Quote:
Originally Posted by yorkiepuppie 
honestly, pet over-population is not a complex issue. it certainly can be if that's the way you choose to see it. pet over-population means that there are too many pets around. and instead of looking for breeders. most of us should look in the shelter to adopt a dog instead of buying a dog, especially instead of buying from a BYB.
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I probably should have said pet over-population is a 'multi-faceted' issue rather than a 'complex' one. While it's a national issue, every area has a unique set of circumstances. It could be either puppy mill busts, strays, owner surrender, dog fight busts or any combination of these that make up the shelter population in any given area. In my area at this time, many dogs are being surrendered due to housing restrictions being placed on pets. A lot of folks are moving into new housing that has been built since Katrina and are faced with limits or bans on pets in the places they're moving to. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this and all the other reasons why the shelters are so overwhelmed. Ultimately, it comes down to owner responsibility no matter where they get their dog from. Even here, with the reasons I cited, most of the pet owners knew they would be moving into new housing with restrictions yet still chose to get a pet they knew they couldn't keep. As I said before, discussing breeder ethics is fine and is a valid subject. I just think that more of the focus should be on owner responsibility when it comes to discussing why the shelters are so full.