There hasn’t been a single time that blanket generalizations and slurs against a demographic of people have ever led to positive social change. Given that everyone in this thread is a proponent for the ethical treatment of animals, let’s have a civilized conversation free of disgraceful attacks, please.
This minor change in wording quantitatively teaches people what a responsible breeder is.
Enter “adopt and shop responsibly” into any search engine, and it will list articles that educate buyers to try to adopt if they can. If they won’t, it will list the many standards that help them find a responsible breeder.
A responsible breeder will:
· Raise the puppies in a house, not a facility
· Begin the socialization process and habituate them to people and children
· Won’t overbreed the Dam.
· Raise them until at least 8 weeks of age.
· Vet checks the puppies and provides records of all vaccinations, deworming, and veterinary attention the puppy has received.
· Maintain a clean and safe environment with proper food and water
· Honesty and transparency will let you meet the Dam and the puppies where they are raised.
· Ethical placement, vetting their clients, ensures the dog enters a home appropriate for their temperament and breed.
· Contracts require clients to agree to spay or neuter the dog and return it to the breeder, not a shelter.
· Genetic and health testing will ensure that the Dam and Sire don’t have genes that combine to create known genetic diseases and conditions.
· Following best practice breed standards for health and ensuring the Sire and Dam are temperamentally suited for breeding the kinds of dogs they offer.
· Warranties for the dog’s health up to 5 years for things like eyes, joints and common hereditary genetic issues.
Nobody can argue that the above standards are worse than those of a backyard breeder, yet this is how people behave.
If I apply the same logic that “if all dogs are adopted, there will no longer be dogs in shelters,” then “if all dogs come from responsible breeders that never relinquish dogs to shelters, there will no longer be dogs in shelters.” The black-and-white thinking that adopted dogs and responsibly bred dogs are somehow mutually exclusive is not true and is harmful.
People WILL keep getting dogs from breeders until the end of time. Making sure those people act responsibly and only ever seek an ethical breeder is called harm reduction, and it keeps dogs out of shelters every day. Missing opportunities to educate people on seeking ethical breeders will funnel those people to backyard breeders instead. Holding breeders accountable to the above standards is much more effective than calling them bastards. Dogs deserve better than half measures and hate. They deserve to be treated with respect at all points in their life, and in every aspect of our society.
Jobs are not the same as races. Your job is a choice and if it was a bad one you could choose a better one.
People WILL keep getting dogs from breeders until the end of time.
I’m hopeful that isn’t true. I’m also hopeful that people will stop killing our planet and stop eating animals, too. I don’t think ‘no more breeders’ is harder than those goals.
There hasn’t been a single time that blanket generalizations and slurs against a demographic of people have ever led to positive social change. Given that everyone in this thread is a proponent for the ethical treatment of animals, let’s have a civilized conversation free of disgraceful attacks, please.
This minor change in wording quantitatively teaches people what a responsible breeder is.
Enter “adopt and shop responsibly” into any search engine, and it will list articles that educate buyers to try to adopt if they can. If they won’t, it will list the many standards that help them find a responsible breeder.
A responsible breeder will: · Raise the puppies in a house, not a facility · Begin the socialization process and habituate them to people and children · Won’t overbreed the Dam. · Raise them until at least 8 weeks of age. · Vet checks the puppies and provides records of all vaccinations, deworming, and veterinary attention the puppy has received. · Maintain a clean and safe environment with proper food and water · Honesty and transparency will let you meet the Dam and the puppies where they are raised. · Ethical placement, vetting their clients, ensures the dog enters a home appropriate for their temperament and breed. · Contracts require clients to agree to spay or neuter the dog and return it to the breeder, not a shelter. · Genetic and health testing will ensure that the Dam and Sire don’t have genes that combine to create known genetic diseases and conditions. · Following best practice breed standards for health and ensuring the Sire and Dam are temperamentally suited for breeding the kinds of dogs they offer. · Warranties for the dog’s health up to 5 years for things like eyes, joints and common hereditary genetic issues.
Nobody can argue that the above standards are worse than those of a backyard breeder, yet this is how people behave.
If I apply the same logic that “if all dogs are adopted, there will no longer be dogs in shelters,” then “if all dogs come from responsible breeders that never relinquish dogs to shelters, there will no longer be dogs in shelters.” The black-and-white thinking that adopted dogs and responsibly bred dogs are somehow mutually exclusive is not true and is harmful.
People WILL keep getting dogs from breeders until the end of time. Making sure those people act responsibly and only ever seek an ethical breeder is called harm reduction, and it keeps dogs out of shelters every day. Missing opportunities to educate people on seeking ethical breeders will funnel those people to backyard breeders instead. Holding breeders accountable to the above standards is much more effective than calling them bastards. Dogs deserve better than half measures and hate. They deserve to be treated with respect at all points in their life, and in every aspect of our society.
Jobs are not the same as races. Your job is a choice and if it was a bad one you could choose a better one.
I’m hopeful that isn’t true. I’m also hopeful that people will stop killing our planet and stop eating animals, too. I don’t think ‘no more breeders’ is harder than those goals.
I’m sorry, activists intentionally spreading misinformation to benefit backyard breeders now has something to do with race?
This is appalling.
Sorry I didn’t take the time to quote.
You said:
Which is why I said that dog breeders are a profession, not something immutable like race.
I’m happy to level blanket generalizations at cops, too, in case you were wondering.