Chuckleberry Finn: November 2014

Recently I was, once again, offended by remarks on a public forum regarding breeders. Blanket statements are made by various rescue organisation field workers and I take great exception being lumped with unscrupulous, backyard breeders that add to the population of unwanted, unplanned, sickly animals that end up in rescue every year. The one-sided, mindless statements accuse ANYONE that breeds of being lower than the scum of the earth for making their lives and the lives of animals all over, a living hell.

Firstly I am all FOR their cause, to put a stop to the abuse and suffering that these animals go through, to put a stop to people breeding unscrupulously and to reduce the amounts of animals without homes!

The standard line “but breeding is breeding and you are adding to the population” is wearing so thin with me! If you are one of those that say this, please take a moment to shut your almighty trap and just look at it from another point of view, please… (Do you have children? Yes? Don’t you think there are enough starving children in the world?? Please STOP having children! Oh but….. MY children were planned and taken care of and are well brought up with only the best that I can afford blah blah YES EXACTLY) so now let me have a say!

OK now that I have your attention, please consider this:

A well bred, planned, carefully engineered litter is an asset to this world. Yes, I said ‘engineered’ because that is what it is. It is a gift that any conscientious, reputable breeder can give to mankind. A breed that has been protected, kept pure, along with all its natural & correct traits that make it special and &unique for generations to enjoy is valuable to us all. The animals that I am talking about have not only been kept pure, but also have been rigorously health screened for any condition that could possibly affect that breed, and selectively bred on in order to eliminate all possible problems. Anyone who believes in the worth, and of passing on, such a gift will see to it that this is done very vigilantly and with great thought and care. And then anyone that has got this far will obviously NOT want anything so special just go to waste or be spoiled by anyone, let alone the unscrupulous backyard breeder! A person that truly cares for the well being of these animals will protect them, and see that they don’t fall into the wrong hands. They do this my means of strict screening processes, contracts and breeders restrictions. A person such as this in fact does NOT add to the population of animals! A person like this, in case of death or emergency, will take their animal back before any other avenues are explored!

As a breeder, I have placed puppies carefully, and I have never had a pup of mine rehomed, let alone get as far as a rescue organisation! I have never had one of my pups bred on, unauthorised. I know the status of every one of my dogs with

regard to training, feeding, living arrangements. They are bringing joy to those that appreciate the same level of integrity and appreciation that I do. They have the same type of love that I have for my chosen breeds.

The people to blame for these problems aren’t even always the ones selling the animals. The problem actually doesn’t even lie solely on the backyard breeder’s shoulders. It, in fact, lies with the people that SUPPORT them!! The people that BUY from them on Gumtree, OLX, Junkmail, Bidorbuy, and in the pet shops!. Where there is a demand, there is a market and that makes an outlet for these types of people to sell, so they will keep breeding anything to anything! If you are a do-gooder that buys a puppy on the side of the road to “rescue” it, you are adding to the problem! You may ‘save’ that puppy, but that guy will have 100 more puppies to sell, as he got money from that one!

If you are a rescue fan, have rescues, love rescues etc, I am not bashing you. I have rescues myself. Each to his own, you are doing a good thing by taking in unwanted animals, and animals already out there by the hand of backyard breeders and uncaring people. You are ok with not knowing where your animal comes from, and the lack of history of the breeds that are mixed up in your dog, it’s traits and it’s quirks. You love your dog/ cat etc, and that’s fine. But please stop attacking the narrow margin of good people that are going about things correctly!