WHO IS AT FAULT? ANYONE AND EVERYONE WHO HAS A LITTER FOR fUN, FOR
PROFIT, OR “BY ACCIDENT’’! THE ‘’BACKYARD BREEDER’’
They have
the misguided thoughts that AKC paper means their pet is breeding quality. (It’s
about as Comparable as placing a college degree next to a GED. Not at all the same!) They
misrepresent their own qualifications and experience as well as the dog’s AKC
qualities If you allow your pet to parent even one litter,
then you are the solutions’ BIGGEST problem!
Backyard Breeders
--Anyone who has a litter for fun, profit or by ‘accident’.
-- Anyone who is so uninformed that they think having AKC papers means that
their pet is breeding quality.
--Anyone who advertises their litters in the local paper for sale.
(respected breeders only advertise in trade magazines)
--Anyone who thinks that by finding their puppies good homes that they
somehow don’t have to play by the rules or take responsibility.
--Anyone who thinks they found their litter good homes, simply because
everyone that took one, smiled honestly and ‘promised’ to treat them well.. Thus
insisting on no background check, no enforceable contract or any type of follow up. They
most assuredly will provide erroneous information to the potential adopters regarding the
required care and treatment necessary for the pet -lying simply for their own personal
gains.
Respectable breeders will have walls adorned with trophies and
certificates which represent the numerous championships they’ve acquired over
the years.
All major national animal protection organizations agree on these issues. Up to 8 million
healthy animals are killed in U.S. pounds and
shelters every year. The majority of killing could easily be prevented by spaying OR
neutering. Euthanasia is the single largest cause of death for dogs in the U.S. Each year
27 million dogs and cats are born. Approximately 7 million we classify as
"surplus" ARE killed. That's about ¾ million per month. These numbers do not
include the millions of dead dogs whose bodies we scrape off the streets, the growing
number that are put to sleep at vets’ offices or the hundreds of thousands that are
abandoned.
Let's not forget the severely neglected or abused ones who never make it to
our shelters to be counted and or euthanized. The 7 million
figure represents those we "MUST" kill because they are unwanted! Most of these
animals are young and healthy; in fact, it is estimated that a majority are less than one
year of age. The problem is simple: we have too many dogs...Too many for the too few homes
available to them. The solution we have opted for is to kill the extras. This solution has
been considered acceptable by default, as though there were no other way to control the
crisis. And we spend over $1 billion every year destroying "man's best friend."
A common sense look that you cannot deny or argue with: If you were part of a
company who made ‘pets’ and every year for the past 20 years, you had been
overstocked to the point of having to dispose of the overstocked nventory, what would you
suggest they do this year to improve? The sensible response would immediately opt to
reduce production. |
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| So, if you KNOW we are killing this vast number of innocent,
loving animals each year, why in the world would you think that having a litter of puppies
or kittens is OK? Why is this happening in the United States
today? The number one (along with mills)
biggest contributor to the problem is the "backyard breeder" not the puppy
mills. This is a name that has become unpopular and no one wants to admit they are a
"backyard breeder".Many people do not even realize they are part of the problem.
This is what we need to address in this post. The only way to stop the needless killing of
dogs is to stop the needless breeding of them. Every breed of dog recognized by the AKC
has a written standard, a
blueprint of what the dog should look like and act like. These standards were written so
that all would know what a quality example of the breed is and strive to produce dogs that
meet or exceed the standard in health, temperament and appearance. To be sure you are
breeding dogs that meet these standards, your dogs must be judged by people who have a
lifetime of experience among the breed. If your personal dog has not yet been in front
of a judge, then you do NOT have an AKC standard dog, you have one that is pet quality and
that is fine. AKC papers DO NOT signify a dog with breeding quality standards!!!!! A
pet is to be loved, cherished, trained, cared for, spoiled and bragged about, but it is
NEVER to be bred. Most purebred dogs are not breeding quality. If you breed your pet
quality dog, you are a "backyard breeder", whether you breed the dog in
your backyard, garage, living room or an expensive hotel room, the term is
still backyard breeder. If your pet quality dog has AKC papers, that's nice but it doesn't
change anything. If your pet quality dog cost you $500 be
glad you had the money to afford it. You still should not breed it.
"Backyard breeders" will swear all of their pups went to a good
home. They believe this, but it's usually not true. Some may have been lucky enough
to go to a good home at the time of adoption, but more than half of them will end up
dead, in a shelter alone, on a cold table with a needle sticking out of their leg.
Why? Because the Backyard Breeder didn’t follow through or even know enough
about adoptions to ask the right questions up front or to provide contracts or
return policies Some of those good homes will get tired of the dog and they will
just give it away to anyone who is willing to take it. Some of your beloved dog's
children will
end up living alone in a backyard, barking all night, cold and neglected until the
guardian gets complaints and then that pups will be dead. Some will be starved and
beaten. Some will be bred until they die from too many births. Some will end up in
rescue and we will have to find space for it in my home. We will take the fleas off and
get rid of the worms, will give it the shots it should have had but no one remember to DO
it. We will do these things because the "backyard breeder" didn't. We will spay
or neuter that pup before I find it a new home so that I will never have to
rescue one of it's pups. That is the only way we can assure it will never end up in the
hands of another "backyard breeder" looking to make profit from puppies.
Spay or neuter you pet dog.
There's really no other way. Leave the breeding to the people who are doing!
For full text version of this article please see http://www.21stcenturycares.org/backyardbreeders.htm |
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