Picture retrieved from
The truth about breeding is a harsh one allowing for no misconceptions. Breeding is death for a shelter animal, period. There are no exceptions, there is no argument. Get your facts straight and get educated before you support breeding or even worse, become a breeder. The age old thought pattern, "It's just one litter, it won't hurt." Wrong! Yes, it most certainly will hurt. Think of it this way, for every puppy or kitten you breed, you are killing a shelter animal. Harsh? No, it's really not because it's the damn truth and more people need to start realizing that. YOU ARE NOT AN EXCEPTION! That ought to snap you out of the moronic belief that you are doing no harm. You want to make money? Get a damn job like a normal person instead of whoring out your animals to make a few bucks. Not only is it sickening, it's pathetic and utterly wrong. Do you want to be forced to get pregnant and pop out 2-10 offspring? Yeah, I didn't think so. Do you want to do it over and over again? Reeeallly didn't think so. So, why then do you think a dog, cat, rabbit, mouse, etc. wants to go through it? They don't! As humans, we are the superior race, (OK that is very much up for renegotiation) but I mean it in terms of the fact that we have voices and opposable thumbs. We are responsible for the protection of those creatures that don't. And we are doing a pretty shitty job of it. There are tons of rescues and advocates out there including those I volunteer with (GO Operation Paws for Homes and Animal Allies!!) but we are too few in number. We make a hell of a difference but we could make a tremendous impact if breeding was banned! Spaying and neutering needs to be a REQUIREMENT not a recommendation. Honestly, I think we should "spay and neuter" more people but that's a topic for another day.
Here are some fun facts for you derived from www.americanhumane.org.
- "Each year, approximately 8 million animals are taken in by shelters across the country. Tragically, about 3.7 million, nearly half, of these animals must be euthanized because good homes cannot be found for them. In fact, shelter euthanasia is the leading cause of death for both dogs and cats in the United States."
- "Despite increased public awareness over the past 40 years about the need to spay and neuter pets, 35 percent of pet owners in the U.S. still choose not to do so. Many among this group intentionally choose to breed their pets, either for profit or for what they mistakenly believe to be a "fun" experience. Others who choose not to spay or neuter out of ignorance, believe their pets wont accidentally breed."
- "There is NO accidental breeding. Spaying and neutering is a conscious choice. Puppies and kittens can be safely spayed and neutered at 8 weeks of age, before reaching sexual maturity- so there is simply no excuse for an "accidental" litter."
- "Many people who breed their pets believe they aren't adding to the pet overpopulation problem if they find homes for all their puppies or kittens. But consider this: Every puppy or kitten sold by an irresponsible breeder means there is one more shelter animal that will not find a home. And many of those same puppies and kittens will end up in shelters themselves at some point in their life. There are currently about 163 million pet cats and dogs in the U.S., and about one out of every 20 ends up in a shelter each year."
- "Seventeen million Americans acquire a new pet each year, that is more than double the number of shelter animals! Sadly, only 3.5 million people, or about 20 percent, choose to adopt their new pet. The rest choose to buy their pets from pet stores or breeders, or they choose a variety of other cheap or free sources, such as friends, neighbors, or Internet ads."
- "Virtually ALL puppies sold at pet stores (not adoption events) come from puppy mills, where dogs live miserably in tiny cages with little or no opportunity to exercise, play, or socialize. Although there are many responsible breeders, there are far more irresponsible ones who are breeding for profit without regard for good health and temperament or the pet overpopulation problem."
- "While acquiring a puppy or kitten, or adult animal from a friend, neighbor, or Internet ad might seem innocent enough, in reality you are contributing to the pet overpopulation problem by creating demand for irresponsible breeding or enabling owners to have a convenient, guilt-free and often profitable outlet for disposing of unwanted pets. In many cases, these people will go on to become repeat offenders, engaging in a continuous cycle of irresponsible breeding or pet acquisition and disposal because they know they can easily find a new home for the animals."
- "By choosing to adopt, you will not only save a life, but you will also ensure your adoption fee is going to help the next unwanted pet that comes in the door of that shelter or rescue. The adopter fees at most shelters and rescues include spaying or neutering, vaccinations, microchipping, worming, and heartworm or feline leukemia testing, and they are typically hundreds of dollars less that what you would spend to have all of these services performed at a veterinarians office."
- "The continuous flow of animals into shelters across the country is not just made up of litters of puppies and kittens. In fact, most shelters receive a greater number of stray and owner-relinquished adult pets. The majority of stray pets arrive at shelters without any ID, and most are never reclaimed by their owners. Average owner reclaim rates for stray dogs are less than 50 percent and for cats, less than 10 percent."
- "While there are some situations when it may be absolutely necessary for an owner to relinquish a pet, hundreds of thousands of pets are relinquished to shelters each year simply because they have become an inconvenience because the owner did not consider the time and financial commitment required to properly train and care for them. Another common excuse is moving when most rentals allow for pets these days."
Picture retrieved from karmadecay.com
There are some common complaints from people about their attempts at adopting animals. One such complaint is that they want a purebred animal. My first question is why? Why do you NEED a purebred dog? Did you know that many purebreds actually have more health problems than mixed breeds? Second of all, do some research and you will find countless rescues designated for certain breeds, many of them purebred. Often times shelters and rescues have purebred animals and sometimes with papers! You just have to actually look! Another complaint I've heard is that rescues are too strict. No, they aren't. Massive trial and error has shown rescues that they need to have applications, and reference/vet/landlord checks, sometimes home visits, and an extensive interview process. There are WAY too many animals that are returned for ridiculous reasons including finances, moving, behavior, time constraints, among others. THIS IS WHY WE DO THE APPLICATION AND INTERVIEW PROCESS! It is to try to avoid these animals being uprooted and returned to the utmost extent that we can. We still get returns but they occur a hell of a lot less than they would if we didn't go through that process and ask those questions. Yet another complaint is that it costs too much to adopt. I just cannot comprehend the level of ignorance here. Most people have absolutely no idea what goes into rescue. It costs money to pull from shelters because it costs the shelters money to board and care for these animals. WE ARE ALL NONPROFIT. We MAKE nothing. Every penny we get goes towards the care of these animals. So your "expensive adoption fee" is for the pulling from the shelter, the transport from whichever shelter the animal was pulled from, the vaccinations, deworming, flea meds, heartworm meds, any treatments or surgeries, spaying/neutering, microchipping, and any other odd and end expenses that come up. Fosters spend their OWN money on supplies for these animals while they care for them. So, think about that before complaining about an adoption fee. And really, if you can't afford the fee, you shouldn't be getting a pet to begin with.
I am just so tired of the substantial level of ignorance and just plain obliviousness out there regarding breeding and shelter pets in general. These animals deserve so much better than they get and we do not deserve to be called "superior" to them in any way. We need to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and do right by them because we owe them that much, we ALL owe them that much.
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