Originally Posted by lizzieg  Simply
put, my puppies today are a lot nicer than my puppies of 35 years ago.
Today, there is a much higher percentage of good ones, a much lower
percentage of deficient ones, a much higher average of good qualities,
and a much higher percentage of true greatness emerging from my kennel
today.
That's what it means to be a breeder.
Does that
feed my ego? Yep. I like having my ego stroked. Don't you? If you
don't, you are in very deep trouble as a human being.
But I'll
tell you what else it does. It makes for happier dogs. It takes for
dogs that lead better lives, find permanent families and homes, and get
to experience love in many forms.
It also makes for healthier
dogs. Generation after generation of perfect functional conformation
means that the dogs are less likely to get injured, wean out or develop
arthritis. Many generations of selection for vigor, toughness and good
health means that they are able to laugh at the extremes of climate,
weather and terrain.
I also have virtually eliminated genetic
health problems from my strain of dogs. For example, hip dysplasia is
the most common genetic problem in English setters, afflicting a
reported four-percent of the breed. In the past 20 years, I have had
only two
questionable hip x-rays, which both would be rated "fair"
by the Orthopedic Foundation of America (OFA). The last one was 10
years ago.
Yes, I am very proud of being a breeder. I did that.
I
am proud, too, that I am producing dogs that are so intelligent that
it's scary, so loyal that they can be your complete partner in the
field while also possessing the extreme independence needed to do their
job well, so loving that you want them with you every
second of the day, so bold and brazen that nothing bothers them, and just plain drop-dead gorgeous to boot.
They make me smile a lot. I think I make them smile, too.
But, the animal rights whackos say I am doing it for the money. They accuse me of exploiting animals for profit.
Yep. Every chance I get. I am very happy when I am able to sell a puppy for cold, hard cash. It makes me feel good.
It
makes me feel good because it shows me that someone appreciates the
work I am doing. It makes me feel good because I have earned it, and
earned it honestly.
My only regret is that I have not made more
money as a breeder. With all of the sacrifices I have made and the hard
work I have done, I should be rolling in money.
Alas, I am not.
It has been years since I actually have made money on a litter of puppies. Usually, I lose my shirt.
For
every puppy I sell, there is another one that I keep to evaluate, and a
couple of other ones that I am keeping for two or three years to
evaluate for their worthiness to breed.
Then there are dogs that
are in competition, and that costs bushels of money, not to mention old
dogs that are retired and have a home here until they die of old age.
Almost a third of the dogs in my kennel are elderly and retired, and it
takes a lot of money to care for them.
It takes money for dog
food, supplies, veterinary bills, kennel licenses, repairs, vehicle use
for training and field trials, advertising, internet, phone bills, and
four pairs of good boots a year.
It takes money. Lots of money. Bundles of money.
Oh, Lord, please help me to sell some more puppies!
Besides,
what's wrong with making money? It is a rather fundamental American
value. Making money is something to be proud of, as long as it's done
honestly.
Even animal rights bozos have to eat. Someone has to
make money to stuff veggies down their gullets, and organic veggies are
rather pricey. Most working folks can't afford them.
I also can't help but notice that most animal rights activists over the age of 30 drive
pretty
fancy cars (we are talking about the Beamer set, folks), live in rather
fancy houses and dress very well indeed. I can't help but notice that
many of the leaders of animal rights groups have pretty cushy gigs,
with high-end six-digit
salaries, fancy offices, and all the perks.
I
guess they are saying that it's ok for them to make money by the
truckload, even if making money turns dog breeders into immoral greed
bags. There is no one in America who exploits dogs for as much money as
the paid leaders of animal rights groups. Their fat salaries depend on
having animal issues to exploit. If there were no animals for them to
exploit, they would have to get a real job.
It's a rather perplexing dual standard, don't you think?
Well,
maybe it's not perplexing after all. The only thing perplexing about
hypocrisy is that so many people can't see through it.
My next
sin is making my dogs work for a living. The animal rights people try
to paint a picture of whipping dogs beyond endurance, exploiting them,
creating misery and causing unhappiness. The poor, downtrodden, huddled
masses. You know the tune.
Only problem is, my dogs don't agree.
They love to work. They love their jobs. The only time they are sad is
when it is not their turn to work. For my dogs, working is sheer joy
and passion! They love every second of it.
What animal rights
groups live for is creating imaginary victims. Helping victims makes
some people feel better about themselves and, of course, it helps them
to part with their money so that animal rights leaders can live high on
the hog. Oops. I mean high on
the carrot. How callous of me. I guess I'm just not a sensitive kind of guy.
Back
to the exploited masses of bird dogs. Try an experiment sometime. Read
an animal rights essay, and substitute the word "proletariat" for the
word "animal." You will find that animal rights philosophy actually is
pure and straightforward Marxian doctrine.
I guess my dogs are
not natural Marxists. They love their jobs. They are excited about
their jobs. Their jobs make them very happy.
Animal rights
people can't seem to grasp that people can feel that way about their
work, too. It's how I feel about the very hard work of being a dog
breeder. It makes me happy.
Another way of putting it is that
both my dogs and my own example provide proof that life is not
pointless drudgery and exploitation. We provide living proof that joy,
beauty and personal fulfillment are possible in life.
I just
don't think of those qualities when I think of the animal rights
fanatics I have known. They seem a rather sad and sorry lot to me. I'll
take my dogs' company any day.
Oh, but the icing on the cake is that I use these poor exploited creatures to hunt innocent birds. How terrible!
Hunting, of course, is a subject of its own, and I won't attempt to cover it here.
Suffice
it to say that opposition to hunting flies in the face of a few million
years of human evolution, the entire balance of nature everywhere on
Earth, and common sense.
I know one thing for certain. The fact that
we have healthy populations of most species of wild birds and animals
today is only because hunters have cared enough to support strong
conservation
measures. We have preserved millions of acres of habitat that is vital
to the survival of many species, saved more millions of acres of
wilderness from development, supported the protection of endangered
species everywhere, and put our money where are mouths are.
Animal
rights groupies do nothing but blow hot air, when they aren't too busy
destroying the land and the animals that live on it to create vast
wastelands of industrialized monoculture.
I am proud to be a hunter, too.
It's time for every dog owner and breeder to stand up proudly and be counted.
Each one of you has done far more to enhance the quality of life of both people and dogs
than all of the animal rights activists put together.
So stand up and shout it to the rooftops!
Stop crawling around on your bellies and apologizing. Your dogs
deserve better from you. You will just have to get a little tougher if
you want to live up to your dogs.
What you are doing is right.
It's just that simple.
The
American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and
professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting.
We welcome people who work with other breeds, too, as legislative
issues affect all of us. We are a grassroots movement working to
protect the rights of dog owners, and to assure that the traditional
relationships between dogs and humans maintains its rightful place in
American society and life.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance
also needs your help so that we can continue to work to protect the
rights of dog owners. Your membership, participation and support are
truly
essential to the success of our mission. We are funded solely by the donations of our
members, and maintain strict independence. |