I think that the more rules you make, the more it drives people underground to do things off the radar. And, while I agree that breeders should screen owners, how can a breeder be held legally responsible for a puppy over its entire lifetime? Aside from what one may feel is ethical, how can the original owner of property (the breeder) be held responsible for that property, beyond a health guarantee, once it has been transferred over to another owner? That would have constitutionalists howling over the right and responsibility of private ownership.
I really see two issues here....one being animal cruelty and the other being pet over-population. Animal cruelty can exist anywhere....at a home or a puppy mill and anywhere in between. Pet over-population is more complex, but I will continue to believe it's being driven by the consumer. Simply put, if there was less of a demand, there would be less of a supply. Also, if pet buyers, on the whole, demanded more from breeders they would soon get it. That's an educational process, along with responsible pet ownership.
The problem today is that millions of pets are dying needlessly and millions more are being produced to replace them and it's a cycle that repeats itself over and over. People are fed up with this and donate hundreds of millions of dollars to combat it but much of that money is squandered by those that are entrusted to find solutions. Often these professional fund raisers only promote their own agenda and don't really serve the cause they give lip service to.
So what's the solution? I don't think we can sign off on a piece of legislation and have the problem magically disappear. I also don't think we can count on an ideal solution, but we can do some good. Too much money and too much personal good will are being spent for it to be acceptable for things to remain the same.
There is the national Animal Welfare Act and all states have animal cruelty laws. Enforcement of existing laws must be toughened up before we go off writing new ones. And people have to be made more aware of just what it means to be a responsible pet owner. If these things were accomplished, maybe then we could work more towards the ideal.
On a side note, I was at our local Humane Society this morning dropping off 2 cats to be spayed. (I have 'inherited' 22 cats and kittens from a neglectful neighbor that has been letting them breed indiscriminately and not trying to find homes for the offspring. I'm working with the Humane Society to get them all spayed and neutered. I have resigned myself to feeding them all and they live here for the most part. i know if I just dropped them off at the shelter, most would be put down.) What I wanted to point out is that today I was #21 and wasn't the last in line. This shelter does s/n 5 days a week and this was a typical day. In this area at least, people are responding to the s/n campaigns which brings me back to where are all these animals in shelters coming from? It reinforces my belief that it is primarily owner surrender from irresponsible owners. |