[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Woogie Man

Well, I *thought* I was addressing the issue of pet over-population and the resulting euthanasia of millions of dogs. Since the article posted put the bulk of the problem on BYBs, I was attempting to show, through the use of statistics, that is not the case. If you believe the HSUS data (that 25% of shelter dogs are pure bred), then the real problem (75%) is irresponsible pet owners letting their dogs hook up with whatever. You may call it 'punching holes in people's arguments', but I would call it trying to identify the real problem. With a kill rate in shelters somewhere around 50%, the number of dogs entering shelters needs to be cut in half to stop the needless euthanasia. You just won't achieve that by going after breeders. Indiscriminate breeding shouldn't be given a pass but restricting breeding isn't THE solution. There probably isn't any one fix to the problem. Most likely, it will take lots of 'little solutions' chipping away at the numbers to get us to a place where dogs are no longer being needlessly destroyed. Donating to and volunteering with shelters and rescues only helps so much. The same is true of education and public awareness; it only goes so far. I would like to see the AKC (and other registries), the AVMA and local vets take an active role in helping to reduce the numbers of dogs entering shelters. Nothing will ever get us to zero dogs in shelters but we should strive to get to the point where the needless slaughter of healthy animals is a thing of the past. I would add that the last thing I would like to see is government taking a larger role in this. Did you ever hear the definition of a giraffe? It's a horse that was drawn up by committee.

Just a point of curiousity. Are you a breeder?