
6 Comments:
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So your educated solution to the overpopulation of unwanted dogs is for responsible dog owners to promise not to abandon their dogs? That's about as helpful as my ranty solution.
We both know that responsible dog owners aren't the problem -- idiot dog owners are the problem.
So, if responsible dog owners would start adopting homeless dogs instead of commissioning a breeder to make them another dog, we may be able to make a dent in the homeless problem. Idiot dog owners will just bring them back to the shelter -- hopefully responsible dog owners would give them a forever home.
Ah, I'm a bleeding-heart dreamer. Always have been, most likely always will be.
Hear Hear!!!
Clarification: My "Hear Hear" was meant for Ruthie's original post.
My Sis...it takes guts to state your opinions. I congratulate you for doing so. I'd like to direct all my intelligent and thoughtful friends to your blog, but would not do so w/o your explicit permission.
Chaeli sounds delightful. I wish we were closer. (Doug would make a pretty good gramma, I'd say! LOL)
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