WordPlay

This is my soapbox of the week.

Just because PETA says “breeders kill shelter dogs” doesn’t mean they’re right.

Me, I don’t listen to anything touted by a group whose stated end goal is to end pet ownership (and who kill, according to their own records, 95% of the pets they “rescue.”) But they do like to shout, which makes it hard to not-hear them sometimes. And this time, here’s their logic: If breeders didn’t make new purebred dogs, people would get all their dogs at the shelter and thus save those dogs, so the corollary is that breeders are killing dogs.

Okay, let’s leave aside the twisted nature of that corollary.  And let’s leave aside the  fact that not all shelter dogs are adoptable–some are too damaged; some are too ill.

Aside from that. You know what’s true? People want what they want.

I’ve had many a mixed-breed/rescue dog. Most of mine were true rescues, and by that I mean we took them off the mountain where they’d been abandoned. Or from the dump. Or the UPS driver dropped them off because we’d gotten a reputation for helping dogs in that area where there was no shelter or humane society. Obviously, we didn’t keep them all; we padded their bellies, gave them some manners, and rehomed them. Or sometimes we gave them mercy, because sometimes that was the way it was.

So yes, I know the way of the mixed-breed dog. The dog of my heart, of my life, was one of these dogs.

But eventually my life changed, and I was in the position of needing a certain kind of dog. A puppy I knew would grow up to be that certain kind of dog. And now I’m hooked on certain kinds of dogs, and I love them, too. I now know the way of the purebred dog.

And I know this: People want what they want.

Sometimes that’s a wonderful pet from the shelter–a particular dog that will suit the necessary lifestyle. Sometimes it’s purebred–a specific dog bred to do a specific thing or to be a specific way. Either way, it’s good. Either way, people make their own choices for their own reasons, and that’s all good, too. But they don’t want one thing and then go looking for another. No.

They want what they want.

That’s why United States shelters import (yes, you read me correctly) dogs into shelters. (Here’s a great summary of things.) Small dogs are in special demand–perfect little companions, easily fitting into many different lifestyles. Not to mention celebrity purses…

That’s why people created breeds in the first place. Specific characteristics, reliably produced over the generations. A puppy that grows to be of predictable size, temperament, and basic skillset.

That’s why even now, dog folks are redefining certain breeds to fill performance niches–such as in agility, where people are currently finding the perfect combination of size, speed, and obsessiveness to dominate every jump height in every venue. Where they don’t redefine, they create mixed breeds to suit, taking their chances that a particular combination of dogs will result in what they want (because until you actually have the breed established and solidified and demonstrably repeatable, every litter is roulette–and not all breeds combine gracefully or predictably).

That’s why, given a paucity of dogs of a certain predictable and desirable characteristic, it does not follow that people will then go to the shelter and say, “Well, I’ll take this totally different kind of dog instead, because that’s what’s here.” No. They will go out and they will MAKE MORE of what they want.

Or they’ll import them.

(Well, you know. Unless PETA succeeds with that end goal of eliminating pet ownership.)

Good breeders, as it happens, are dedicated to the welfare of dogkind. Genetic testing, careful planning, limited and specific breeding with the distinct goal of producing the better dog. But you won’t find their dogs in shelters, because they welcome back their dogs in need–and if those dogs aren’t good candidates for rehoming, then they stay with the breeder pack.

Beyond that, those wicked breeders (and many other breed lovers) band together to create breed rescue groups for those dogs in need who have fallen through the cracks, and who would otherwise end up at shelters.

NOT THAT I HAVE ANY FAVORITES.

Do you?