10/21/2024
Adopt Don’t Shop…
If you support this phrase then I’m speaking to you.
Breeder- noun
A person who selectively breeds animals to produce offspring with desired traits, such as temperament, health, and conformation, for various purposes including companionship, show, work, or sport. Dog breeders often specialize in specific breeds or types of dogs, dedicating their efforts to improving and preserving the characteristics of their chosen breeds. This profession requires a deep understanding of genetics, animal husbandry, and breed standards, as well as a commitment to ethical breeding practices and the welfare of the dogs involved.
Pet owner- noun
Any person owning, harboring or keeping a dog, cat, or other domestic pet, or having custody thereof. They are responsible for the lifelong care of the animal which includes:
Providing basic needs: Ensuring their pet has food, water, shelter, and health care.
Exercise and mental stimulation: Providing appropriate exercise and mental stimulation for their pet.
Socialization and training: Properly socializing and training their pet.
Regular checkups: Taking their pet to the veterinarian for regular checkups and when they show signs of sickness.
Grooming: Grooming their pet regularly.
Microchipping: Microchipping their pet for easy traceability in case it goes missing.
Sterilization: Sterilizing their pet to prevent unwanted litters.
The Adopt Don’t Shop propaganda targets breeders as the root cause of a very large issue which is the overpopulation of dogs and cats, mainly the ones in shelters that are euthanized daily due to lack of space and funding. One of the theories you will often see with this movement is that if breeders would stop breeding dogs (they never mention cats even though there are between 60-80 million feral cats roaming loose in the US right now) until all of the shelter dogs are adopted then the problem of overpopulation would be solved. Unfortunately, that theory is incorrect for a few reasons, the main one being that it’s not breeders who are filling up the shelters to begin with. So even if breeders stopped breeding dogs for lets say 5 years that wouldn’t stop irresponsible pet owners from doing what they do which is:
Fail to secure their pets on their property, fail to alter their pets which roam loose and breed at random, think their pets should have one litter to experience motherhood, get a pet that they have no intention of keeping then dump it at a shelter, when their female dog breeds with the neighbors male they just let the litter happen even though they have no one lined up to take the puppies.
You can spay a dog after a breeding to avoid an accidental litter, this is why there is no such thing as a true accidental litter because it is 100% avoidable.
Next would be once you acquire a dog whether that be from a breeder, shelter, friend, or find it on the street you are now 100% responsible for that dog. If you let that dog breed or get bred, that's on you and no one else. If that dog is allowed to roam loose off your property where it is picked up and taken to the shelter that’s not the breeder of the dogs fault, it is once again your fault for not securing your dog. Accidents happen and dogs get out, if the dog is altered then at least while it’s out it’s not producing more dogs. If you have microchipped the dog or the dog is wearing a tag with up to date information then the dog can easily be returned to you instead of taking up space at the shelter and then possibly getting euthanized.
Lastly breeders aren’t spending $1000’s to produce, raise, health test, show and decades of dedication just to dump puppies and dogs at shelters. Yes you will see purebred dogs at the shelter which is a common rebuttal to the breeder rhetoric but purebred doesn’t equal well bred and those dogs are still there at the fault of the owner. There are also backyard breeders which can be lumped into the same category as irresponsible pet owners who will dump their dogs at shelters when they are done profiting off of them but again those are not people who are defined as a breeder (see description above).
Even if we point the finger at the few bad apples, the dogs dumped by backyard breeders make up less than 5% of dogs found at the shelter. Pure breeds make up less than 10% of dogs found in shelters. 90% of shelter dogs are mixed bred or of unrecognizable mix of multiple breeds and are there due to irresponsible pet owners.
Animal Organizations commonly say purebreds make up 25% of all shelter dogs but it's just a number for the media to make it seem like again breeders are the problem. It's not accurate and never has been. Even if it were true that would still mean that mixes make up 75% and 100% are there due to irresponsible people and not responsible breeders.
Instead of blaming breeders for the carelessness of pet owners, point the blame at the real issue which are people who fail to take responsibility for the animals they chose to get. They are the reason millions of animals are euthanized annually. They are also the reason there are millions of feral cats decimating local wildlife populations.
If you’re reading this and your dogs or cats are currently roaming off your property intact then you are part of the problem. Hopefully you can do better and become part of the solution.
These are some of the thoughts that run through my head when I attend a dog show, it would be a shame if we lost our preservation breeders and only had shelter mutts to choose from. Not that I don’t think those dogs deserve love and care because I do, but they also deserved better owners so they didn’t end up in the shelter to begin with. Anyone with half a brain knows breeders aren’t the problem or the walk at the shelter would look more like the photos posted below instead of what you actually see at the shelter.
