I read most of the article. I respect the author's right to his opinion and feel there is a special place in Heaven for those who work on behalf of unwanted dogs. I just can't make the connection between shelter dogs and people who breed 'off standard'. We have a local station that runs a 'pet of the week' feature with the Humane Society and our newspaper does a 'pet of the day' with the same shelter. I have never seen a pure bred dog of any breed featured, off-standard or not. Most are pit mixes and retriever mixes. These dogs, for the most part, come from irresponsible owners not getting their pet spayed or neutered, not from a breeder, no matter what label you stick on them. Also, the mentality of thinking of a pet as 'disposable' adds a lot to the problem. As far as dogs being bred 'off-standard', that is a sad fact due to a breed's popularity. Take a look at any of the top 10 breeds and you will find many being bred 'off-standard'. For example, my brother recently bought a Rhodesian Ridgeback, not one of the most popular breeds. I helped him in his search and we found very few that weren't exellent representations of the breed. Since they aren't a 'popular' breed , only true fanciers are breeding them, for the most part. Breeding off-standard is a consequence of a breed's popularity. I know it upsets purists but it's just the way it is.
